Your body warm, pressed against mine, a sweetness oozes into me. Its intensity is almost painful. It swells within me. I want to drown in it. Your ... Read more
A Father Remembered
Months before the ex-president's death, his daughter shared these memories . . . What was once my father's office is now his bedroom. On ... Read more
A Heart’s Breath
For my birthday this year, God gave me the gift of grace. If our lives are made up of a string of a thousand moments, at some of those moments we ... Read more
Baseball Love
The muscles in my legs work hard to carry me to the end where the field meets the trees. I hear dried leaves crunch beneath my weight before I soar ... Read more
Breaking the Surface
I think you should get to have your true authentic healed whole self and buns of steel, but redemption just doesn't work that way. I love the heady ... Read more
Cats
Cat eyes looking out at the world ready to pounce galvanize into action by a single motion until they balance thought into perfect contentment and ... Read more
Conscripted!
Hup two, three, four! Okay, words—now hit the floor! Fifty push-ups, each of you— no one leaves until we're through! Adjectives, line up in rows . . ... Read more
Deliberate
Love, it's such a funny word It means so many things Confusing in its simple way The thought of hope it brings It cradles you in gently arms And ... Read more
Didgeridoo
A new member of the big, comfy underpants set ponders why women are ostracized for "letting themselves go." I used to go to parties quite often, for ... Read more
Dreamtime
The smell of victory reeked in the delivery room. The crackpot, Rachet Man, followed his dream at the Institute of Grace while waiting to be born. It ... Read more
Exhaust the Little Moment
The year my mother died, I learned something enduring about life: that it is glorious, and we have no business taking it for granted. I was 19 years ... Read more
Eye of the Reporter, Heart of the Novelist
I always wanted to write fiction . . . I only went into the newspaper business to pay the rent. There's always a notebook in my purse. I ... Read more
First Communion
I remember kneeling in my borrowed dress and veil, the bone and blood of Christ against the pink flesh of my tongue and the image of my ... Read more
Flown Away, Left Behind
The empty nest is emptier than ever; after all, at its center was something so enormous that a good deal had to be sacrificed for it. I was ... Read more
Goodbye, Dr. Spock
I was bound and determined to learn from the experts. It just took me a while to figure out who the experts were. If not for the photographs I might ... Read more
Goodnight Kiss
Here is a good night kiss for you, my love, my heart. Only a blue ribbon of moonlight divides us but you seem so far away. Your lips that part to ... Read more
Heart’s Path
This path will lead you to my door With heart so plain to see Welcome strangers to my soul Your spirit blends with me I offer you a way to peace To ... Read more
Home Still Exists
Such a comfort there is in knowing that home still exists. Where the attic is filled with my toys and the aspen trees are inscribed with the name of ... Read more
How to Make a Woman Fall in Love
A man will win and keep the heart of a woman if he follows one simple set of principles. It is called the PEACH method of dating and the results will ... Read more
Is That All There Is?
How do you explain mortality to a kid who insists he wants to be cryogenically frozen—while he's still alive? Late one night 36 years ago, my friend ... Read more
Jealousy
Try not to question my love, For I have sought deep within me Cussed at me Cursed and been Cruel to me Do not lay blame on my heart For yesterday’s ... Read more
Let Us Commence
The secret to success is simple—ignore your parents expectations, give money to the ACLU, and find out the truth about who you are. This must be a ... Read more
Letting It Rise
Learning to bake a good loaf of bread is not an easy thing, especially when you have a broken bread machine. My friend Barbie gave me a bread ... Read more
Love Is
Love is a rose and it rose and rose . . . how far it goes no one knows . . . but it got beyond my nose . . . and tried to slip between my toes . . ... Read more
Mala from Heaven
As the world crumbles, I string together beads of faith. If our lives are made up of a string of a thousand moments, at some of those moments we ... Read more
May Night
The spring is fresh and fearless And every leaf is new. The world is brimmed with moonlight. The lilac brimmed with dew. Here in the moving shadows I ... Read more
Mount Holyoke Commencement Speech
The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. I look at all of you ... Read more
Mountains
Why do you ride that contraption? When they go up to the mountains, they sing, they dance, they have too much to give. They leave such things ... Read more
My Grandmother
My grandmother was a remarkable woman. She was tiny and frail, independent and proud. She cooked her own meals, creating curious, crazy concoctions ... Read more
My Miracle Heart
When my ex-husband and I parted ways, I was angry. Our marriage had not been good for a lot of reasons. And though I was relieved the ordeal was ... Read more
Nosing Around
Of all the body parts we own, our nose is pointedly the one that doesn’t stay where it belongs. It sniffs prevailing winds and chases rumors—huffs ... Read more
On Aging
I was at a wedding Saturday with a lot of women in their 20s and 30s in sexy dresses, their youthful skin aglow. And even though I was 20 or 30 years ... Read more
Outside the Bright Lines
Jennifer Finney Boylan's new book, "She’s Not There," is a very funny memoir of growing up confused and a very smart consideration of what it means to ... Read more
Poetry in Motion
I love the speed of poetry. The swift nature of it, read aloud, racing with the blood. Then it surprises with soft fluidity, pausing around the ... Read more
Pretty
Feeling pretty has never been a priority in my life. Feeling smart, talented, adventurous, capable, interesting, witty, etc., have all taken ... Read more
Remembrance
In sporadic drifts, memories flutter down, like skeletal leaves in slow motion—fragile whispers torn from the branches of yesterday. Sometimes, your ... Read more
Sarah Lawrence Commencement Speech
I have seen your salvation; and it is you, staring back at yourself, your eyes windows to your heart and mind. One night I brought my daughter and ... Read more
Sincere Meditations
Slick packaging can't hide a disfigured soul or fearful spirit. Just ask the pastor of the Church of 80 Percent Sincerity. A friend said mournfully ... Read more
Storm
The week after I found another woman's fingerprints all over my home. After the storm of begging and bended knees had passed. a tornado hit the ... Read more
Stray Cat
Oh, what unhappy twist of fate Has brought you homeless to my gate? The gate where once another stood To beg for shelter, warmth, and food. For from ... Read more