In response to ’s lovely tag, I sat down to write, late at night, after a particularly brutal push to submit a group project.

Full disclosure: I have never written a haiku, but the words started forming before I even opened my notes app.
As I wrote about what came to mind, a theme emerged.
It didn’t feel right to not share in full.

Haiku #1

Grey surrounded me
Bracing against the cold wind
Warm sunlight breaks through

Haiku #2

Whiteness disappears
The deep grey blithely follows
Bright blue greets my eyes

Haiku #3

The cold couldn’t last
It felt a million years long
Sunlight now warms me

Haiku #4

Blues and greens awash
Out of greys and whites, so dank
Rainbows head my way

Haiku #5

Cold lets go its grip
Winter never forever
Green shoots break the ground

Haiku #6

Tempest winds cut through
Gooseflesh riding on my arms
Steering wheel burns me

Haiku #7

Fold up the blankets
Stow away the winter clothes
Shorts and shades, you’re up!

Haiku #8

Shrimped-up college girl
Toss the laptop in your bag
Head for the shade trees

Haiku #9

Damp dust this beauty
Don’t forget to check the tires
The trail beckons me

This is about more than the weather.
Layered… onion or chocolate cake? Depends on the day, lol.

I know I’ve been mostly absent here, popping in briefly to drop a post. I’ve missed all of you. Life is so busy now. So much to learn, so much to integrate.

But I’m still here and I hope you are, too.

What season are you in right now? , , , , , , & !
I’d love to know, but only if you feel it💜
— Liora

Spinning my wheels,
so much to do—
how to make it all work…

Leaving behind
uncertainty—
harnessing all my worth.

Am I enough
to do this well—
or am I just a fraud?

As these thoughts spin
on endless loop—
keenly aware I’m flawed.

How can I help
others like me
when I spin all the time?

Stable for now;
later to crash—
but this is why I rhyme.

In the space here
I’m unburdened
to process all these things.

The structure helps
me see clearly—
turn my words into wings.

I can be more
than who I’ve been
or ever dared to be.

I must resolve
daily, it seems—
my belief is the key.

I will surmount
all obstacles—
keep my eyes on the prize.

To always be
all that I am—
cast my gaze to the skies.

Author’s Note:

I know I’ve been absent a lot recently. I flowed straight from a traumatic event over my break into my new term and, boy, let me tell you: it’s no joke. I’m learning so much and I can’t get enough. I’m actually already working with clients and making a difference. I feel so blessed. I’m not broken, but I am bruised. And I continue to work on myself while helping others to work toward their own peace.

Some things I’ve learned along the way:

• Suffering is universal

• Love is universal

• Empathy is free

• Apathy costs dearly

• Caring diminishes no one

• Making a difference for even one other person makes it all worthwhile

I’m still trying to make my obligations play nice while still medically challenged. Writing is still super important and there is and will be more! Bless all of you who have stuck around—I see you and cherish each one of you more than I can say.
— Liora

So many ills
coming from all sides.
Neverending
stream of foul tides.

People hurting
and losing their way.
Darkness feeding
their souls every day.

Turn on the news—
helplessness haunts me.
Hate fills the space—
Flowing, on repeat.

It’s so easy
to lose hope and crash.
It seems certain
we’re burning to ash.

When the message
is ‘lay down and die’—
can be too hard
to dare and to try.

So what is this—
people flooding the streets?
Some so angry,
but most merry-meets.

When I see them
loving each other,
speaking kindly
as to their brothers—

it moves something
buried deep inside
and reminds me
of why we should try.

Love never fades—
goes out of fashion.
It’s always there,
right beside passion.

I must reach deep,
remember myself—
and pour it out
though kindness and help.

This is not weak
nor from a defect.
It’s born in strength—
our baseline precepts.

See the violence
they wreak every day.
Not justified,
despite what they say.

See the kindness
of people who care—
skin tone is no
prerequisite there.

Fighting against
others for hatred
is different than
backing what’s sacred.

Don’t look away,
pretend it’s not there—
embolden them
to broaden their dare.

Keep pressing on,
refuse to cower—
the only way
to take back power.

Rail against hate—
but don’t be tempted
to take it in
or to accept it.

