poet & goddess
With each daybreak
a new start
cutting thru the darkness
With each small step
another milestone
creating yet more options
With every ending
a new beginning
turning failure into learning
With every effort
another goal faced
tending to our dreams
2016 
creative spoonie,
dependent rebel,
impaired poet,
optimistic realist,
so much more,
sometimes less;
I AM human, as are you:
Everyone Matters 💜 & ☕️
2015
“The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
— Aristotle
“‘Everyone Matters’ is about everybody’s value, that we all count, that we should all stand tall for who we are, as we are,” the campaign founder HealthCliff Rothman told The Huffington Post in an email. “It’s about judging each other, and ourselves less.”
“Hold fast to your dreams for, without them,
life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.”
— Langston Hughes
From Pooh Corner to poetry
With courage and coffee
Thru Art for art’s sake
She inspirited me
From Upstart Crow to unity
With trust and tea parties
Thru Truth for my sake
She inscribed her love
From Camp Nelson to chaos
With freedom and fantasy
Thru Faith for our sake
She inspires me still
2008
I’m the happy result of an unlikely event, a planned teenage pregnancy. Unhappy with her life, my mum made a bold change; she married at 16 and had me a year later. Momma hadn’t found a better life but she had realized her dream of becoming a mother and her brave pursuit of something more gave us each other, and San Francisco. From that nontraditional beginning, through impromptu poetry readings to her own artistic endeavors, she raised me first and foremost to be creative. That gift is as important to me as her unconditional love and unwavering belief in me. Creativity as an end, not just a means, has enabled me to see possibilities beyond my limitations as a spoonie. Momma not only taught me to dream but to dream creatively.
Our mums bring us into being, may guide us as we grow, support us if we’re lucky, and befriend us if we’re ridiculously lucky. I’ve been ludicrously lucky but, then again, I started life as a dream come true – what a legacy!? Momma wonderfully captures our creative journey in her response to this poem, “We’ve both been through all kinds of chaos since Camp Nelson (playing at the creek!), Winnie the Pooh curtains, & huggable Eeyores – not to mention coffee & books at the Upstart Crow – but what we found there has brought us through the tough times, lit up our memories of the good times, & added the magic!!” She’s described me as her alter-ego and she’s my inner compass; my mum and I are more than compatible, we’re complementary.
White Bird Flying is a painting by my mum, Phyllis Dorey-Thiessen
Green, living/alive
Seeking to thrive..
Nature seeks naught but need
No need to waste; waste not, want not
So much we can learn
Ideas taking seed
Using what’s needed
Sharing what’s not
Built-in recycling
Reuse revives
2013
I celebrated Earth Day in my own little way, as I do most holidays: the design on the tank is a tree too so that darling pin will likely stay a permanent companion. It was a free gift found at San Francisco’s annual Earth Day Festival. I also came away with far more paper flyers than makes sense for such an event. Thankfully, a lot of the paper was recycled but I’m hoping to see more information disseminated electronically in the future; sigh.
