The Inner Life

Workout clothes wait for morning while sleep is interrupted by caffeine, a child’s growing pains, and the snooze button. A short poem about intention, exhaustion, and beginning again.

Grief arrives like an unexpected houseguest, carrying overstuffed bags of memory and rearranging the room. Over time, resisting her gives way to sitting beside her and letting the feelings return in full color.

After a frightening hospital stay, a doctor playset gives a two-year-old a way to revisit what happened, regain control, and begin to heal. Sometimes listening well means recognizing the language a child is already…