April 17, 2026

kip is home!
kip is back!

literally
everyone
in this house
[including kip]
is so happy they are home!

the puppy snoofed and kissed and croodled
the cat hasn’t left the couch by kip’s side
for more than a few minutes

and i have been in a far more
relaxed state
feeling more like myself
with my kip by my side

[and kip feels the same
with me by theirs]

it’s so strange and beautiful to have found
this wonderful little family

July 25, 2024

wearing my Grandmama’s jean jacket shirt,
the one that was probably too big for her, too,
with a stain on the pocket that she hid with some cool embroidery —
a design around the initial she went by
[her full name was “Mary Jane” but she went by “Jane”
for as long as any of us can remember]
and because i’ve started going by my initials,
i knew i could easily add a little “H” on one side
and a little “F” on the other of this giant “J”
and it would look intentional, like the rest of the design,
and i could claim this as my own —
and wear it not as a hand-me-down
from the Grandmama where i got my middle name, but as a
continuation of the lineage
of Jane
and J
and the art of embroidery
and family
and everything…

June 11, 2024

cool
cool
make me feel worse
about myself
about my quirks/my faults/my worst
habits and have them describe my whole self

awesome
perfect
exactly what i wanted from my one close family member
left

April 8, 2024

the world turns
rotates
and expected bright and dark
bright and dark
bright and dark
interrupts
the brightness of the dark
blocking out the daytime
for a moment
for a few minutes
the birds quiet
the spouse pauses work
and we look through two pairs of sunglasses
as the family group chat in cleveland
explodes
with iphone photos
and pictures of dslr cameras
alike
showing totality
showing what i could have seen
if i’d traveled for the experience

[still not quite as cool as a few years ago
when i observed even less totality
while flying on my moon-shaped lyra
outside and sunglassed and free]

October 12, 2023

i just wanted to say
how much i love my whole
family

true, they aren’t perfect

(but no one is)

and there is so much love
and listening
and care
here

Grandmama gave us that
Grandmama started it

and we continue it

onwards

August 24, 2023

puppies
and cats
and kips
and me
and this house
already filled with memories
and at least one ghost
from the ’90’s
and spooky music
all year long

and that’s what makes a family