by Michelle Tocher | Sep 17, 2022
“To those alive to the order of reality which they embody, the old symbols will live again; it is not they, but we who are dead.” — Kathleen Raine, Defending Ancient Springs, 1967 Remember a time when words mattered? When you strung them like pearls...
by Michelle Tocher | Oct 9, 2018
At the end of this Thanksgiving weekend, I went looking for an old poem that was coming back to me. I feel the same way today as I felt then about my old friends. This one’s for you. My Old Friends Memories bubble light to the surface Pockets of air in a pool— A...
by Michelle Tocher | Sep 18, 2017
My mother is in the orchidsthe tiny yellow orchidsthat Teresita gave meafter my mother died I don’t know how my friend knewthat in the spirit of the orchidmy mother’s spirit grew. She kept them in her companyat all times, and arranged her homearound them, with...
by Michelle Tocher | Jun 15, 2017
These days I’ve been thinking a great deal about spells. What sort of power is running through us when we cast negative spells in life? I’ve heard many people say that it feels good to express their rage because they get their power back. The problem is that...
by Michelle Tocher | Mar 20, 2017
Why do I not walk into spring? Do the forsythia and daffodils not speak to me?Nor the warming sun, the bursting lilacAnd the waiting garden under leaf? Does the rose on my balconyWho has braved the bitter winterNot embolden me? Am I not surprisedTo see the plant...
