soft rain

i give myself

permission to fail

*Published by Haikuniverse on 3/13/24

**Selected for inclusion in the 2024 Red Moon Anthology

 radiation in my blood your blood

*

atlas

but have you

carried shame

*

it was only a pinch. throat punch. apocalypse.

*

every soul untethered but thanks for shopping

*

a bullet cuts the night alone with these thoughts

*Published in Ant Ant Ant Ant Ant 2021

**every soul was reprinted in Haiku 2022 (Modern Haiku Press)

 Ode to Dayton

you may have heard

about my city

splashed across headlines:

nine dead

dozens injured

from terror in the night

but you may not have heard

about the heroes

shielding others with their skin

and you may not have heard

about the peacemakers

singing in blood-covered streets

look beyond those headlines

and see the beauty

in our ashes

watch how quickly we rise

with golden wings

to soar into glorious light

*Published in The Dayton Anthology

ripped wings what you make of faith

*Published in Sonic Boom Issue Sixteen
**Selected for the 2019 Red Moon Anthology

quiet today

a palmful of stones

skipped along the pond

*

colder now

I sip my tea

with reverence

*Published in Another Trip Around the Sun: 365 days of haiku for children young and old

stigma

i would love to say

recovery has a finish line 

one where crowds roar 

as you break the paper divide 

with arms outstretched 

in hallelujah praise God 

recovery really is 

a thankless job you 

more or less do in the dark 

it’s also a taskmaster 

that waits by your bed each dawn 

sayin’ get up g-damnit 

don’t drown in victimhood 

and when you finally decide to hoist

up that golden survivor flag 

you begin to curse that title 

more and more each day 

all you want 

after all your scars

is to be a human 

free of mark

*Published in From The Ashes: An International Anthology of Womxn's Poetry

still a fairytale

once upon a time 

there was a young girl 

curly and tawny haired 

her home was filled with monsters 

that would scream and punch 

all through the night 

sometimes those monsters 

would even invade her in dreams 

their teeth would gnash as they’d chase her 

blindly through streets 

the young girl was always afraid 

so she began to knit 

her own dreams during the light 

in secret 

and away from prying eyes 

she was a princess 

an angel 

or a glitter-speckled fairy 

she realized she could be anything 

and those monsters

had no defense 

against the castle of her own design

*Published in From The Ashes: An International Anthology of Womxn's Poetry

weight of a word

age 22

the first time my therapist 

uses the forbidden term 

inc*st

i remember how that noun 

sank into my body 

an anvil dropping down down

into the sea

nowhere to be found 

for day weeks months 

i couldn’t even say the word

inc*st 

without wanting to vomit 

i even told my husband 

i wanted to die just to be reborn 

as if that would clean 

up those dirty places 

i dared not even touch 

so i stopped saying the word 

inc*st

called it the big bad 

big ugly 

my own personal Voldemort 

anything except the actual word 

to extricate myself from the reality 

that came barreling with it 

and that’s the problem 

you see 

how could i ever heal

from a word i refused to say?

i let that word place cuffs

upon my wrists 

shackles around my ankles 

and duct tape over my mouth 

the only way to break free 

i realized 

was to begin saying 

without shame or fear or filter 

that i survived 

the word no one ever wants to hear

*Published in From The Ashes: An International Anthology of Womxn's Poetry

rape. Things you learn from family

*Published in the August 2019 edition of is/let
**Reprinted in Haiku 2020 (Modern Haiku Press)

***Selected for inclusion in Haiku 21.2 (a best-of-decade anthology) in 2025

thunder rattles

each window pane

you ask

when I learned

to fight back

*Published in Stacking Stones: An Anthology of Short Tanka Sequences. The above is my contribution to a sequence titled "Becoming" in collaboration with Christina Sng, Jessica Malone Latham, Josie Hibbing, Mary Hohlman, and Susan Burch. 

support group

in every face

a mirror

*Published in Chrysanthemum 23 along with a German translation

**Selected for inclusion in Haiku 21.2 (a best-of-decade anthology) in 2025

stargazing

a moment alone

with my ancestors

the anniversary

of mother's passing

heavy rain

*Published in Wild Voices: an anthology of short poetry & art by women (Volume 2)
**stargazing was a 2019 Dwarf Stars Award Nominee
***stargazing was selected for The Haiku Foundation’s Per Diem on 1/20/20

June 23rd

I couldn't enter her room without full protective gear. While preparing myself, I told a passing nurse, "She's dying. I just want to hold her hand."

skin to skin

the way you soothed me

as a child

*Published in the February 2018 edition of Seedpods

**2nd place in the UHTS Samurai Haibun Contest 2017
***Selected for the 2018 Red Moon Anthology

Note: the following horror-themed haiku may contain images or subjects that some readers may find upsetting. 

Sunday morning
we exorcise the demon
of you

burnt sky
a sorceress warns
about the future

midnight
the ghosts of our past
flank my vision

hot breath
in my ear
chilled words

blindfolded
a voice whispers
don't scream

scarred and bruised
the hand reaching
for mine

chessboard
you move; I move
toward destruction

wasteland
I roam the empty streets
caked in regret

*Published in Issue 1.2 of Scryptic Magazine
**Sunday morning was selected for Scryptic's Best of 2017 - 2018 Anthology

up my spine

icy fingers pluck

phantom strings

bitter wind

one vulture circles

a moonless void

doomsday clock

the rhythmic scrape

of death's scythe

*Published in Issue 1.1 of Scryptic Magazine
**doomsday clock was selected for Scryptic's Best of 2017 - 2018 Anthology

mushroom risotto 
the way my mother said
keep stirring

unshelled pistachios
my father
on marriage

*Published in Frogpond 40:1
**unshelled pistachios was featured in on down the road (the Haiku Society of America's 2017 member's anthology), and The Daily Haiku
***mushroom risotto was translated into Italian by Eufemia Griffo in Memorie di una Geisha:

risotto ai funghi
il modo in cui mia madre ha detto
continua a mescolare