tail end of October

Leaves begin to turn gold on the trees and my garden is going to sleep. I have spent the last hour getting two poetry submissions out. Even though my ability to write poetry at all, to even feel like a poet, seems to have died during my MFA program, I still send work out, still plan to get my book manuscript out this year after finally getting it formatted onto my MacBook. I feel that the more I act like a poet, the more I can at least open my heart's door to it.

I am sorry to report, to those who are following the Asha Veil case, that there is no news to report at this moment. I have heard from readers all across the US and Europe about the case. I feel that this case will proceed slowly before someone is arrested.
I think people in my community are still in shock. It's sad that people have to piece together news and speculation like this, as if the truth is hiding under a stone somewhere, or written like frost on a leaf. At the center of it all, someone is gone, and another life will never be born to this earth. I try to remember that--at the center of this is justice for Asha and her unborn daughter. In a time when we need more kind women like Asha, someone who said hello to everyone, she was ripped out of life's fabric. Like everyone, I wait for word of some resolution.