Kim did not immediately respond to John’s ultimatum email and they avoided each other at work. Every evening John drove past his house; lights were on inside. Greg’s car was not in the driveway, though John realized it could be in his spot in the garage. That was not a pleasant thought. After three days, he entered his office to find a paper on his desk. It read: John, I agree to your conditions, although I don’t understa...

Kim had been excited at the prospect of going out night-clubbing with both John and Greg. But she was also apprehensive about them together again, so she said yes when her friend Carol had asked to come along. She could be a buffer to keep things amicable. She and John ate an early, light supper without alcohol, then went to get ready. She poured herself a glass of wine and asked him to help her by shaving her legs and tr...

Daddy saw me standing naked, with only his maroon silk necktie covering my eyes and a set of new jute ropes proffered on my palms. From the time he arrived until now, my intimate parts and thighs were already dripping from my anticipation. Keeping my chin up, I boldly said, noticing the wetness of the rope on my groin, "Daddy, I don't like it rough tonight." "Baby girl, you know I was never rough. The ropes you chose are....

Don't touch without intentYour fingers graze my soulA scar's path in its wakeMy heart's not for rentOnly passion and zestWill I accept these daysArouse me with wordsRise above the restPieces of my heartI hold close and protectDarkness lurks deep insideNo more pulling apartAnother change to mendBroken wings time to healOur future not certainCertainly, not the endSin now yours to ownMine so long pastForgiveness resurrectedL...

I will never understand or heedthe voices bouncing aroundand ricochetting trying to leadDamaged connections and tissuewarp any sense I ever have of meSelf-worth not the only issueFighting with myself at nightWanting all and nothingI can never find the lightValue others see in mePerhaps they are blindAnd cannot clearly seeI've just been castIn a life I never choseEach time not the lastLove surrounds me but noI eschew and p...

I know who I am, I think. Sarcastic, friendly, funny and kind.Yet in my head, search and see what you will find.Cravings, darkness, a fantasy rich world with no end.Those I know see only the exterior sheen, not the twists and the bends.My desires, light or dark and so black, why do I have to hide?Like others, I'm not filled with just light. I have a whole other side.In my brain resides a girl who exists straddling a thin...

“Philip wait it's not what...” I jumped, the sentence left hanging in the air as the front door slammed closed. “Penny, stop him, please!” I begged her, “I have to explain to him.” Penny was already up and followed him out through the door. I tried to stand also but my head was spinning and throbbing so much that I just slumped back onto the chair and waited, my breathing difficult and laboured. It seemed an eternity unti...

it’s not easy being a girl/sometimes/cause you were born in a world that thinks you are second/when you can hear your own heart beat/when you have danced in the womb/when you have your own rhythm/you cry out at birth/your lungs fill with your own power/they say hush but they cannot quiet the beginning of a storm/you are the whirl wind they desire to control/they won’t let you call yourself by your own spirit’s name/they d...

I feel that happiness is perhaps not meant for meContented, stable, smiling, satisfied, maybe thoseIts meaning lost, I search but still can not seeLost in my reverie, to decide and define or to loseHappiness, sold to us, bought both lock and keyTouching, tangible, its price marked down each dayFork over my heart to its tag or forget and be freeAnswers I seek in friends, family, anyone who comes my wayAsking again, who hol...

I feel them begin in my spine traveling upSometimes black and sometimes brightly huedDays cold, my soul safely shriveled in its cupI need you more than ever to keep me gluedFeet planted, purple painted toes dug into the earthI feel, hear the wind blow through trees bleak, so coldMy mind often like a ship out at sea, it just needs a berthSome say I was born this way, a soul that was already oldYour rough hand holding mine,...

I replace the receiver of the phone back into its base. I watch my hand, surprised to see it steady. I sit quietly on the edge of the bed for a few moments. I stare unseeing at the phone. Everything I believe in suddenly called into question. My reality and whether or not I can trust my own memories, mind and judgment. All changed with the simple ring of a phone.This was the second call I had received in less than a week...