Baltimore Stories

It has been one of those weeks where I have been overwhelmed by what my kids deal with on a daily basis. I continue to admire their tenacity and perseverance and wonder why it sometimes feels so helpless to be and adult without any answers.

Baltimore Stories

Two weeks ago
a car flipped Teya
off her bike
in her pink nightgown
when she dashed
out without checking

One week ago
she shared in morning circle
I don’t have a mommy anymore
she’s in prison

On Friday
she was in court
to testify against her brother’s friend
because she witnessed him with drugs
she was back in school by eleven
my granma was fussin’ with the judge
she confided she don’t want me talkin’

I don’t want her talking either

But this is just one brick
in the crumbling walls
criss-crossing the city
only a mile from the
shine of the Inner Harbor

This is just one daughter
of the city
one voice of the small multitude

Teya lives three short blocks
from my house
but I could live on the moon
the milky way
resting between us

Loose Ends

I have felt perpetually behind the past few weeks. Field trips, a wedding, a trip to Minneapolis, finishing a quilt, making plans to move our growing greenhouse into a garden...the days have been flying by. And I just decided to go back to school so I can be certified as a Reading Specialist. It sounded like a good idea until I learned that class will be from 4:30 to 9:30 twice a week. And I haven't started yet.

And the worms, the worms have disappeared. I think this is less about magic and more about death. I've killed 1,000 worms. Hopefully it is all the circle of life...

For the newly arrived Spence...



















And while we may have let down the worms, we are in a time of cultivation.
Minds, hearts and plants.
Growing.