THE STORY… Avery, now 8, was introduced to ice cream by her grandpa at the shop across from the bagel store. It has been a lasting love affair. This poem relates to the recurring scene at an ice cream store that persists to this day. The smile it brings reminds me of that special person that started it all.

THE STORY Emma, now 7, loves to dance, twirl, and swirl. Furniture to roll on, jump off, and dangle from are all her artistic props. I look forward to seeing how this creative energy is harnessed as she grows up.

Four years have passed— sadness still marbles my life like the stripes on a zebra. I have yet to see white. ~ The tears have dried— only salt tracks mark memories laid in shale sediment left behind. . . . The arid bed holds but one dream to mine— a reunion someday on the other side.