Tag: Series

Left-Handed in a Dream: A Haibun

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Part VI: Discovering memories

AI-Generated Image: A Black woman with locs looking at a photo album while sitting outside on a bench. She is wearing a jean jacket with a hot pink halter top under it. Her hot pink nails pop as they slide across the photo album.

Memory goes for a long walk. She carries one of her favorite photo albums with her. She is reminiscent of the times she and Rodney shared before marriage. Their friends always knew they would do life together — that they’d succeed in lassoing one another to their hearts. They did. And now she is searching for the feelings she used to have before marriage. She wonders where they have gone. Can she find them in the photos before her eyes? Discovering memories could serve her better than the past ever could. She’s desperate. She loves Rodney and wants to continue to spend the rest of her days with him. But she needs more. She craves more. Will she find what she’s looking for in the pictured past?

discovering life
while the sun sets in full view
bittersweet lovers

This concludes the Left-handed in a Dream Haibun series. Thank you so much for reading.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, & Part V

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

Peace and Blessings!

The Residence

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NaPoWriMo #30

Uzo Aduba as Detective Cordelia Cupp in Netflix’s The Residence

Because the dog was
having trouble breathing,
I didn’t get much sleep.

I stayed home from work
to monitor her – the love
of my life, my little monster.

And when she finally found
sleep again, I drifted off, too.
I couldn’t pin down an hour
of sleep, so I got up.

I read. I wrote. I checked
the dog’s breathing.
Her allergies aren’t our
friend this season. Benadryl is.

She dozed off again.
I read. I ate lunch.
I Netflixed by watching
The Residence. 4 episodes
in, and I am hooked!

Cupp is particular. She is
calculated – a perfectionist.
She questions everything.
She examines the unimaginable.
I understand her.

I’m falling in love with a show
that plays hide-and-seek with
my thought process and
places me on the edge of
my seat.

I wasn’t searching for a series
that would be both intriguing
and shocking – I loathe series.
I have to be moved, perplexed,
mesmerized, and changed.

The Residence dishes out
all of this and more.
It is the quintessential mainstay
of perfection in a comedic
mystery. I found my
happy place while my
dog struggled to breathe.

And I almost lost my breath, too.

NaPoWriMo is finished. I survived 30 days of posting poetry every day for another year. And to end it with this one feels magical. Thanks for doing April with me, folks. I appreciate you.

Have you gotten your copy of my new book: a collection of serial tales & flash fiction, Séduire (E-Book and Paperback) yet?

I recently signed up to write on Substack as well. Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun is a place of healing as I speak about the most recent events with my place of employment as it pertains to racism and discrimination. I welcome your visit.

Peace and Blessings!

Home To Nowhere: Part IV

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Microfiction: Kelsey approaches Kimya about her suspicions

AI Generated Image of a Black woman with curly hair, hooped earrings, a beautiful smile, and centered in front of a pink to purplish background. Created with Canva.

Kimya is home from work. Her body is worn and she looks like lost hope and misplaced grief. Kelsey stands at the kitchen’s entrance waiting for her mother.

She is breathing heavily. The room is closing in on her. The sun moves in and centers itself on their kitchen windows. Kelsey’s breathing picks up slightly. She inhales, then exhales, then slams her mother with the question.

“Mom! You look tired. Work must’ve been insane! Come, sit down.” She casually pulls out a chair. Kimya flops her flailing body onto the chair’s surface.

“Thank you, Kels. What’s up? Something on your mind?”

Kelsey shifts on her heels, bounces back and forth, and hurriedly throws the question into the air, “Am I adopted?”

Kimya gulps. Her eyes widen. She cuffs her weakened hands onto her face and puffs air into them.

“I knew this day was coming. Yes, Kels. Yes, you’re adopted.”

Part I, Part II, & Part III

Home To Nowhere: Part II

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Microfiction: Kelsey’s Brother Tyson

AI Generated Image of a Black little boy with green eyes, wearing a light gray shirt, with curly, cropped black hair. Created with Canva.

Tyson is a firecracker with hair that sings and eyes that lure the most anxious passerby. He is a tag-along brother. He follows Kelsey everywhere she goes. At eight years old, you’d think the kid had his own friends with which to play, but he dotes on his big sister fiercely.

The day Kelsey went digging for her origin, he told her what he heard his parents discussing.

“Mommy said to Daddy, ‘If she ever finds out from anyone else, we’ll have Hell on our hands.’ Oops! Sorry, Kels. I cussed.”

“You did, little buddy. And that’s all right. So, they said I’m adopted, huh? That’s what you heard?”

“It’s what I heard.”

Taking in this newfound knowledge, Kelsey wraps it up in her mind and saves it for the day of confrontation. Someone is going to tell her the truth.

Part I

Running With the Clouds Part VI

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Jake Understands Now (Microfiction)

Jake sees the Bone Marrow Specialist near his oncologist’s office for a consultation. The staff is helpful. The specialist is knowledgeable with a lovely bedside manner.

His success rate is 94%. Many of his patients live an additional ten to twenty years. His demographic is geriatric, but Miranda pleaded with him to see Jake. He agreed. He said Miranda’s plea moved him.

Now that they have her bone marrow, they can perform the transplant. Jake sits with every detail, says a silent prayer for his deceased sister, and cries softly.

Her death gives him life.

This concludes the Running With the Clouds series. Thank you for reading.

Part I, Part II, Part III,  Part IV, & Part V

Running With the Clouds Part V

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Dominique’s Miracle (Microfiction)

Dominique is a twenty-eight-year-old teacher from Little Rock who has been waiting for a kidney for sixteen months.

Sixteen months . . .

Every day is a struggle for her. How much energy would she use explaining trigonometry to seventeen year olds? Who would be the first to see sweat pour from her fingertips at 1:15 PM?

Dialysis on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday . . . try not to die Saturday and Sunday. And then, Miranda happened.

She’s a match. The perfect match.

Soon, there’ll be no more waiting.

Part I, Part II, Part III, & Part IV