Author of Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022). Pushcart Nominated Poet 2022. Editor MasticadoresUSA.
Nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Ingrid Wilson, Editor and Owner of EIF, Experiments in Fiction. This poem is in my debut poetry collection, "Three Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir", which opened on Amazon as the #1 Release in Family Poetry. Since then it has been on and off the best-seller list in three categories.... Continue Reading →
Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF – Experiments in Fiction, 2022) is mainly about my caregiving to my mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s. However, two other health conditions/ diseases are crucial parts of my memoir. Mom took care of me when I had measles encephalitis when I was 6 going on 7. Also, following doctor’s... Continue Reading →
In the past four weeks, I’ve posted audio of four poems from my debut poetic memoir, “Three-Penny Memories”, which launches on Amazon on October 15. Here are links to those posts if you would like to listen again and read about the poems. Scroll down for the Zoom link to my one-hour Zoom Q&A/ Reading... Continue Reading →
Pillbaby.com asked me to write about my experience with infertility and depression. I had already written similar articles for Phoebe, MD: Medicine + Poetry. My pillbaby.com article does more with solutions to healing. They are looking for more articles related to this topic, infertility and depression, in case anyone has an experience to share. https://pillbaby.com/2020/07/05/how-i-healed-my-inner-mom-after-infertility-and-depression/... Continue Reading →
The final section of my article on infertility is up on Phoebe,MD: Medicine + Poetry. Links to the other sections are provided. I am grateful to Phoebe and her beautiful site for being a major part of my journey with memoir writing.
By Barbara Leonhard | Featured Contributor
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The bandage torn
From new flesh
Releases wails
The wound still
Imbibes air
The scab hides
deep repair
Let it rest. Wait
In time the scar
Records a fate
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I learned that healing is a deep process. We may heal a physical wound, but to become whole, we need to heal emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. We need to dig into the old grout of our deep being. Moreover, we must trust help is available.
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Phoebe, MD:Medicine + Poetry Has just published the first part of an article I wrote on my infertility caused by Diethylstilbestrol, or DES. Although this drug is no longer prescribed to pregnant women to prevent miscarriages, it has been shown that this drug affected not only daughters and sons born between 1941 and 1971 but also their children. This is my story as a DES Daughter.
By Barbara Leonhard | Featured Contributor
As we grow and develop, we learn how to identify with many labels or roles, such as daughter/son, aunt/uncle, mother/father, and grandmother/grandfather, to name a few. It seems as though our stories are written before we are born to conform to these labels. In a way, these roles become rituals that comfort us as we agree to them and even expect our lives to go “as planned” based on our social codes and blueprints for survival.
I know I certainly expected my life to unfold much like my mother’s life did with marriage and family. She had seven children, and being the second oldest and oldest girl, I was able to help with all the babies she had. It never occurred to me that I would never be able to have my own children. Little did I know that my helping her at…
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Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 