Some days I wake
with a crushing doubt
with a throat
full of tears
with my mouth
in a pout
with the weight
of my age
with the loss
of life’s meaning
with my thoughts
full of fears
that I’ve simply
been being
with questions
of purpose
and answers elusive
soon lost in my shadows
downcast and reclusive
an ego so fragile
so blind to the truth
that finding life’s meaning
is a fruitless pursuit
it’s living each day
the best that I can
it’s patience
compassion
and lending a hand
it’s not in what greatness
I hoped to achieve
it’s not in some mark
I was hoping to leave
it’s simply in loving
in trying to be good
in leaving things better
in knowing I should
It’s lifting myself
from the dregs and the doldrums
and reminding myself
of all I’m beholden
It’s finding the strength
when choked by self-doubt
to rise to the challenge
of casting gloom out
to remember I’m loved
to remember I am
to attend good and sad days
and meaning be damned
Author: Anne Celano Frohna
I have been writing for as long as I could hold a pencil in hand and would not feel complete without it.
And I actually made a meager living at it (and as an editor) for 25 years.
I worked for newspapers and magazines, in graphic arts and advertising, and wrote several local history books.
But I have also taught English in Japan, been a Nanny/family chef in Italy, worked in and for museums, was an Airbnb Superhost for four years, as well as an Etsy shop owner, where I sold vintage items I found over the years at thrift stores and yard sales.
After moving to Arizona with my family in 2010, I completed a series of different writing projects, including two books of creative non-fiction:
Just West of the Midwest: a comedy (Based on journals I kept during my two years as an English teacher in rural Japan.)
Within Close Range: short stories of an American Childhood (Short stories and poems about growing up as the middle of five children in suburban Chicago.)
But in the past few years, I have found my voice in poetry.
I am a mother of two wonderful girls, Eva (28) and Sophia (26) and wife to one wonderful husband, Kurt.
In 2023, with our girls grown and off on their own, my husband and I packed up our things and moved to the tip of Italy’s heel, to the Salento region, where I continue to work on my poetry, as well as a new fiction project, "The Butter Diaries", which I completed this spring and published on Wordpress. I also spend a good deal of time indulging in my passion for mosaics - all of which you can view on my Instagram page @ acfrohna.
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Dog-eared Stories by anne celano frohna 