This is beautiful, and it makes me miss my grandmother something fierce. ❤️

In my dreams
I am a tiger lily
vibrant
wild
and thriving
no matter where I go

In the real world
I am a jade plant
hardy
reliable
and surviving
with minimal levels of care

#vss365 #poetry #jade

I am not meant for a world
of schedules
obligations
and complicated little rules
that teach me something
about myself
I can never quite grasp

I am meant for a world
of monsters
side quests
and awkward time loops
that teach me something
about found family and myself
as we save the universe

#vss365

A beautiful senior Alaskan Malamute standing on grey tiles. He's wearing a red harness and looking toward the front door because he wants to go for a walk.

Koji looking extra clean and fluffy post-bath. 🥰

🙏

Thank you very much, Lancelot!

They meant
to burn it all down

to raze the walls
and set torches
to everything
that would burn

they meant
to destroy us

but we know
what to do with ashes

with patient hands
we banked the fire
and tended the embers
that they gave us

and then
we waited
for nightfall

#vss365 #poetry #bank

Thank you!

Tentative tentacle
stretches
unfurls
reaches for me

And I am suckered
by eight arms
and nine brains

Captivated
by camouflage
that ripples
like a light show

Until a sharp sound
interrupts
and tentacles retreat
behind a curtain of ink

#vss365 #poetry #ink

The wind howled
and the trees bowed
in supplication

as lightning reached
its electric fingers
toward the stormbinder

who stood with arms raised
and drew the raging tempest
into her teapot

#vss365 #tempest #poetry

Crash Landing

On the surface
you could argue
that I have surpassed
expectations
just by being here

But if the bar
is not being dead
then I could argue
that you need to adjust
your expectations

#vss365 #surpass #poetry

They say she is
obsessed
with digging for the details
and she is
disappearing
down rabbit holes of rage

I say she is
possessed
with a need to find the truth
and she is
fighting
to set her rage free

#vss365 #obsessed

Transformed in a blink
my bouncy baby becomes
a bright-eyed young man

#vss365 #haiku #bouncy

That tomato is a multitude.

I dream of alien landscapes
stark plains
saturated colours
mountainous flora
strange geometry
teeming with fauna
that I cannot reconcile
with any encyclopedia

And yet
I know this geography
like I know the lines of my hands
the beat of my heart
so familiar that it can only be
a part of me

#vss365

It is always hungry
this ghost that lives
inside my machine
skittering down neural pathways
plucking at blood vessels
and ransacking my endocrine system
looking for something
that will ease the desperate ache
that binds us
and confines us
to this purgatory

#vss365 #ache

How am I supposed
to hold on
to this thing
that I thought was mine
but turned out to be
just a mirage
pale and broken now
and slipping
through my fingers
no matter how tightly
I grip it

#vss365 #pale

So the crows stopped by on their way back to the Ottawa roost and totally made my day. 💖

Cannot wait to be reading this book! (Yes, I know I will have to wait anyway 🤫)

The snow crunches
and I stoop low
so the branch
—bereft like me—
doesn't scratch my face
in protest of my passage
or of winter in general

And for a moment
the branch and I
—in synchrony—
vibrate with our grief
as we log our complaints
with the universe

#vss365 #stoop

Thank you 🙏

I cannot
do this
be this
anymore

There is
not enough
air left
to keep me
from drowning

And I don't think
I want
to be
rescued

Brought back
just to do it
again
and
again
and
again

I can't
I need
to be
free

#vss365 #air

Pitcher plant hanging in a window. There is a snow-covered deck in the background.

Close up of the pitcher part of a pitcher plant. The pitchers are purplish-red with cream-coloured striations.

Best present ever. ❤️🌱

#pitcherplant #indoorgarden

In the darkness
of space
of winter
the idea of spring
seems impossible
like a mythical creature
or the remnant of a dream

I search for a glimpse of green
like I’m looking for a miracle
and maybe I am

That first green #shoot
means light
means life
is still possible
after
so
much
darkness

#vss365

Miss Ripley would like to wish you a happy winter solstice!

Gilly is a pretty great nickname! We don't call Ripley Ripy, but we do call her Ripple and Ripper, which is often the most appropriate nickname! 😄

Ah, the upside down Malamute! ❤️

Ripley has the exact same bowl!

Aww, Gilbert is gorgeous!

An Alaskan Malamute snoozes on a dark blue sofa. Her head is resting on the armrest.

Ripley is sleepy after helping to decorate the Xmas tree 💤🌲