Other Writing

Am I a Real Author?

It’s a question that nags at me far more often than I’d like to admit.

Am I a real author?

It doesn’t always shout. Most of the time, it whispers. It lingers at the edge of my thoughts when I open my laptop. It taps on my shoulder when I hit “publish.” It creeps in when I check my sales and see that most of the names belong to family and friends.

And sometimes, it gets loud.

I question it because I’m a self-published author.
I question it because my biggest supporters are the...

“You Dropped Her! Twice!”
By Sasha Dietze

You tell me you care.
You look me in the eye and say,
“We’re doing our best.”
But your best
left my daughter bleeding on the ground.
Twice.

Twice, you let her fall.
Twice, you failed to do
the one thing her IEP demands —
keep your damn hands on her chair.
She can’t control it.
She can’t self-propel.
You knew that.
You signed the papers.
You nodded your heads.
And then you let go.

You let go.

And now you expect me to believe
you “care”?

No.
Caring isn’t what you say
in a...

“For My Daughter, I Climb”
(Sasha Dietze)

I am so tired of climbing mountains
that other people pretend aren’t even there.
Tired of pushing against doors
that should have opened the moment I knocked.

I am tired of handing my daughter,
my heart,
my whole world,
to a system that swears it cares
and watching that system
drop her.
Not once.
But twice.
Face first.
Wheelchair crashing.
Trust shattering.

They tell me,
“We’re doing our best.”
But their best looks a lot like negligence
wrapped in excuses
and tied with a...