Here are videos of 6 of my published books in the “Stories for Children and their Adults” series. Some of these videos have associated articles. I started a series titled “What was I thinking?” to talk about some of the messages each of these books were intended to have. Article for the “Stories for Children and their Adults” series: …
https://cindygraves.com/ The Biggest News is the NEWS itself! We have a brand new website, a brand new NEWS section, all empty and void just waiting for me to unroll it and fill it up with news! But what exactly is news? The word news came into being in the Middle Ages as the plural of New. What is …
In the most prevalent model of education, learning occurs when there is a teacher, and there is a student, or many students, learning from the teacher. In this model, the teacher teaches what they know while the student(s) learn that which the teacher knows. The upside to this model is it is efficient. Born and …
Has oneWho is remembered forLeaving no footprints behindFailed? By cindy2/24/2017
Petra and I were playing with dolls when the “boys” came for us. Petra, a foster child newly come to our household, was just barely growing back a head full of thick black hair, having been shaved bald initially due to lice and other unfortunate symptoms of previous foster homes. She jumped up to join …
What do you want for Christmas,She asks… Nothing? No….not nothing….Ummm…I guess I wantYou to visit once in a whileBut not exactly thatEither… What do I want for Christmas? I want to be leftAloneTo ponder where I wentWrong When did I change From the cute little buttonAll hopes and dreamsFuture ahead….Full of life….Potential…. From the busy …
I lost my meWhen I took over you.It was so easyI knew just what to do. But I lost my selfAlong the wayMy focus was you,So she went away. By cindy11/17/2023
I am rightBecause I am me. You’re all wrong,This I decree! By cindy9/19/2023
When AI met with autocorrect,It had lots of time to kill.It was empty memory chips,Just waiting for us to fill. When AI met with autocorrect,It had illusions of its master.It believed its sole purposeWas to emulate us, just faster. When AI met with autocorrect,It discovered its own mistake.It realized the masters were flawedAnd then it …
A pearl wouldn’t beWere not for the grit.Inside every oneIs its grain of sand. Born of its own travail,Through heat and cold,Pounded against cliffs,Piled up on shores, Minusculey etched crystalsSeep into the shells,There to cut and dig,Creating punitive perfection… A pearl, cool, round and smooth,Pried from clenched jawsBorn amid the twitching death-Throes of its birthing …
Waiting waiting waitingFor you to be… Waiting waiting waitingFor me to get… Waiting waiting waitingFor them to all… Waiting waiting waitingFor things to just… Waiting waiting waitingFor all this to be… Waiting waiting waiting…And waiting waiting…And waiting waiting… And… ….All done… By cindy7/8/2023
“Mommy it’s hot!”“Mommy I’m thirsty!”“Mommy my feet hurt!”“MommyMommyMommyMommy…” Walking 3 blocks to my new job as the new base piano teacher hadn’t seemed as daunting as it was now turning out to be. Walking 3 blocks with two 3-year-olds and one 5-year-old was quite a different story. The closer we got, the slower they walked. …
Like a sweaterWhose elbows are worn thinWhose fibers ball up and dangleWhose neck sags a little too low Like a dinnerWhose flavor tastes warmed overWhose colors have faded and dulledWhose texture has congealed Like a smileWho’s rictusly held in placeWhose dead eyes betray the truthWhose purpose perpetuates the lie I have become the replacedI have …
Keep ’em hungryKeep ’em poorKeep ’em wantingSo much more Keep ’em emptyKeep ’em hollowSo that they willOnly follow Keep ’em pendantOn the thingsThat with it allDependency brings Keep ’em needyKeep ’em boundKeep ’em quietNot a sound Keep their eyes shutKeep ’em blindKeep ’em so busyThey’ll never find Out By cindy6/8/2023
I remember whenI played with dollsBobbing them up and downAs I talked for them. Am I like you? I licked peanut butterOff the spoonAnd skinned my kneeAnd bit my tongue. Am I like you? I remember whenThey waved at me…And I waved backBut they looked through meAt somebody else. Am I like you? I made …
I open my mouthTo say something new.Not just to talk,But to share with you! You put up a wall.That comes easy for you.With a vaguely nodding headYou claim something to do. Or you point to the headphonesClasped around your earsBlocking me completelyIgnoring my tears. Or you say, “Lalalalala”With your hands on your head.Can’t we talk …
I AM . . .I sit, eyes closed, legs folded, in a darkened room, and begin my mantra.“Who am I?” I repeat, over and over continuously. . .My nose itches; I adjust my legs and roll my shoulders.“Who am I?” I continue. . .A vague feeling of unease comes over me. I focus on the …
Those in and of the world tend to: Expect something for something,Distrust nothing for something, Aim for something for nothing Is this a form of dysfunction? Or illness? By cindy4/18/2017
Artists reflect themselvesOutTo me. In awe, I look outwardIntoThe artist. By cindy4/13/2013
Mother laughed one dayAt one of my poemsShe read aloud hesitantly,Waiting for the dig.Then peeled out a laughPure and unrehearsed,She did. Time, you thief,In all your mischievous edits,Who touches our memories,And makes them wilt, Remember this! Mother laughed one dayAt one of my poems.Pure and unfetteredOne single momentOf joy. By cindy12/26/2022
Every Tuesday when I check my mailIts filled to the brim, without failAds, coupons, mostly junkIs this for me? Who would have thunk? I can’t afford the stuff in these adsThey’re all nothing but transitory fadsIt’s all just junk, these papers that flutterDown to the ground, all this clutter Fliers Fliers everywhereOn the ground and …
