Books are my safe haven.

Photo credit: Gettyimages Many authors whose amazing literary intelligence have graced our shelves left a piece or two of their real-life experiences…

LOUISA MAY ALCOTT: A WOMAN OF MANY STORIES TO TELL (LITA PROJECT)

Sunday morning stirs

anxious people from their beds,

wondering: “What now?”

This news junkie must shut off the spigot. The news is broken. The news is worse than any nightmare that taps into me at night. I never dreamed the Never Again would be welcomed back like the school billy of our childhood. We thought we were done with you. We thought you understood you were wrong.

We were wrong.

You think you will stomp us into complacency. You think you’re better than us. Your hate is toxic.

Don’t drink from that well. We are smart. We know what you’re doing. What you’re trying to do.

Resist. In fact, your offense is offensive.

Nobody puts this baby in the corner.

She hated when I hid myself in oversized clothing. Choose leggings with sweaters, not XX-large loose-fitting pants, she said. Why are you trying to disappear? Why don’t you want to be seen?

I like the cloak of invisibility. No one can make fun of the empty space.

I wear black, my uniform of choice. It’s slimming, I tell myself.

I cannot compete with a sunset. It looks good in anything.

Overwhelmed by this sight. Words wouldn’t form.

Thank g-d for cameras.

I’m pulling an all-dayer in a desperate move to fall asleep tonight without a civil war. The hours spent fixing my pillows and fussing with my position are taking its toll. My dark eyes put a new spin on the phrase “carpet bagger.” I can’t function by day if nighttime is my enemy.