In January, I went to my gynecologist mildly concerned about some itchiness and pain in my nether regions. I expected a simple diagnosis—some kind of weird bacterial infection or an allergic reaction. Instead, I learned that I have a chronic condition called lichen sclerosus (LS), which is believed to be an auto-immune disorder. Basically, my […]
On the Other Side of this Dusty Wardrobe
by on May 14, 2019 Leave a Comment
My children blur fantasy and reality. Right now, they are yipping from the other room, pretending they’re puppies. Later, they’ll be ninjas, superheroes, or bunnies. They stack cardboard boxes on overturned chairs, drape them with blankets, prop pillows all around, and create cozy puppy rooms for one another. They scavenge for ordinary objects, using them […]
As the Anniversary of My Mom’s Death Approaches
by on March 28, 2019 Leave a Comment
The body remembers. It keeps tabs and intuits cycles. The doing the feeling the becoming all tangled together. Not unlike last year’s morning glory vines braided together, now brown from frost after frost after frost. Whose roots are plump with green, waiting while the light stretches long About a month before The date something shifts […]
The Injured Body
by on October 10, 2018 3 Comments
By: Martha Tatarnic I have spent the better part of my thirties on a runner’s high. In a decade jam-packed with family and work responsibilities, running has become the “Big Marble” that has to go into the jar first in order for all of the other marbles to fit. And while, as a Christian leader, […]
The Both/And
by on September 27, 2018 10 Comments
There are some weights I’ve carried silently across years, my skin and bone growing right around them tangled complicated. The heaviness buried. Still, I grew into my frame. I softened, curved found my way. I’ve made beautiful things. I can be both/and. But then, on a day still close, words spilled inky and echoed across […]
