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THE EVOLUTION
OF MY SMILE
Coming This Fall from
Kelsay Book Literary Press. . .
They say a smile is a curve that sets everything straight. But for Monique Rardin Richardson—and most of us—a smile doesn’t come easily. It is earned.
The Evolution of My Smile is a raw, rhythmic map of the highs and shadowed lows, the peaks of joy, and the valleys of silence that define a life in motion. Through these pages, the "up and down" of the human experience isn't just a sequence of events; it becomes a circle of wholeness.
This collection is for anyone who has ever felt broken in the dark, only to find that their light was simply waiting for the shadow to catch up. Because true evolution isn't about leaving the sadness behind—it's about learning how joy and sorrow can finally live together.
COMING
SOON
“For anyone in need of healing—and truly, aren’t we all—this book is a gift. Monique’s words open the heart and stir the soul, reminding us of our shared humanity, our connection to one another, and the dualities that shape the human experience. In one poem, she writes, “words are magic,” and throughout this collection, her words feel nothing short of magical.”
—Sheila Patel, MD, Integrative Family Physician; Chief Medical Officer, The Gaja Collective; Ayurvedic Educator and Author
“From heartbreak to acceptance, Monique Richardson traces the quiet arc of a life reclaimed. These poems breathe in the space between holding on and letting go — raw, precise, and lit from within. The Evolution of My Smile is for anyone who has ever had to discover themselves twice.”
—Alicia M. Rodriguez, award-winning author of The Shaman’s Wife: A Mystical Journey of Surrender and Self-Discovery and poet, Between Root and Sky.
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California Writers Club Marin
SECOND PLACE WINNER
“The Weight of Seven Pounds”
It’s the second day of fall. I was born yesterday under a waning crescent moon.
Mama could’ve named me Autumn, but she didn’t. A nun at her Catholic school inspired my name. French, my mother asked for, and French it was. Maybe someday I’ll appreciate it. I bet I will.
Outside the hospital, the cool wind howls, lashing my newborn cheeks. Mama’s thin jacket snaps like a whip, and her long, dark curls cling to her mauve lips, damp with unspoken fears.
I won’t cry. My skin feels like stretched silk, cool and tight. This new world, a vast space, frightens me, but not now. I can’t cry now.
A tremor in her arms, a frantic drumbeat in her chest. I know, as I had known in the enclosed thrum of her heart, that she needs me.
We’d been on the sidewalk forever, or at least, as long as a baby could measure. Mama shifts me, a restless weight in her arms, swaddled in blue. She’d hoped for a boy, someone to rely on, to take care of her. I will too.
She doesn’t know it yet, but it’s who I am.
Her gaze fixes on the empty street. Eyes, usually soft when placed on me, dart from all directions. She paces, tracing cracks in the pavement, searching for headlights that have yet to arrive.
by Monique Rardin Richardson
Poetry
Latest Publications
HERE AND NOW
by Monique Rardin Richardson
Before bed, the moon overhead
steals my attention through the sheer
snow white window covering,
it's thin veil separating her light
from my discreet darkness
Fog slow and silent cascades
over her powerful celestial body,
making the night orb glow
with a primordial mystery
I lift my head, drinking in the peaceful,
quiet pulse, no longer distant
but close as if she speaks only to me
and I become one
with her radiance and light
LAST MONTH OF MAY
by Monique Rardin Richardson
May feels the showers
from the tears of the world.
Is it a curse or a blessing
to embody the emotions of all?
They are one.
Joy comes and goes until
it's too painful to be the keeper
of many secrets,
and smiles are too few.
Without thought, she makes it stop.
And the candle that shines for others
with a whisper blows out, never to be
lit again.