Much stronger still
to respond with love—
embrace spirit
and goodness above.

— Liora

Is this day just a day off?
A day to gloss over—
or should we remember
what this man stood for,
why it mattered,
how we have failed
to learn from his words?

Was he just a fortune cookie,
a bubblegum machine of quotes?
A pacifist with no true message?
A feel-good messiah?

Or was he so much more?

On this day of reckoning,
many circle his teachings—
ashamed of our lack,
ashamed of our country
and its persistence in othering.

Its insatiable thirst for more.
Its unconquerable quest for power.
Its bottomless hunger for money.

While Black and brown bodies
just want to live.
While many white bodies
also just want to live—

with love,
with hope,
with a future.

Not to serve masters
or wannabe dictators,
or cosplaying Nazis
and slave patrols.

Where patriotism means
pride in community—
our whole community.

Where commitment is to each other
and to the shared world we inhabit.

Where we seek better
for our children
than what has ever been.

Where we pay hope forward
instead of more debt—

debt to the world,
debt to those wronged,
debt to our planet,
that can never be repaid.

Where morality matters more
than FOMO or YOLO.

Where difference is shared
in pursuit of enlightenment,
not weaponized into division.

I have a dream
that he was a prophet
as much as an activist,
as much as a healer.

And I am willing to fight
for the peace he envisioned.

Are you?

— Liora

More work in this vein lives under The Reckoning Lens:

Liora Writes Presents: The Reckoning Lens

Critical reflections at the collision of policy, practice, and lived experience. Short takes free, full reckonings with citations and action lists for paid.

Here I am—
dawn again.
What crap will I do today?

Shit choices—
all around.
How to hold myself at bay?

Reach for weed—
chocolate;
try to feel something else.

Curb my need—
incarnate.
How to bury myself?

Anything
to avoid
the feelings under my skin.

Run away
from my life.
Daily, I’m just giving in.

Fuck my life—
and my horse.
Fuck all those who would harm me.

But if I
keep this up—
I won’t be left to stop me.

Erasure—
is this course
and it won’t stop at my pain.

It will take
everything—
‘til none but darkness remains.

So once more
I must try—
to clear the cobwebs within.

Find center—
resolute.
Work toward my future again.

Author’s Note:

Some days are just harder than others. Sometimes when something major happens, you can lose ground you’ve already covered. You can then get caught up thinking, “Oh well, there that goes. Here I go. Down the rabbit hole again.”

But that’s a lie. A convenient lie you think to give yourself permission to freefall.

Yes, losing ground sucks. But it’s not the end of the line or the path. Sometimes you have to step sideways or even backward to move forward again. Remember when you’re circling that mountain, some heights can’t be reached until you step down first.

Don’t give up. Even when it seems you’re your own worst enemy. Even when it feels the ground gave way beneath you. Take that moment. Dust yourself off. Hydrate.

Then start climbing again. And don’t forget to take in the view.
—Liora

I wake and wonder
what I can do
when all meaning is lost.

Coffee tastes bitter—
entropy reigns.
my joy replaced by cost.

I think too deeply,
then shut it down.
I can’t afford this spin.

Try to stay busy—
nothing has worked.
Seems I can’t settle in.

I’m caught in the past—
moments ago.
How did it turn so wrong?

The beauty I’d built—
gone in a flash.
It’s so hard to be strong.

Maybe I’ll sit here—
rest for a while.
What else can I do now?

My meaning is lost—
I’m untethered.
Happiness disallowed.

I wade through moments,
wish for the past
and try to hold out hope

that one day this will,
at last, make sense.
‘Til then, trying to cope.

I’m not giving up
or giving in.
But damn, this spinning sucks.

I’m looking ahead
to better days.
For now, breathing—in flux.

Author’s note:

This piece sits in the space between collapse and clarity—when meaning hasn’t returned yet, but giving up isn’t an option either. — Liora

Morning again—
so many regrets
for all I’ve left
on the floor.

Blankets dampen
my sense of myself,
numbing me down
to my core.

Maybe today
I chase more than comfort.
The lights shine down,
blinding me.

The air so cold.
Tuck in, just for now.
Think through the fog—
mindfully.

