Resiliency and Strength

I wrote this poem in October 2021 after a very emotional move that I was on with Shelter Movers Ottawa, an organization that moves and supports survivors of domestic and intimate partner violence and abuse who choose to move forward by leaving their abuser. This move is the one that touched me the most significantly…

Written in May 2020, this is me trying to figure out what next – and this was during the very early days of COVID. I learned quickly that it was OK not to be OK but geez, that was a rough period for us all. I think I’m fine but perhaps I am notI have…

I wrote this poem in September 2020 following news of the death by suicide of a young woman who had been battling mental health issues and anorexia. I wrote this poem for her mother, a person who I met while volunteering with Ronald McDonald Family Room at CHEO and a person who spoke many times…

One of my favourite poems as I wrote this for a friend of mine, whose teenage daughter was living with mental and physical health issues. My friend spoke to me of her hope or wish that her daughter be able to spread her wings. I would like to think that she had that opportunity by…

I wrote these two poems in August 2018 – one week apart. They address the same subject of mental health and suicide. The first is from the perspective of the person with mental depression who despite all the efforts of others, is having to ‘walk alone’. The second is from the perspective of the friend…

We live in a colourful world, and are in fact a symphony of colours ourselves. As I sit and look around, wonder fills my very soulThere is colour upon colour, the contrasts making soundIt is like we’re a living palette, with vivid choices to extolThere are greens, blues and purples, and even golden brown The…