I love thinking about all the ways we soothe and ourselves and one another. This poem is a partial picture, there are friends and kids and books and so much more :)

My Medicine

Sleep and chocolate,
eight hours and half a candy bar.
Giving second chances,
most of all to myself.

Cheese puffs,
the jalapeño ones
at the health food store
I make a bag last four days
and apples, one each day.
It might not seem important
what we eat, if we sleep,
if we try again,
but it is.

Exercise.
When my kids yell at me
it lives in muscle fiber
those stretched over scapulas,
released only by running or riding.
When I hear news about killings,
only wheel and triangle pose
remind me of goodness again,
one humanity family.

Flowers and words,
lots of different ones.
Bossy flowers,
roses and dahlias,
shy flowers,
violets and lilacs.
Brash words like
Damn and No.
Soft words like
maybe and sorry.