"Murmur of Whiskers”

In pre–dawn hush
you pad across linoleum—
soft paws tracing the map
of my half–dreams.

Your quiet breath
becomes a tethered prayer,
stitching ragged edges
of my nightly fears.

No need for words:
your calm is the benediction
that steadies my pulse
before the world awakes.

.

Summer heat is here
Fiery hours capture our days
Moving us indoors

You can hear the quiet across the water
when the Cliff Swallows leave their homes,

carefully built under sturdy wooden eaves of buildings
brushed by the mute witness of a saline breeze.

Their passerine young now away,
anxious, and off to chase tomorrow.

I got here by trial and error
quickly, learned to hide my terror
ducked my head so's to meet no eye
made no contact or gave reply.

Studied faces when they were unaware
kept my own counsel as I prepared
to meet with no others approval,
swept from their minds in total removal.

Never show vulnerability or fear
keep my face blank, not shed a tear,
my eyes threatened to give me away
rage of tender years might yet betray.

I hate the fact I’m feeling fine,
That peace and joy are now both mine.
No sleepless nights, no silent screams,
No broken hearts or shattered dreams.

I’m finally up, I’m doing “well,”
But deep inside still feels like hell.
The hatred lingers in my chest,
A monster hiding in my flesh.

Pop a pill, I feel too weak,
So I take more just not to speak.
To sleep, to breathe, to feel less pain—
But numbness always leaves a stain.

Veils of Mist

These hills exhale in threads—
pale veins of mist tracing morning’s pulse.
Under quiet light, stones recall the weight
of footsteps that never return.
A crow calls once.
Silence folds around it like a dark cloak.
The sky does not answer.
It listens— the way old things do:
slow, sure, without need for reply.

Before we named this feeling “love”,
We spoke in glances
Wrapped in longing –

Held tangible in the silence...
Love isn’t loud,
But laced with patience

It is the breath of wind
Blowing across your lips
Sending chills up your spine

The twinkling of stars
As the hours come to rest
With a heavy sigh

And when the sun peeked over the horizon,
You reached out your hand—
I placed mine gently in yours

Looking back
was never the answer,
and the consequences
are just like cancer!

One day you awake,
with a brand new paradigm.
Hoping to turn your path
on a dime.

Your fractious brain,
will never find.
An answer to
your brutal question!

Just as a fulcrum
on a seesaw
it’s action is always
up or down!

The opposition
in your tortured mind,
won’t allow the answer
to ever be found!

If you are patient
you just may find,
a solution for
your earthly crimes!

Depression
No illness more tragic
Than seeing my loved ones suffer so
Unable to bandage or quickly remove pain
A suffering deep within their hearts
Seeking God's help for them
Misery

I hate how he suddenly acts like a dad,
All these years he's been mentally absent.
Now he’s laughing, talking like nothing ever happened
Like the silence wasn’t loud all along.

As if he didn’t spit those cruel words out,
As if the broken glass wasn’t his doing
The nights he stormed and slammed the door,
Like he didn’t leave our hearts on the floor.

He’s got issues, yeah, I know,
But still this isn’t how love should go.
We are his family, not some mistake,
Not something to fix when it's too late.