writer. traveller. life unraveller.
Today is a good day to meet my love. Sun comes flickering through leaves, clinging with their frail stems to quiet, crooked limbs. Some lose their tenacious grip and flutter furiously through air, as though cast out, finally released, useless and free. Curled up, crisp dry, and tinted by death. Joining their shadows on the... Continue Reading →
Autumn has arrived, and with it the scent of, well, death. While that sounds morbid, it’s really just nature doing its thing. Fallen leaves return to their original home, mixing with the soil and other plant material to create humus, the decaying matter that eventually becomes new life. You might notice that the word humus... Continue Reading →
What if one day we told the secrets and transcended the questions that keep us stuck, looking for answers that aren’t there? What if we allowed ourselves to think that anything was possible, that there were no limitations, no hurt feelings, no real consequences following the ultimate collapse? What if we let imagination play with... Continue Reading →
What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why "What lips my lips have kissed, and where, and why, I have forgotten, and what arms have lain Under my head till morning; but the rain Is full of ghosts tonight, that tap and sigh Upon the glass and listen for reply, And in my... Continue Reading →
If you'd rather listen, click play below 🙂 Every once in a while I have a day where I feel more connected to the stars, the moon, the cosmos, the things hidden from the plain light of the material world–the "real" one, as most of us call it. I crave going further into the abyss... Continue Reading →
In Hinduism, when a person dies, a year-long mourning period takes effect in which the family does not participate in any celebrations. On the one-year anniversary, Shradda is recognized with a memorial service, in which closure is brought to formal mourning with traditions similar to many other religions: the reading of scriptures and of course,... Continue Reading →
The most lovely Indian woman smiled at me. She sat in a wheelchair at a cafe table in an airport. She wore a sari the colour of marmalade and a red bindi on that space where eyebrows often meet. Her black hair was streaked white like smudged chalk on a blackboard. It was parted down... Continue Reading →
So, I wrote I book, which is actually a collection of blogs–my musings and stories of a two-year-long life now passed. If you're interested in reading some amusing, crass, heartfelt stories, check it out on Amazon.com, and please leave a review! Here I share the preface/introduction to my book, A Single White Female in a Foreign... Continue Reading →
“Leen, Leen!” He yelled my name from across the street, this tiny, frail man dressed in worn, yellowed office clothes a couple sizes too big. His belt was pulled tightly around his thin waist. He was sweet-looking. Not desperate or hungry or tired, just simple and curious, asking for stamps. I saw him the first... Continue Reading →
“Why are you going to Sri Lanka?” I’ve been asked at least a dozen times in the past couple of weeks. I stutter as I try to find an answer that would provide at least a morsel of acceptance to the person asking me when all I really need to say is, “why the fuck... Continue Reading →
colleen thornton 