An Excerpt from Chapter IV: Summer | Swallowing the Stars

There is a part of me that hates summer. I am pale and freckled. I burn easily. But despite the heat, summer is a time to slow down and enjoy our world, enjoy one another. It is a season of being, not doing. Swaying in a hammock. Skinny dipping in a lake. Watching the dancing flames of a fire. Simply listening to the night sounds. And best of all, gazing at the stars. Summer reminds us we are alive and young and worthy. It is the memories of youthful summer nights; first kisses; the lingering touch that both electrifies and soothes; the night’s breeze on bare skin. In the summer of midlife, I learn to love myself - my body, my mind, my feelings. Acceptance and freedom are splashes of cold water refreshing the soul on a balmy day.

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I see the day I finally met you 

Understood you are made of glass 

And flesh and stone and spirit 

You are not kind 

And yet you are 

You are not strong

Yet you are the strongest I have known 

You turn in circles 

But you seem to know the way

from “When I look into your eyes”, Chapter IV: Summer