Luftmensch

Wait. Don't tell me.
Let me think

of a jewel sifted

from the canyons in Arizona,

the feathers plucked

from a chicken, or the

last letter in a crossword

puzzle.

Let me think.

Perhaps, it is the scowl

sketched on the faces of grouchy men

after they lose a game of chess, or

a Germanic tribe that crafts pottery

from molten lava and beetlejuice. It could

be vast or finite, vibrant

and fierce or bland

and docile. It could.

The click sends

my thoughts away.

Google doesn’t speculate. It punches

me in the gut and sends me on

my way, facts in hand, wonder

pushed in deep.

Read More

Homeless

A foot lies brown against the white pavement. The tattered blanket cannot protect it from the cold, just as the sock of blue now faded to gray cannot hide the callouses from winters past. The sock is a mere sheet, crusted in mud and twine with a hole ripped wide letting three toes peek out at the sky. Three wise men, they long for foreign lands. They champion the chorus of anywhere but here. Tied to the pavement, the fire in their souls barely keeps them warm. In the night, the three seek a light to guide them in from the cold. No stars shine through the fog.

Read More

Meet The 7 Girls Next Door

"Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious." - Brendan Gill

Seven girls living in one house, five of which must endure the basement. Seven girls, one house. A brothel, perhaps? Sorority is the next logical guess. But no, we are just seven girls caught in the awkward transition between the years of pent up teenage angst and true adulthood, the glorious figure of 21. We have a few who have traveled to the great beyond of bars and booze, but this isn’t about age or liquor; it is about a family, a collection of seven odd souls under one roof.

We have Chelsea, a budding pre-engaged teacher from Idaho; Stephanie, a bowhunting sprinter from Washington; Lori, a futbol enthusiast whose “hips don’t lie” from Santiago, Chile; Laurel, a culinary database in the form of a 5 foot 2 business major from Washington; Amanda, an almost junior Olympic skier and Taylor Swift doppelganger from Oregon; Maggie—a.k.a me—a sweater-loving bookworm from California; and Jenna, a decoupaging, social justice advocating baker from Washington.

We are definitely an eclectic group, entering into each other’s lives in ways we can’t really remember. It wasn’t the beginning that stuck with us; rather, it is the now. The family we can’t remember not knowing. Hopefully, you may think of us that way too someday. Wake up, and say I don’t even know the first time I read this blog, but it stuck with me.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” –C.S. Lewis

Read More