Black Ink and Parchment

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Welcome to Black Ink and Parchment, a place where words linger like smoke and stories unfold in the quiet spaces between heartbeats. Here, you’ll find my latest reflections on love, loss, longing, and the fragile threads that bind us together.

If poetry speaks to you—the kind that aches, haunts, and stays—wander over to my poetry page for glimpses into my newest collections.

And if you’re drawn to shadows and secrets, step into my Cypress Mills novels… set in a fictional Louisiana town where the air is thick with mystery, and nothing is ever quite what it seems.

Thank you for being here.

  •  The South Doesn’t Tell Its Secrets—They Settle Around You

           The American South has a way of speaking. Down here, the air holds onto secrets, sorrow, and the quiet weight of being human.  South Louisiana has its own way of revealing what lingers. Here are some ways Louisiana hints at her secrets…   Humid air presses memories into you. Floorboards creaking like they remember…

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  • Ways to Dim the Shadow of Anxiety

    My anxiety remains a shadow following me, always there even when there isn’t any light. I think we all experience it more than we would care to admit. Dealing with anxiety is a never-ending battle, so I am offering you some methods that work for me. This is not a replacement for your medication or…

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  • 25 Things That Feel Like Poetry

    Anything can feel like poetry if you let it. Take it all in and see the beauty in the simplest moments of your life. Let it wash over you and inspire you to appreciate everything in what seems to be nothing. 1. A lit candle’s smoke swirling in the moonlight 2. Fog pouring off the…

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  • Placing Universal Boundaries

    You are not the ever-expanding universe. You deserve to have boundaries, but they don’t have to be perfect. When you are finally ready to put these in place after years of letting every comet and star collide with you, it is time for a peaceful evening. Say no. a small, defiant star softly glowing, still…

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  • What Can You Burn to Feel Warm?

    Feel icicles on your eyelashes? Are snowflakes drifting from your words? Certain people, events, and emotions in our lives have a natural coolness that steals your inner spark, leaving you frostbitten. So, if you are shivering, here’s a list of things you can burn to warm up: Bridges to places that no longer serve you.…

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  • A Slow Spring Welcome

          I really try to notice the small moments that make up our lives. Milestones always deserve praise and applause, but they only happen a few times a year if we are lucky. Every day is filled with little things to celebrate, and if we only live for the big moments, then our lives become…

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  • Three Things that Grow in an Abandoned Garden

    One moment you believe your garden is flourishing, then a gardener walks away, and you are left with silence and an emptiness you never thought possible, but here’s what is extraordinary about abandoned gardens. Abandoned gardens embrace their wildness. They grow what they want. It doesn’t matter that this red rose appeared in the middle…

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  • Echoes in a Southern Louisiana Home

    Anyone will tell you that Louisiana isn’t like anywhere else in the world. While it is part of the United States, Louisiana, especially south Louisiana, feels like its own little country. Full of bayous, lakes, boudin, and weekend festivals, south Louisiana will always give you something to talk about and a place to “pass a…

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  • Silent Shatters

    Not everything ends with an explosion. Some of the most tragic events of our lives fall softer than a feather landing on the ground; however, the small moments crush our hearts more than the large catastrophes. Here is my list of events that caused my heart to shatter, in no particular order: Disappointing the person…

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  • What Wilted Roses Remember…

    We live in the moment now, but what happens when we slow down? When we are not able to jump in the car and drive to New Orleans on a whim? Or dance in the rain at midnight? All we will have is our memories… and I like to believe that all living creatures, even…

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