I Stared At Her Black

Hold Still," My Father Would Say, While I Held The Ship In The Bottle And He Burned Away The Strings He'd Raised The Mast With And Set The Clipper Ship Free On Its Blue Putty Sea. And I Would Wait For Him, Recognizing The Tension Of That Moment When The World In The Bottle Depended, Solely, On Me.

I Would Like To Tell You That I Am, And You Will One Day Be, Forever Safe.

If I Shut My Eyes, I Believed, I Would Disappear. To Make It Through, I Had To Be Present The Whole Time.

As She Stood In The Darkened Room And Watched My Sister And Father, I Knew One Of Things That Heaven Meant. I Had A Choice, And It Was Not To Divide My Family In My Heart.

The Relationship With The Words Someone Uses Is More Intimate And Integrated Than Just A Quick Read And A Blurb Can Ever Be. This Intimacy - The Words On The Page Being Sent Back And Forth From Engaged Editor To Open Author - Is Unique In My Experience.