Dreaming of a Tree

Illustration by Roisin O’Donnell – @stevenfritters

A poem originally published in The Bower Monologues.

There’s a gentle, wise tree

With leaves that remind me

The world’s fragility

And I dream of how it would be

If this was my reality

If I could always stay there

Taking refuge in its serenity

Now Has No Fears

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  Image Credit: Noor Tribe

This poem has been featured in the Creative Collections section of The Collective Magazine.

Your fears are not here

Now

The last time you met them

They told you:

Symphony of Everything

Illustration by Ana Marta Huffstot

A poem originally written for and published in Coronaverses Collective. It was also beautifully narrated in a trailer video created by the magazine.

Today, I heard

The song of two birds

A sparrow, and a robin

The song was about being

Here, and hearing

The cat, waking up

The flower, coming to life

Something of You

Illustration by Yifan Hu

A poem originally published in Any Segment Magazine.

Today 

There’s no sun

But there are still the tales

Of the sky

Tonight 

There’s no moon

But there’s still the light 

Of her eyes

Beautiful Mind

Illustration by: Helen Panayi

A poem originally written for and published in Any Segment Magazine

Come closer, child

There’s nothing to be scared of

She whispered, smiling 

She was still like a tree

A tree, having a beautiful dream

I took a step towards her 

And held her hand

I was not afraid

I felt free, as I looked at her hair 

Dancing like a wildflower in the summer air

Welcome, child, she whispered

All we need is here

Silence

Image by unknown

A flash fiction story originally written for and published by The Story Seed.

What he liked most about this small town was the silence that enveloped everything. In winter, even the cars hibernated – all you could hear was the sound your footsteps made on the untouched snow. Late-night winter silence was particularly soothing.

His Sun

Image by Jules Gervais-Courtellemont.

A flash fiction story originally written for and published by The Story Seed.

It was as if Margaret was still here.

After all those years, her presence could still be felt everywhere – in the house and in the garden, in the river and in the air. But most strongly, in his paintings.

You Are Home

Image by Ramon Haindl.

This flash fiction story was originally written for and published by The Story Seed. It is inspired by and dedicated to the teachings and meditations of Thich Nhat Hanh, a beloved Zen master, spiritual leader, activist and poet.

She closed her eyes and inhaled the sunset mist…

As she let her breath out slowly, a deep sense of nostalgia filled her.

It felt like she was in a long-lost 19th-century Romantic painting.

A Mockingbird the Color of Teal

Image by Susan Worsham.

My first piece of flash fiction, originally written for and published by The Story Seed. It is inspired by and dedicated to one of my favorite novels of all time, “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

I’ve been wearing his sweatshirt ever since they took him away. He once told me that its color was named after a bird.

Game-Changing Models of the New Generation

Image Credit: Gurls Talk

In the age of empowerment, models are on a mission to break the stereotypes and challenge the criteria by which their success is measured.

Oxford Dictionary’s definition of a model is “A person employed to display clothes by wearing them.” Which is, in the literal sense, true, of course – but clearly inadequate especially when one thinks about the successful, outspoken and inspiring models of our time, like Adwoa Aboah, Winnie Harlow, Ashley Graham, Hari Nef and Halima Aden. If there was a chance to edit that definition now and expand it, what could’ve been said?

A model is a person (i.e. a human, not a hanger) who has a unique character, soul, opinions and beliefs. A person who works hard to show that, that there’s much more to them. A person who works hard in the professional sense too, in not always so glamorous conditions which they have little control over, while more often than not facing gender and racial discrimination, verbal abuse and bullying, sexual assault and constant criticism about how to look, what to eat, who to become. A person who has scars and marks, insecurities and health issues like everyone else, but perhaps feels that people don’t want to hear about all that, they just want to see the body – the person who is employed to display clothes by wearing them.