While I was working my way through college, I cleaned a doctor’s mansion that needed this floor cleaned with vinegar and that one cleaned with mopping solution and the other one wiped dry, and well, yes. Continue reading Why I don’t understand white
“Pero que hacemos? Hay que aguantar.” But what do we do? We must endure.
The phrase caught me off-guard. I am used to hearing North Africans talk like that, especially if they throw in a “praiseGod” or dozen and shake their heads with wry smiles that say what their words don’t. Continue reading We must endure
My acclimation to Mytown is taking longer than I had anticipated. When I mentioned this to a woman at the bus station, she peered at me over her glasses and explained that I shouldn’t just be friendly to everyone I meet because there is no reason to trust them. You have to grow your friend base slowly and carefully, she said. Continue reading Welcome to Mytown
I lost my temper. Telemarketers had been calling at least twice a day for weeks, making me jump, startling me from whatever I was doing to dig my phone out of my bag in the middle of the store or turn off my bluetooth speaker. They called from various numbers but they always played the same music when I answered. Continue reading Telemarketers and tempers
It’s not that we don’t believe You’re good because we know You are. /
It’s not that we don’t believe You can heal because we know You can. /
It’s just that we ask ourselves if You have her best in mind, /
And by association, our best. / Continue reading Good
We are desolate homes, Nature’s has-beens, /
Trapped in waves ever crashing Continue reading Broken shells, worn smooth
“If you’re not for me, you’re against me.” It’s no wonder they hid in their houses and trusted no one. And these were the lucky ones: the ones that survived. Continue reading War and journey
There was nothing to do except try to fall back asleep. But trying was like sweeping up a pile of ants: as soon as I gathered my thoughts, they ran every which way and I started to panic because I knew I needed sleep to face my to-do list for tomorrow. Continue reading In its season
Obeying when it doesn’t make sense is a struggle for me. Is it for you too? Continue reading Obeying when it doesn’t make sense
Who is that woman in the mirror staring back at me?
Glazed eyes from sorting through language notes all day. Almost in tears from how much there is still to learn and how does she start? Really start? Continue reading The woman in the mirror
