Trying to write in the aftermath of grief is harder than I ever imagined it would be. Good stories demand emotional resonance. Writing something worth reading requires tapping into the same well of memories and feelings where the grief resides, raw and ready to spill over.
Tag Archives: Human Condition
Jellyfish
Now I’m a bag adrift in this never-ending sea
Trying to remember how it ever felt to breathe
The Forgotten Man
His hands won’t stop trembling. His breath puffs out in ragged clouds that swirl and fade away, dissolving like a memory.
Darkness Lingers
All the love I’ve experienced
Has felt like pain
Like a bolt of lightning
Through a warm spring rain
January’s Quiet Lies
And only time can turn a wound into a scar
And only scars remain of old mistakes
But still, I am what I have done
Though the Smoke May Lift
Tear down the four walls of this time-stopped room
and set me free.
Let flames lick clean the bones of what we knew,
and when there’s nothing left but this stabbing pain,
let me feel nothing.
Spoonfed Tragedies
We’re fed lollipops and bandaids
To placate hollow tears
And handed fictional monsters
To be the focus of our fears
Family Pot Luck is a Dish Best Served Tepid
…unlike Pete and Patty’s green bean casserole, which, like their marriage, has been in the oven far too long and is starting to break down.
Where Have You Been?
Writing hasn’t just taken a backseat. Writing fell out of the car five or six rest stops ago and is wandering along the highway with its thumb out, hoping for someone who is actually heading its way.
Better the Wolf You Don’t than the Devil You Know
“Are we in the forest, Mammy?” she said. “Why yes, we are, love.” “Aren’t there wolves in the forest?” she said. “None so fierce as the one we left behind, pet.” “Can I hold your hand, though, Mammy?” she said. “Of course you can, sweetie.” “Are we lost?” she said. “Not lost enough, my dear.”Continue reading “Better the Wolf You Don’t than the Devil You Know”
Aly Writes 