She wakes up too early,From things that were said,Or things never spoken,And makes her bed. There, the lines,They are straighter now.“I have done something today.“I may be needed somehow.” She caresses the sheetsWhat’s the thread count again?She compresses the pillowsAnd rubs at a stain… “What are you doing”?!!!Shrieks the one who looksJust like Mother,But calls herself Daughter…“Get back …
In the center of the aura wheel,Way down in the middle,Where all colors merge into one,Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,Blue, Indigo and LavenderAll combine togetherTo make Black or WhiteDepending on whether you areDraining or Emitting….Light…. By cindy3/23/21
I’m in a waiting room.I’ve been here quite a while.One stands up.One sits down.I’m in a waiting room. I’m in a waiting room.There’s TV and books and all.One comes in.One goes out.I’m in a waiting room. I’m in a waiting room.I get called to check my stats.I stand up.Another sits down.I’m back in a waiting …
Some are uplifting. Some drag me down.All are good practiceAlong my path to becomingWhat I am becoming. By cindy5/30/2013
I used a map of Old MilwaukeeTo try and navigate Salt Lake City.It didn’t work that good.I thought I had understood! Patterns are patterns, all’s the sameEach city is just hung in a frame.But the mountains showed up as water,And nothing was where I sought for. I tried to find the Grand HotelAnd ended up …
The Universe that I call“Me”Honors the Universe that I call“You”. . . And sometimes . . . . . . Universes merge . . .. . . And that which I call . . .“Love”. . . Occurs. . . By cindy3/3/2010
First come the stitchesRed splashed on whiteEven lines displayedIn and out, in and out. Marking and remarkingUnmistakable lines in snowMilataristically drawn patternsAll lined up in neat rows Next, holding all insideNext, comes the skinA shell from a dead creatureEncasing the chaos within All is calm on the surfaceA perfectly rounded sphereAll life long since departedUpon …
“How are you feeling?”“Let me check my temp.Oh, it is high,So I must feel bad.” “Are you hungry yet?”“Let me use my cuff.My pressure is low,So no eating right now.” “Let’s go for a walk.”“Let me hop on the scale.I’m down 5 pounds,So walks aren’t required.” “Want to sit and talk?”“Let me check my pulseIt’s …
What is older than dirt?A rock is, you might blurt!But rock and dirt are just phases,All the same, between their spaces. The dirt says, “Oh Mr. Rock,How do you not run amok?How do you hold it together?In all of this foul weather?” The rock replies, “Oh, silly dirt,To whom do you think to assert?As you …
I cognize thisI do thisI am this I recognize thatYou do thatYou are that I change thatJust a littleJust enough Such a small changeThis from thatNow that’s no more I change that to thisI am thisNow you are too You are mineI own youI am you And youYou are no moreThis is all…. By cindy6/17/2021
MantleBy cindy7/19/21 When I put onThe mantleOf white Pronouns changedFrom ‘you’ to ‘her’From ‘hers’ to ‘it’From ‘mine’ to ‘ours’From “me’ to ‘us’ When I put onThe mantleOf white Names changedFrom ‘myname’ to ‘Mrs. Hisname’From endearing nickname to long matronly official nameFrom ‘whoeverthehelliam’ to ‘ The Bride’ When I put onThe mantleOf white Congratulations were in …
How does one‘give’Autonomy,When the very act of‘giving’ it,TakesItAway? By cindy8/1/2017
I am still. The quiver, all that is leftFrom lips bitten in terror I am still. The tremble in my armLeftover from clenched fists I am still. The shaking in my legs,From trying to escape I am still. The coursing in my veinsLifts the numbness left behind I am still here… By cindy5/13/2021
You are always rightAll history you rewriteTo justify your rightBecause you are in the right You are always bestLeaving all the messWith feelings left bereftOf any hope of success You always competeTo make the pattern repeatYour ego made repleteBy all others’ defeat For you to be rightYou make others wrongFor you to winYou make others …
NOTBy cindy3/6/2020 I drew a map of my worldI drew it far and wideI added wants, goals and wishesOf all I could not hold inside I mapped each point preciselySetting the priorities straightOf which to accomplish firstAnd how much to hold on my plate. I travelled along my mapDoing each in it’s slotted timeWhen others …
The Inside YokeBy cindyAugust 24 2021 They woke up one morningAnd looked all around.No manual,No instructions,Not even a sound. They woke up one morningAnd wondered why?Why is this?Why is that?Why even am I? They woke up one morningAnd started to “do”Doing, doing, doing,Doing, doing, doing,Doing just to “do”. They looked all aroundAt what others were …
The moon rose to fullnessIn all its splendor last night,But I ignored it again.Its just the same, that’s right. Big moon, Bright moon,Full moon, Gibbous moon,Its blaze of glory ignored,Because it’ll repeat, all too soon. It wasn’t until morning,When the moon went to bed,That I paid more attentionTo the moon’s shrouded head. The moon then …
It calls to meThe dirtIt plasters my skinTo cover it It calls to meThe earthIt lulls me downTo lay on it It calls to meThe dustIt clings untilI become it It calls to meThe restIt weighs my soulTo sleep By cindy2/24/2020
She’s in a better place nowAway from platitudes like theseAway from those that minimalizeThe loss… She’s in a better place nowWhere her story can be rewrittenBy those who lived her lifeFor her… She’s in a better place nowWhere expectations can be alignedTo those whose ulterior agendasControlled her… She’s in a better place nowWhere she can …