I should reach out,
connect with my friends.
Burdens, once shared,
pared in two.

No, that’s not right.
I won’t weigh them down.
Change perspective.
Alter view.

Bed is so warm,
Netflix on repeat,
killing my time
and my mind.

This is not me,
nor all I’ve worked for.
Time now to seek
and to find.

Comfort, so lovely,
tugs me back in.
Surely there’s nothing
wrong with this.

There lies the peril—
I know it too well.
My stagnation.
Must resist.

Good habits formed—
not to abandon.
It’s time to try
once again.

Might be ugly
before it’s pretty.
On my effort,
it depends.

Who I will be
is ever-changing.
Experience
guides my path.

But I can choose
how I will respond,
decide my fate—
aftermath.

So, I start small
and build me in waves.
Day by day, I
push forward.

I’ve not lost all.
I must remember:
my agency
reordered.

Author’s Note:

I’m in a very circuitous mode: every step forward is followed by a strafe to the side and a few steps back. It makes me sometimes feel like giving up, like I’m never going to push through. But I know better. So, up I get. Movement now. Rest after.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

This, too, shall pass. I know it, though it doesn’t usually feel that way. I guess one great thing about having survived, processed, and healed from so much trauma in my past is that I know this terrain of mine pretty well.

Doesn’t make this hurt less or any easier really. But I don’t lose all hope so easily.

Takeaway: even when you lose sight of the path, trust in yourself to find it again. And again. And again.
— Liora

Everything dark
Hanging in balance
Nothing set—
more loss to come.

My fears abound—
I’ve lost my cadence.
Where’s my path?
I’ve come undone.

My head spinning—
my life in freefall;
edge looms close,
must back away.

Search for some hope
to guide me forward.
Mind still spins—
leads me astray.

I can’t stop now—
I’ve come way too far
to give up;
lose momentum.

I’ll keep looking—
uncover my path.
Happiness
will again come.

Author’s Note:

Some things aren’t ready to be spoken aloud. Some things need time to process before sharing. Sometimes processing looks like avoidance while your body and mind prepare for the grief.

This is where I’ve found myself in the last several weeks. Life keeps moving, so I must keep moving, too. But my mind and heart are bound by what’s occurred, preparing to let go while hoping to hold on. The future is yet unwritten.
— Liora

Content Note: This one has teeth (strong language)!

Read more

Scraps of stuff
I sort in tubs.
Taking them out
one by one…

cover my bed
with them instead.
Lost in memory—
not to run.

Read more

Read more

This is the full version of Push — the story behind it, the struggle that shaped it, and a voice reading for when you need to hear it out loud.

Here’s a po…

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Moving through this phase in my life has been quite interesting. While the connections I’ve made here have been uplifting, I’m going through it a bit. I know I’ve been quiet on that front.

What can I say? It’s still hard at times to truly open up, even now. Even here.

But I’m trying.

Life has picked up in pace—between starting grad school, preparing for the publication of my first zine, and doggedly pushing forward with other projects.

Read more

Caution: This one has teeth!

I’ve been thinking
More
About writing
Down
All my crazy thoughts

With all this spinning
In my head
All the time
So hard to think…
I get lost

Read more

Look at you
You made it
You’ve won! The week’s down

Just a few
Things to do
Then go paint the town

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Eyes meet
Flushed cheeks
Glance away
Shift and sway

Throats clear
To be near
Bliss divine
Stars align

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Some ride for exercise.
I ride for ritual.

Every turn of the pedals takes me farther from noise and closer to the quiet place where my mind opens wide.

This is that journey. Care to tag along? —Liora

The Ride

Deep breath in
Pull gloves on
Time to leave chaos behind

Been so near
Pressure mounting
Things weigh heavy on my mind

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You smiled
A strange little skip
In my core
I stumble and trip

Light laugh
No judgment given
Acceptance
Such a warm vision

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Why am I so
Down through the week
Dragging along
It’s my bed I seek

As it wears on
This feeling grows
Gravity pulls me
Down to my toes

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Sometimes I
Can’t see the light
I stumble, aghast

Knocking shins
Up hard against
The ghosts of my past

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