first suicide attempt
her parents still
in denial  

the secret of youth --
my mother forgets
her age

a handful of pills I overdose on negative thoughts

every week the same
tangled branches
outside my therapist’s window

stay-at-home mom
I take my sanity out
with the trash

anger management
she downs a pint
of rocky road ice cream

it took him
ten years to come home from war
drifting kelp

psychiatrist 
all the meanings
of "I'm fine."

wind chimes . . .
that same anxiety
rising again

overworked can a mom ever play possum

sensory processing disorder
bird tweets turn into
an orchestra

a new way
to stop my nightmares
dream catcher

no longer familiar 
the path to grandfather’s 
woodshed

sunshine state
my sister’s mania
in full bloom

newspaper
I'm listed as a 'survivor'
in my ex's obituary

bi-polar disorder
rainbows floating 
on oil slicks

storm clouds
second guessing
the doctor

anorexia 
I starve myself  
of value

rain in the forecast—
what have I done
with my afternoon?

weekday morning 
pulling my mood 
off a hanger

split chrysalis
all the ways we learn
to become small

winter stars
adjusting
my expectations

migration a part of me already gone

English ivy
climbing
the proverbial wall

rain becomes sleet
the secrets
we take to the grave

turning compost . . .
I still don’t understand
why

homecoming
only the shadows
are familiar

cooking for one
a little more salt
in the wound 

loneliness —
the crows don't sound so bad
after all

crescent moon–
so many dreams
turned sideways