Geology

Once upon a time I wanted to be a geologist (I still ❤️ rocks).  I was 16 and soon to be applying to colleges. I wanted nothing more than to travel and learn about the Earth. I wanted to use information from past geological events to solve environmental problems of the future. I learned about …

Collective Current

Lion's mane jellyfish are pelagic (living in the open ocean) for most of their lives but tend to settle in shallow, sheltered bays towards the end of their one-year lifespan.They remain mostly very near the surface, at no more than 20 m (66 feet) depth. Their slow pulsations drive them forward weakly, so they depend on …

Biodiversity

Ladybug!  Ladybug! Fly away home. Your house is on fire. And your children all gone. All except one, And that's little Ann, For she crept under The frying pan. ~Mother Goose _________________________________________________________________________ I remember the lady bugs. As a five year old I learned they came in different colors.  They flew in through the open …

Chicken Soup for the Quarantined Soul

I wonder sometimes, would I have done anything different had I known this would happen? Would I have behaved differently, planned anything? Had I known old Alumni House would be torn down, would no longer stand on the hill that it once occupied for over a century, so tall and proud, with its huge bay …

In The Time of the Birthing Tree- a short story

By Nada Samih-Rotondo   London. May 1958 My mother was born under a lemon tree in the far end of my families’ orchard. Since the rest of Mama’s nine siblings were born there too, it became known in our family as the birthing tree.  I remember climbing the thin knobby branches as a child, racing …

I Used to Love Her…

I met this girl, when I was ten years old And what I loved most she had so much soul She was old school, when I was just a shorty Never knew throughout my life she would be there for me On the regular, not a church girl she was secular Not about the money, …

Bonds

(I wrote this piece as part of my 3 week summer institute with the Rhode Island Project in summer 2019 in response to a mural created in West Philly displaying quotes from detained migrants) ___________________________________________________________________________________________ My youngest is one year old and finally learned to sleep through the night. It took his brothers a little longer, but …