Tone of Voice & Charcoal on the Lips I got my comeuppance at the hands of Lucia Cordell Getsi, my poetry instructor. Dr. Getsi said, “You don’t get to have that tone, you never get to have that tone, in anything.” She made this remark after reading my poem “Cord.” Dr. Getsi taught a graduate [...]

      Otherwise and Nevertheless in Haiti Once upon a time, I shared the Jane Kenyon poem “Otherwise” with a friend. It was in a conversation about life’s variables, vacillations, and verisimilitude. When this person became ill, then recovered, this person gave me three candlesticks, like the ones in the poem, so that we [...]

Like a Snowstorm in Haiti– My friend Julie and I are talkers. We gab, a lot. Our recent trip to Haiti found us both quiet, at a loss for words. We both love music and books, compare notes as to what our latest musical or literary find might be, and in Haiti, neither of us [...]

Twenty years ago this week, I was ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Earlier this month, the PC(USA) ordained its first openly gay minister, Scott Anderson, to the great joy of some, to the consternation of others within the church. It’s been a question on the church’s table [...]

If you were to go into our downstairs bathroom, you’d find the towels askew, the curtain open enough that the UPS person could see in if he/she wanted to, and the cap off the toothpaste. Taped to the mirror you’d read, “You are my beloved, in you I am well pleased, signed, God.” It’s left [...]

“What is important is the story. Because when we are all dust and teeth and kicked-up bits of skin – when we’re dancing with our own skeletons – our words might be all that’s left of us.”–Alexandra Fuller, Scribbling the Cat This is what it is on paper: “The Presbyterian Haiti Mission Initiative Trip,” which [...]

Making it to the Gulf Stream No hatchling does this digging alone; It’s a scramble, crawling on backs in shifting sand Getting out from under all that gets piled on. Couldn’t see my way out, forgot the scent of the sea, forgot my sea creature-ness— That when a sea turtle mother births eggs, she sheds [...]

PIctured: The Rev. Bruce Rigdon, the Rev. Bill White, and Marina Shishova A Russian Road to Peace with Marina Shishova My friend Anne is talking Russian in her sleep, and I may be to blame. I asked Anne to host Russian peacemaker Marina Shishova this week. Anne is fluent in Russian, but hasn’t spoken it [...]

When Tsunami Elders Ruled the Natatorium–looking back on the path to thank one who stood up for us then A few years ago, I took my then pre-school daughter with me to the Old Township Hall where I vote. I was paying attention to my daughter, when I looked up, and the woman handing me my [...]

Writing Last Things First I wrote my obituary first thing today. Well, a lot of it. I’ve been helping people write their parents’ obituaries, and it can be hard going in the midst of grief, to remember the awards the parent won, or when he or she was in the service, or where he or [...]