Poetry
I have been a nurse for over 25 years, but a writer for as long as I can remember. As a young child, I wrote short stories and plays, mostly featuring my pet hamsters, and as I got older, poetry. I feel most alive when working to transform thoughts into language, and my house is littered with random scraps of paper with jottings of images or ideas for a line of a poem yet to be fully formed. I love poetry for its economy of words, the tension between the exquisite attention to detail and the expansive freedom to break the rules, and the need for both precision and mystery. I love how poetry can distill an everyday moment into something uniquely beautiful, haunting, unforgettable, and universal. I write accessible, contemporary, free-verse poetry with a strong narrative orientation that explores the messy condition of being human. Many of my poems are inspired, in part, by patients I have cared for over the years as a nurse. Some of my favorite poets that I come back to again and again: Sharon Olds, Dorianne Laux, Leila Chatti, Danusha Lameris, Marie Howe, Carolyn Forche, Traci Brimhall, Ada Limón, Louise Glück, Rita Dove.
Published Poems
Little Lost One; Floated to the Pediatric Unit, Unbroken, 2026
comings & goings, South 85 Journal, 2026
Chasing Ice, Mom Egg Review (MER), Mom Egg Review (MER). Print issues are sold to the public at $18; PDF copies are available to the public at $5 each. Watch the live reading.
The Albino Deer, Potomac Review, 2026
Tortoise in Culver City; Cerberus, rescued; Stepmother, as turning point, Poetry Society of Virginia Collected Winning Entries 2026
Stepmother, The Poet's Billow, Winner, Bermuda Triangle Prize
East Whiteland Swim Club, Memorial Day Weekend; Currents; Bathyal; I love you best, Kelp Journal, 2026
Patients I Cannot Forget, One Page Poetry 2025 Anthology, 2025
Détente With My Estranged Mother While I am in Paris, Taos Journal of Poetry, 2025
Second Marriage Honeymoon, Tadpole Press (Top 10 Winner), 2025
Gabrielle, Panorama: The Journal of Travel, Place & Nature, 2025
Love Poem to My Ex-Husband, Bicoastal Review (contest finalist, nominated for Best of the Net), 2025
Death of the Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Bicoastal Review, 2025
Dina’s Disappearance, Ocean Poetry Anthology II, 2025
Patients I Cannot Forget: Man in the ICU, The Scarred Tree, 2025
Patients I Cannot Forget: LE, The Scarred Tree, 2025
Love Poem to Second Marriages, One Sentence Poems, 2025
Love Poem to Second Marriages, Winter Anthology, 2025
Patients I Cannot Forget: RB, Pigeon Pages, 2024
Dinner, Kiawah Island, Gyroscope Review, 2021
Cardinal Marks, Finishing Line Press (chapbook), 2021
Non-Fiction
My non-fiction writing focuses on my global health research in India (Caring in Context, An Ethnography of Cancer Nursing in India, Routledge Press; 2024).I intentionally wrote Caring in Context in an accessible style to appeal to a wide audience and raise awareness about how much of the world experiences cancer. While you may find the book of particular interest if you are a healthcare provider or global health advocate, you will enjoy the book if you know nothing about these topics (I promise!). All you need to enjoy Caring in Context is an interest in the human condition and an openness to learning about those who may experience life differently than you.
Importantly, this book challenges beliefs and assumptions about the moral obligations of nursing practice and asks readers to reconsider how we can expect nurses to care for others when no one is caring for them. The detailed Methods section and real-life examples also make Caring in Context perfect for assigned reading in courses about qualitative research, ethnography, global health, cancer care, palliative care, and health disparities. Read chapter excerpts (1, 2, 3) to learn more.