This little one is soft and sweet and smells like calm between the cries. She's plumping up and cooing sweet as all the world awaits her time.

Nothing wrong had happened yet. She's pure and innocent and safe. Her heart is growing stage by stage as mind and body change their shape. She's happy now, and sleeping sound. Her skin is soft, her face is round. The plush pink cheeks will giggle soon as eyes wide open scan the room.

Strawberries

amidst the green

muddy prints

of bunny feet

around the bend and out of sight

the garden that the wild has claimed

I'm running down the street, afraid, aching and tiring. I turn the corner and there it is, the shadow, I look and I stare......... it doesn't move, neither do I.

We stare a gaze that could break a soul....... it lingers and just like that, it jumps at me and as it gets close i hear a car horn blaring next to my ear, I look to see where it's coming from and a car comes out of nowhere and hits me. I close my eyes

I take deep breaths as I wake up from my dream, more like a nightmare filled bad dreams.

My alarm keeps going on the table as I try to place myself back in reality. My palms covering my face as I catch my breath..............................

When my breathing calms down, I relax and stay there in that moment, with my hands covering my eyes so I couldn't see any of the work I had left to do. I breathe normally again, I reach and turn off the alarm, then I sit back, close my eyes and try to relax. But, just as there was silence around me, I could again here deep breathes, they weren't mine, so I opened my eyes and a great big fluff ball jumped right at my face. Licking everything in sight, i try to fend off the beast of cuteness but it's power of being adorable is too great for me.

I try to push him back but after a few seconds I just give up and pretend to be dead, at least there's someone to cheer me up, even in times like this.

He starts pouting at me with his big shiny dog eyes of his and I am defeated,

"Ok, buddy, let's go for a walk."

He runs to the door as I grab his leash and a sandwich for myself, this might just be a better day than I thought it out to be.

Every evening at exactly 7:30pm our doodle, who's nicknamed Nutty, puts herself to bed by hopping up on the loveseat and dramatically kicking off the pillows. She then rolls upside-down pulling her ears and eyes back. This is all followed with the kind of huff only a ridiculously spoiled dog could do.

An hour or so later I put her to bed but not before a pouty child routine where she goes limp and pretends she's a rock. Once up it's off to our king-sized cushy latex foam bed where she lays perpendicular with no respect for our space.

I love her so much!

In the DR. Island of my dreams, my getaways—magic each and every time,

just as if it’s the first time: EUPHORIA

The luminous joy of knowing wonder,

a wonderful secret, employing a

wonderful plan, basking in a wonderful you.

No worries, no guilt, no chores, no tasks, no knowledge, just perfect—

coffee, mimosa, passion fruit juice, fresh squeezed—save space!

for the vegetarian omelet cooked just for you

with all the love and respect you never

experience in the North, the cold North

Every wonder, every delight:

the spa treatments, the hammock, the piña coladas, the mamajuanas, the mofongo, the parrots, the bachata music, the smiles, the appreciation of your appreciation

whereas one never has enough, is enough, has done enough to count, to rest, to be left alone, here,

you’re more than enough and greatly counted—

The Sunlight, the excursion, the pool, the sand you bury your feet in, the relaxing tingles all over your body, the years melted away, you sit in the lounge chair and heal from all that‘s broken and toxic in the North, the soulless North.

ahhh, Relief,

You are grounded.

I was painting in a daze

mind lost in a world

I didn't want to be in

I didn't want to be

I couldn't sleep the other night

and so my head was fogged

my brain was off

and the white paint covered the picture

Sweetly she shook me from my shadow

Serenely she said "is everything ok?"

She sang the words that stopped myself

from losing myself

Her hair was blonde and short

her name was zee

a little older than me, with kind eyes

the kind that can really see

Mitchell drove into the church parking lot, it was 6:30 pm, thirty minutes before the activity was supposed to start. The other church people might have needed help setting up for the Valentine's day bingo activity, but that was not why Mitchell got there so really, particularly when most people would actually get there late. Michell did not like being late, it was a kind of irrational fear, a fear that if he was a few minutes late for something, he would not be able to participate in it. Not that he particularly wanted to be a part of this activity. He just had nothing going on all day, and he was bored.

He parked the car, at the end of the lot, by a bent yellow road sign. It was supposed to say something, but it was so scratched and rusted that he could not make it out. There were a few other cars in the lot, but he read his book, a fantasy novel, the third book of a fourteen book series, instead of going in.

After his twenty minute timer went off, he went into the building. There were only a few more cars at that time, but Mitchell saw that the activity was already set up. Bingo. Bingo for twenty to thirty year olds who had nothing going on that Valentine's night. Valentine's day losers. At least that is what Mitchell called them all, himself included. What kind of person goes to a group activity thing like this on Valentine's day. It should be a day for watching movies, playing video games, and eating ice cream. Anything to drown the feelings. Mitchell walked over to the closest table and sat down and made small talk to the three table mates already there, without looking at any of the other tables. Mitchell did not know any of them, he had only recently moved into the area, but by the time that the activity started he knew their names were John, Ann, and Fred. Fred and Ann had both lived in the area for nearly their whole life, while John moved in a few months before Mitchell for work, he was a nurse. Fred was an accountant, and Ann was a dentist. As the church leader started listing out what the plans were that evening, nothing special, Mitchell started to look around the room. That was when he saw her, a pretty dark haired woman wearing a bright blue sweater with a red bow in her hair. She was sitting at one of the tables on the other side of the gym, to his left. The colors jumped out among the many grays, browns, and black clothes that a lot of the others were wearing.

As the bingo game started, they were using chocolates instead of writing materials to mark the cards, Mitchell kept looking her way. Hoping that he was not being creepy and wondering what the proper way to introduce himself would be. It would have really helped if he was at the same table as her, but it was too late to change that without looking like a fool, or being rude to Ann. Mitchell was actually one of the ones who won a bingo, the prizes were nice big red roses. The pretty woman also won one, that was when he learned her name was Alice. Soon, the evening got a bit boring, Mitchell probably would have left by that time if Alice had not caught his attention. All the tables were now playing table and card games with each other. Then Alice got up from her table, it looked like she was going to leave.

Stressed about what he should do, he also got up to leave, he was going to try and speak with her on the way out. Luckily, both their cars must have been parked near each other because she started towards the door where he would have gone to. Working not to appear so, he raced to the door first.

"Good job winning," he said as he opened the door for her, nodding towards the rose.

"You too," she said as she nodded towards his rose.

"Thank you, as you know it takes a certain skill to win at bingo. She laughed as they both headed towards their cars. "By the way, you are very well dressed. I love the blue sweater and the ribbon."Mitchell could feel his face getting redder. Hopefully, he was doing this right and not looking like a fool.

"Thank you, your gray button up looks very nice," she said after a brief pause.

Not knowing what to say next, he handed her his prize rose as they got to her car, his car was still a few feet away. "You look like someone that could use two roses, here, take mine. Oh, my name is Mitchell by the way."

Her face went visibly pink. He was not sure if that was a good or a bad sign. "Oh, thank you," she said as she picked up the rose from his hand.

"Hope to see you here again!" He said as he waved at her, as they both got into their cars.

As he drove him that night, he thought about the brief meeting over and over again in his head, hoping that he did not freak her out. He also wondered if they would see each other again. Maybe, just maybe, he was not a Valentine's day loser.