Published in the Fern Ridge Review, September 2019 Derrington-Via stands in his field of hemp. Mica Derrington-Via, 44, walks down rows of chest high hemp plants, inspecting each one for the Botrytis blight brought by the early rains. Although the plants are immature still, he marks with flags those that are most important to harvest … Continue reading The Resurrection of Hemp: Part 1
Category: Writing
Just Read to Me
Library books. The sound. The smell. Crinkling plastic, shiny pages, inky and metallic. A fading film picture of three sun-baked, knobby-kneed boat kids. Two bright blond, one red-head, 1980’s home-sliced haircuts, generous in the bangs, efficient to keep salty hair out of eyes. Wearing undies and oversized shirts, leaning in transfixed around a weary mom … Continue reading Just Read to Me
Let it Last
This time I came crawling back. Head down, slow approach, looking up shyly for permission. Respectfully I reach out to touch, I understand the distrust. For how many times have I run off to taste some other flavor of myself. For how many times have I bounded back. High on promise, loaded with gifts of … Continue reading Let it Last
Cherry Tree
I’m home again for a while, a 34-year-old kid. Weaving myself into the routines of my family, riding their waves, trying to hold onto my individuality without taking up too much space. Without feeling like I need to become them to fit with them, but without rebelling too hard against the reality they’ve created that … Continue reading Cherry Tree
Unicorn Madness
To All of Us, (millennials perhaps), in search of our ‘unicorn’. Have you heard of the unicorn? It is new to me. Supposedly it is some magical creature that will prance into our lives and whisk us away into a world of love and devotion and happiness. Oh wait, maybe I do know of the … Continue reading Unicorn Madness
Dwelling in Ireland
And so I'm in Europe, my first time, arrived by epic adventure across an ocean, served on a small wooden-boat shaped platter, and all I could do was huddle against the damp Irish chill in my father’s down sleeping bag, glued to Caribbean weather reports on the screen of my tiny iPad. I couldn’t seem … Continue reading Dwelling in Ireland
Newfoundland, Canada
We motored into St. John's Harbor among massive tankers and rickety old fishing boats to the biggest town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Houses on hills, ships, tall banks and hotels. At 250,000 people, this town boomed when oil boomed, and has since dried up into 2-3 months of tourism and fishing. Inhabitants are … Continue reading Newfoundland, Canada
A Work of Solitude
Invite a man in to taste this space, And he better know how to tread light, Respectful. This is a womb of intuition, A woman cave. Honor the hand prints on the wall. This mind, this delicately sculpted grace, Years in the making, Thoughts carefully aligned, Boundaries steadily defined, Words meticulously chosen, To share honest … Continue reading A Work of Solitude
Jaded?
At what point was I supposed to be jaded? Did it pass or is it still to come? Because I remember those elders telling me years ago, teaching me so young About that thing called idealism, and why it won't work And how their skepticism, their worry, might serve me better In the long run. … Continue reading Jaded?
Into Silence
Continued from Back to the Center I was tripping giddy on that post Vipassana high, rolling in the luxury of the simplest pleasures. Like talking. After ten days of silence, laughing felt like an uncontrollable rush. After ten days observing subtle sensations, driving I-5 was a thrilling roller coaster. After sitting so straight and still, … Continue reading Into Silence
