Categories
Dangerous Compassions

what saved me

I was telling my good friend about an experience I had as a kid that was vital to my well-being.  It helped me understand there’s a bigger world than my home and the town I lived in.  At UC Santa Barbara I learned about queerness, race, freedom, music, writing, friendship.  It helped me understand that… Read More »

Categories
Dangerous Compassions

snail poem

There’s a poem I taught long ago, when I taught university, that blew the minds of my poetry students.  Was I a jerk, to assign this poem?  Who knows.  Well, you couldn’t say it was boring.  I think of it as the snail poem, but it’s actually “The Connoisseuse of Slugs” by Sharon Olds. If… Read More »

Categories
Dangerous Compassions

stop making sense

I woke up confused and ok–felt good, to be in the middle place. I felt contented and independent. Like I was right, alone. But then I reached for my phone, a connection to other humans. Read the txts that came while I was sleeping. Cackled like a crone at a friend’s joke. This morning I… Read More »