Walk with me as we explore conversations about family, faith, Nature's wonders, and life.

Gathered from the Week

Poetry, Nature, Voice, and Witness Roundup

More Than Poetry
Jun 21, 2026

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Greetings, my friends, on the Summer Solstice! I’ve been awake since before the sun made its appearance this morning.

One of the few perks of milking cows before dawn was reaching the end of my row, standing in the open barn door, and looking out across the hills. Blue mist rested in valleys while pink light crept over the horizon. That same view included our ancestral cemetery on a small hill nearest the barn.

As a child, I wondered who those people had been. What stories they carried. What they loved. What remained after they were gone.

Today, I find myself thinking about my Dad who’s been gone for most of my boys’ lives. And also of my mother, who still misses him and her friends who have already gone ahead. The loneliness that comes from loving people long enough to lose them.

The summer solstice has always felt bittersweet to me. We celebrate the year’s longest day, even as it marks the moment when darkness begins its slow return.

Much of my work circles light and shadow. If there were no light, there would be no shadow to keep. I’m grateful for both, for it’s the shadows that give us the shape and depth of things.

May the light find you today🔆💛

Beauty Gleaned from Nature’s Offerings

I left for a short walk and returned to find the wind had deconstructed what I’d made. Beauty can be both found and fleeting.

Since the wind scattered my first arrangement, I sheltered one at the root of an aged tree. There, light and shadow became part of the art.

Recent Poetry Events

What a wonderful afternoon of poetry and storytelling. With more than eight open mic readers and more than seventy people in attendance, we created a space where intergenerational and multicultural voices could be shared, heard, and celebrated together.

Unfortunately, my recordings didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped, but I’m working to see if there are better recordings.

A heartfelt thank you to yalonda jd green and Traci Curry, the Contemporary, Delaware Poets Almanac, and the Delaware Division of the Arts ( DDOA) for helping make one of my dreams possible. Franetta McMillian not only read, but provided special mandala art. Vaughn Hilton’s voice is so powerful! And I’m thankful for all the others who were featured, read, or were in attendance. Salt in the Archive always brings the 🔥

Your support, talent, and generosity made this gathering possible💛

Check out the Eventbrite link for more information on those who were featured. Poetic Memory

Notes from the Edges

Life has been hitting hard on so many fronts these last weeks. The worst thing about having chronic illnesses and a muscle seizure disorder is that emotional burnout and flares feed off each other. It’s like a perpetual motion machine making burnout exponentially worse.

I’m having to limit myself. Hibernate. Most people do not understand how early and chronic CSA leaves you with a higher baseline of stress. How you’re a survivor, but Life’s blows hit harder.

How staying a survivor means ‘disappearing’ at times. Means not showing up for others like you want to. Means being judged by those who have no idea. So I’m not gone. I’m hibernating. Letting the pain move in and through me, emotionally and physically. Walking the labyrinth in so that I can then walk out healthy and ready to go again.

Wider Lens

Something You Learn as a Survivor and Being in Survivor Advocacy

I am still processing a recent communication that was deeply accusatory and contained false statements about me. It felt like walking a road I have traveled before, one that has taught me a great deal about how healthy and unhealthy systems respond when concerns are raised.

Over the years, through living in a neurodivergent household, working with survivors, and advocating alongside people with unique support needs, I have learned that one of the clearest indicators of a safe organization or church is the ability to examine both a reaction and the events that preceded it.

Safe systems understand that reactions do not occur in a vacuum. They may not agree with every response, but they are willing to ask what happened, what factors contributed, whether there was a misunderstanding, whether boundaries were crossed, and whether they themselves played a role in the outcome.

Unsafe and unhealthy organizations often do the opposite. The focus remains fixed on the reaction while the surrounding context is ignored. The conversation becomes about tone rather than substance, response rather than cause, feelings rather than facts, reputation rather than accountability.

This matters for everyone, but especially for survivors, autistic individuals, people with disabilities, and others who may already be navigating trauma, communication differences, or systems that frequently misunderstand them. When context is ignored, people can be judged for how they responded rather than understood for what they experienced.

Healthy organizations, churches, workplaces, advocacy groups, and communities are not those that never make mistakes. They are those that can acknowledge mistakes, examine their own actions, and remain open to accountability.

One of the lessons I keep returning to is this: safe organizations are willing to look at the facts of a whole story, including the parts that may be uncomfortable for them. Unsafe systems tend to focus only on the parts that protect their own position.

Nearly every retail and food service job taught me how to respond to complaints. Even if I wasn’t personally responsible for the problem, I was taught to listen, acknowledge the person’s experience, apologize on behalf of the organization, and help find a solution. It wasn’t about accepting blame for something I didn’t do. It was about understanding that when you represent an organization, you also share responsibility for how people are treated. Healthy, successful organizations understand that accountability and care for others are not weaknesses. They’re part of what builds trust.

If a church or organization always focuses on people’s reactions and never steps up to take responsibility, that’s a significant red flag. When accountability flows in only one direction, safety erodes. If a church or organization is unwilling to acknowledge mistakes, apologize, or take responsibility for harm, they become unsafe places for the very people they claim to serve. Survivors and advocates who have worked across many organizations often learn to recognize these dynamics quickly.

The details may change. The pattern rarely does.

This Week’s Poem

On Poetry "Farmhouse Porch Nights"

More Than Poetry
Jun 19

Read full story

Thank you for walking alongside me, fellow keepers of light and shadow.

May your week be filled with small moments of beauty and renewal.

Joyce