I dove feet first into the blanket of your love But instead of folds of fabric, I was met with cold water that felt like concrete. My Achilles’ heel broke on impact. My strength waned as I sank to the depths; I started to kick, reminding Mother Nature that I was still her baby. I […]
The Great Light of Night: A Poem
He made two great lights and called night the lesser, but we choose to embrace the weight of day’s heavier sister, reserving day for all that’s productive, claiming surface fulfillment, but letting the night be the one that’s seductive, saving what’s real for when we cannot see. The lesser light is for making […]
Let Me Start By Saying: A Poem
Let me start by saying I could be totally off base here. But it really does appear like this person you’re portraying isn’t you. It’s a little dismaying how every time I look at you, you seem to be someone new. From the truth you are straying and from me. The tricks you’ve […]
Words I’m Nitpicky About
I recently published a blog about individual words that I believe society has given disproportionate power. Getting riled about a single word is a bit ridiculous, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be intentional about the words we say. And while this blog is titled “Words I’m Nitpicky About,” I’m more revolting against the definition […]
Love, Theoretically: A Creative Rant
*I feel it’s very important to say this isn’t a poem, because it violates a lot of things I think are important to poetry. It’s not quite as bad as “instagram poetry,” but it’s not intentionally formed as a poem should be. So I’m calling it a creative rant of social commentary with line breaks.* […]
The Dating Equation: A Poem
Dating: the standardized testing of the romantic realm, reducing the human experience into a single goal… a Relationship. Dear scorers, what do you think of my fraction? Relationship Person Under this nonexistent box on this bubble sheet, allow me to explain my answer. Here I’ve put the idea of a relationship over the person. […]
The Disproportionate Power of Individual Words
I am an eternal student of literature, and my upcoming career involves manipulating words into an influence. I believe in and admire the power of words, especially when they are strung together in an intentional, masterful way. But I also recognize that it presupposes the idea that people have to be receptive towards those words. […]
Writing your Novel: Common Mistakes to Avoid
Previously, I published a post on “How NOT to Start your Novel: Common Mistakes to Avoid.” That post is helpful for optimizing the first 5 pages of your manuscript, which is important if you are querying literary agents or editors. But let’s talk about issues I often notice in the body of unpublished manuscripts. I’m […]
Influence and the Soul in The Picture of Dorian Gray
When Oscar Wilde first wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray, he was faced with backlash from critics who may or may not have been familiar with the term “unreliable narrator.” They accused him of writing an “immoral book.” At first, he contested that claim by saying that the moral of the book was clear; in […]
Aftermath of a Battle Hymn: A Poem
His sigh rippled through his body. Instead of deflating, he shook, full of feelings he couldn’t brook. Exhaustion and anger diminished him. Guilt made his coordination shoddy and the glass slipped from his hand But to his surprise, he could easily stand. He rid himself of warmth, limb by limb. The chill was […]