letters from val

“If They Say Why, Tell ‘em…….”

February 19, 2013 by letters from val 4 Comments

Dear Friends, My mother sent across many seas and rivers another package of “a few of my favorite things” (Chippies banana chips, lipstick, books, magazines); in the box was my copy of The Enlightened Heart. I haven’t read this “anthology of sacred poetry” in some time, and upon reading, I remembered why its poems are a daily […]

On Love: How It Lingers, How It Lasts

February 3, 2012 by letters from val 7 Comments

Was there a garden or was the garden a dream? – Jorge Luis Borges (Adam Cast Forth) My mother skypes me in the morning (my morning, her night), and fills me in on the hummingbirds who’ve flown into her house and act like its theirs, her garden and its beauties, the concerts or shows she’s […]

Letter from Kingston: The Hibiscus

July 27, 2011 by letters from val 8 Comments

Did you know that a hibiscus folds into itself at night? All of its radiant peach and red and gold wrapped around itself until the morning sun swoops in. I realized this morning at 1am, when I looked at the hibiscuses flanking my mother’s front door, that in New Jersey I was a closed hibiscus, and […]