They used to take us to the beach on Sundays. My grandfather’s rust-colored Oldsmobile packed to overflowing, a cooler filled with cooked chicken, polpette, and roasted peppers in the trunk. Glass jars filled with water jostled next to mini-bottles of cola and brown paper sacks bursting with peaches, plums, and blood-red cherries. Beach chairs – the kind with woven plastic ribbons of aqua and white … Continue reading Summer Memories
Takes time to bury roots that seek a place to hold Struggle feeds wisdom Memories as fierce storms rage urge tender saplings to bend Resilience rewards even the weak sapling with a strong foundation Roots grow, given enough time to create mighty forests photo and prompt: #weekly tanka challenge – 53, WordPress Daily Post Continue reading Lessons Learned
Waiting on the wind with its promise of soft rain this sunbaked ground waits crunchy leaves, withered on vines create a macabre dance Pierced by lightning strikes its energy permeates sweeps away death’s grip fresh, familiar petrichor summer storm celebration photo: Pixabay prompt: The Poet By Day Continue reading Summer Rain
It was personal, that decision I made to honor the day my angel grew wings It was personal, your choice to throw shade Things you don’t know could be just about anything What you see isn’t always what you get Easy to judge when a world is so small A ray of hope, a light in my darkened room that tiny heartbeat … Continue reading Sweet Grace
When we were young, she was a distraction a little sister who got in the way, the one who ratted me out when I was drinking in the basement with boys, the one who caught me leaning out my bedroom window as I smoked and asked what I was doing so annoying As the years rocked gently by, ushering us into various stages of our … Continue reading Maureen
Lingering illusion just out of reach a flimsy attempt at salvation lingering just out of reach Shifting reality with this invocation Hope is not that which lies ahead that flimsy attempt at salvation the engine that drives us instead a belief that anything is possible Hope is not that which lies ahead the power of Yes is unstoppable when shaped by faith in what … Continue reading Of Hope
And on this day, we acquiesce on our knees and in our hearts as times of sorrow, bitter and precise, coalesce Endings strangle slowly in fits and false starts Some fail, others hesitate in these dark times A few brave men offer a mischievous nod to false obedience Each individual war is over as the final bell chimes All pay the price as they … Continue reading Broken Branches
Father remembers odd shadows threading time at every turn and mother cries as she remembers the child who is gone A pastor preaches faith as the choir sings of losses revealed Investigators toil to uncover what clues revealed Searching for evil that lurks in the shadows That he would be caught was a matter of faith as they waited for the tide to turn Justice … Continue reading In the Name of Faith
Trees like skeletons draped in crepe paper skin stand at attention as fires burn deep underground Creeks that long ago ran dry flood with memories of cool water enough to extinguish the flames, if only if only All is silent in this forest filled with ghosts giving power to that feeling of no those crumbs left on an abandoned trail Oh, but in the highest … Continue reading Fly Your Way Home
Embracing an empty space, that small hollow between dreams and reality, the path to success shines and might not be so scary after all Because when silence fills that void and rushes in on angel wings, tender voices whisper simple answers — always there after all And when all the sharp edges the cage of hesitation built fall away slowly, steadily, new open spaces emerge … Continue reading After All
It was only yesterday he rose with purpose Setting his intention to witness all the colors set fire to the darkness He knew this moment was one to remember if only for a little while, if only forever the day love turned to him And if he could catch time, hold it in his heart forever he’d trade every tomorrow It was only yesterday she … Continue reading To Have and Hold
Sometimes, I’m lost slipping too far from the truth Cut by rough edges I’ve crossed Misdeeds made with broken pride, no excuse And sometimes, I’m reckless sometimes it’s true when I can’t kick these blues these phantom hands guide me, pushing me to lose But when the edge is near, and what it means becomes perfectly clear, my chameleon soul changes colors and finds a … Continue reading Chameleon
Washed in the waters of discontent it’s easy to drown Stuck in waves of endless trials it’s easy to surrender… but I won’t Suffocating in tides of grief I claw my way to the surface and pause, floating for just a moment, I fill my lungs with the fresh air I was warned – a faithless heart can’t beat but my broken one can find … Continue reading Poison Rain
Slipping loose from the daily routine she embarked on a journey of reckless endangerment to empower the voices that lived in her head Stepping outside that comfort zone she banned kindness and embraced sins of the past if only to provide a fresh perspective Digging deep into the grimy landscapes of her subconscious she sought inspiration from ghosts that haunted her memories seeking a new … Continue reading A Writer’s Journey
She lived on the edges, shadow dancing in negative spaces Although she was chary of trying anything unfamiliar her waldosia helped her find faith Sometimes, that smiling face in the crowd provided enough aether to alter perspectives She prowled in the dark exploring blindly, trusting intuition Although she’d grown accustomed to this solitary life her faith helped her find hope Sometimes, that hushed voice rising … Continue reading The Artist
In a world devoid of color, she labored daily punching a time-clock that measured each moment in a monochrome slide, driving her further into the ground Burying aspiration, slaughtering ambition in the factory of broken dreams Like a makeshift reaper gathering a bouquet of dead blossoms, each shift mocked a life that could have been Her ashen skin too fragile from years spent within windowless … Continue reading Breaking Clocks
They belong to a time gone by these old friends, diligently working Giving wisdom, gaining hope I watch them as the world goes by They hold truth to a higher standard these old friends, carefully guiding Giving knowledge, gaining insight I watch them as the world goes by They seek to protect an old guard these old friends, warriors fighting mediocrity Preserving the past, Creating … Continue reading Keepers of the Flame
No mystery involved as I watched you evolve into the shell of a man that you are today, broken and defeated The lure of the poison you ingest with such passion turned the strong woodsman that once was into a ghost, weak and desperate Where once my heart held compassion, viewing endless efforts to free yourself from insatiable demons, this heart now harbors only apathy … Continue reading Beckoning Graves
