Cleansing silence is the tiptoeof a fairy as she slylybirths comfortyouthful dreamerwriting love notes to pixiesin beams the moon can sparesolace wrappedin prayer under coversphantom of shame circlesdisgrace like fireflieswithout flamesladybugs missing spotsand archaic tainted statueswith long-ago muted tongueswhile willows lamentso, plug your earsif puffed up, with mossfrom primal oaks if truth offendsboulders of disgrace…
Category: Neglect
“A Knock” by Joni Caggiano ©️2025 Now Live on HotelMasticadores
A Knock crisp welcoming voice of the wrenhow her incantations I long to hearbut she placed her voice in a boxher color, joy, and song buried near wailing calls soft, tiny bulbs hoist sailoak tree slain by a dismal, frail windroots glisten in the sun, a forest-sickmy body dismantled, like my friend To continue reading,…
Editor’s Pick, “One Petal at a Time,” Live on HotelMasticadores
It is an honor to be featured today on Hotel Masticadores by Michelle Ayon Navajas as the “Editor’s Pick!” She did this for the anniversary of my book, One Petal at a Time. She is especially gracious, as she is releasing an anthology titled After Rain Skies – A Global Anthology to encourage a connection with…
“After Rain Skies: The Global Anthology” Available March 8, 2025
I am honored and proud to be included in this new anthology that Michelle Ayon Navajas has curated. There are more than two dozen talented authors who have contributed to this book with poetry and prose about survival after trauma. Be sure to pick up your copy when it becomes available next week! “I am…
The Cure – Live on HotelMasticadores
The Cure slow motion sobriety stirs direly like ticks on a thin-horned beast the black and white film resonates greasy black hair crawls like ants drunk for weeks, the smell lingers like a mucous trail of a banana slug blood dances a tango in your head vomit and snot, well-oiled fireworks explode on your white…
“Leaving the big four” live on masticadoresindia
Leaving the Big Four During the third year of school and living on the big four, I was divided into pieces by a swift sword, perching on my safety edge. My brown eyes must have turned black as I heard mom’s words, but I was sure I was suffocating. “Joy, honey, we are moving to…
To All My Readers, you are my family
My big window parading all my friends so close by, yet no one tattled or told me today was the day they would die. Yesterday, the sun was a bit worn-out, and some rain cried while wetting the earth, but still, I saw the new Creeping Jenny’s annual birth. My eyes don’t work well…
Hidden in childhood – reading of God’s Grace
To purchase Hidden In Childhood, go to this link Amazon. This book makes a precious gift to anyone with a family member who was abused or is still being abused. For children raised by parents that provided a healthy and safe environment to grow up in, this book gives them an idea of what many…
My New Prose “slumbering Savannah” Now On Masticadoresindia
The swamp claws its way through the mud. Water moccasin waking late in the winter’s artful sun. Hiding in the putrid belly of the forsaken shade of the brown-haired trees, he lay gazing. He sees in black and white. Stalking prey with a proud skinny neck and blockish head, he hunts. Choctaw child, feet raw…
My Short Story “Booze And Bobcats” Now On MasticadoresIndia
Anguish threw her vile smell around the house like a cat who sprays the coffee pot. Strings of tension gave rise to erect hair follicles like they always did when something horrible was about to happen. Mom and my little sister Rosa were nowhere to be found. Dad’s car was parked in the back of…