For You, My Love, On Your Birthday

Chrissy & I during one of my birthday weekends (maybe my 37th birthday?) in Orlando, Florida. Photo Credit: My cousin, Phil, her husband.

Two full years now
And I’m still trying
But it has gotten better
Without you

It’s not my best
But I do give it my all
Effort isn’t wasted
Without you

It’s colder now
I could use one of your hugs
October isn’t as scary
Without you

This morning, I whispered
To the air around me a
Happy Birthday song that sounded flat
Without you

But I wanted you to know
I’ll never forget, we’ll never forget
The perfect thing we had in life
Without you


Happy Birthday, Chrissy. I still miss you. I always will. But it hurts just a little (major emphasis on little) less without you. 🙏🏾💙

bedbound

an unscheduled day off
enfolds my screaming body.
the mind stays strapped to
the foam of an
inviting mattress.

the soul cannot move.

I know these days . . .
mentally, I’m challenged,
and freeing myself from
the depths of this dark
space is often harder
than I’d like.

bedbound for the morning,
I watch news of Western NC
as cities lay underwater,
roads are washed away, my
friend’s brand new home
drowns before her eyes.
food and supplies have to be
air-dropped to designated
places.

“these are the last days.”

I turn over to reach
for someone to hold
and forget, momentarily,
that I live alone.

hurricane Helene

a lune, 3 parts

hurricane Helene
pummeled us
with her windy waves

power outages
reported
all throughout the state

advised to be safe
we found peace
safely in our homes


To those of you who rode out the harshest storm in years, it is my prayer that you are safe and sound of mind as well. Peace and blessings.

The Disrespectful Acts of a Ghost

Photo by Nothing Ahead on Pexels.com

There is no easy way to share this information, so I will just spill it. Spirits are attracted to me. I am not weirded out by it nor does it frighten me.

It’s intriguing.

This past Wednesday afternoon, while making calls for work, my coffeemaker turned on and attempted to percolate. However, there was no water or coffee in the machine. I had to quickly finish my call, run to my kitchen, and turn the darn thing off. I even unplugged it for good measure.

Fast-forward to this past Sunday–my dishwasher turned on and began a washing cycle. Um . . . I don’t use the dishwasher. I never have. I am old-school, I wash dishes in the kitchen sink.

Now, me being the logical person I am, yet innately aware of spiritual manifestations, I have no qualms with this ghost/spirit. But if it plans to continue to stick around and activate appliances, I need it to start pitching in on the bills. No one is allowed a free ride. Even my pets, Jernee & Zumi, supply me with love, kisses, and attention. They have become accustomed to this way of life without paying me monetarily.

Paranormal activity from beings I cannot see are no different. It will not live here rent-free if I’m not benefiting from it in some way.

I mean . . . conjure up some groceries or make a couple monthly bills disappear. Spook the hell out of these streaming services and have them drop their prices. DO SOMETHING other than stir up noise while I’m working or trying to relax. Times are far too hard to have electricity going to waste like this! I do not think I’ve ever had this level of disrespect from a spirit.

When I was in my late twenties, I stayed with a then-lover and her family, and in the room I called home for three days, the TV came on and went off during the night by itself–every night. I asked her family if it was on some sort of built-in timer and both she and them confirmed it was not. I chalked it up to my late, maternal grandmother trying to connect with me on some level and left it at that.

A simple act, right? No harm, no foul. No interruptions that I couldn’t get through and maintain a sense of normalcy.

This particular ghost/spirit, though, is already shaping up to be something of a force to be reckoned with. The disrespect! The total lack of care! The utter unwillingness to think about my pockets and my bank account!

I have resorted to keeping my ears to the ground. If another occurrence takes place, I am sure it will be some sort of sign.

And maybe, just maybe, it’s trying to tell me something.

the first session

I am small, tucked into myself,
fidgety, and nervous.
He is an older, White man
from Jersey with an earring
in his ear.
He asks me about elementary
school, my father, my mother,
and my strengths.

I talk with my hands.
I am animated. I am crafting
explanations and recollections
of past lives, and he types
vigorously on the keys of
his laptop.
It’s small. It’s black. It
shakes on his lap.

I wonder what the screen says.
If I’m being cut down to size.
If I’m being analyzed on a
scale outside my comprehension.
If I’m being mentally processed
for some sort of unspoken
reward.

Barely thirty minutes pass,
and I lose myself in a sea of
tears. He’s mentioned grief.
Which means, I have mentioned
Chrissy, and I don’t even
remember my mouth forming
her name. I can feel the
tears sliding down
my cheeks, and I say to myself,
You will get through this.

We have six minutes left, and
he announces a question
that sounds like he wanted to
unleash it at least fifteen minutes ago and I am all
ears: “Do you have the link
to the initial ASD testing you
did?”

Of course, I do.
Of course, I would have it.
Why would I not?
I emailed it to him, and I
watched the results leave
my inbox and disappear to
a black hole of infinite
knowledge and time and
space to get to his inbox.

And then, I wonder . . .
what’s next?

what the body thinks of sexy weather

this morning, the body failed
to jolt up in routine.
I flounced on the bed,
unsure of where I was, and
the aches hit me.

could it be an early Autumn
cold or the flu or the dreaded
COVID-19 finally coming
to test my strength?

sexy weather greeted us earlier
this week and the change
is changing me.
I know this day will be
spent huddling under covers,
sipping licorice tea with raw honey,
and watching movies.

I can’t bring myself to do
much else.

woe to the woman whose
weekend will be spent
nursing herself back to
health because even though
I am ready for the weather to
thunder roll in an inviting way,
the body is not.