Leslie Stevens 5/22/23 Leslie Stevens 5/22/23

Ode: to the Gal in the Mirror

This place in the mirror has been sacred ground to fill with wonder and winding hips, wetness and weirdness in toe.

Leslie Stevens 1/6/23 Leslie Stevens 1/6/23

Little Things On the Way to Healing

Expertly rangling in the chaos into a mounted beast that carries me back to the space where this may have begun. Into the silent sanctuary, with air peppered with sorrow and grief. I sway sorting lullabies from spells, crooning softly in the waning moonlight. I collapse into 96 pieces of me and all the others I carry inside. I heal with a million little things on the path from now til then.

Leslie Stevens 5/21/21 Leslie Stevens 5/21/21

Meaningful Work

For a second, good news doesn’t feel so good when you can’t share it with the someone you want to share it with the most. Today would have been my dad’s 73rd birthday. And I’m feeling deeply connected to him in this time of transition and revelation.

Leslie Stevens 4/16/21 Leslie Stevens 4/16/21

Black Woman, Interrupted

I’ve been trying to wade through the deep sea of interruptions, the toll I pay economically, socially, spiritually, mentally, and generationally to be a proud Black woman.

Leslie Stevens 10/17/20 Leslie Stevens 10/17/20

Fear

If I can’t see what’s ahead for 2 miles, I’m definitely going into defensive granny mode. Especially at night. I’m one to slow down for every shadow and unseen curve.

This has been pretty true of the way I move throughout my life every day. I have a comparably low tolerance for uncertainty and chaos. I love spontaneity but only when it’s at a controlled pace. I want to call it to caution but it’s really just fear; fear that can sometimes cause me to forget how beautiful the chaos of life can be. And how often that chaos brings you to a person or thing that you love.