I'm grateful for Sun, moon, and stars,
Less so for the advent of earthy scars.
Feel happy for the warmth on my skin,
When the start of summer does begin.

I'm grateful for loving, caring, and the kind,
Less so for the selfishness mind.
Feel happy for the good deeds that I see,
When people help the likes of you and me.

I'm grateful for new opportunities each day,
Less so for the barriers that stumble my way.
Feel happy for what I can achieve,
When I allow myself to believe.

I looked through old albums
after our mother was gone.
There were so many to sort!

An enormous journey
through paper and keepsakes.
A memoir of ephemera.

It was the few empty pages
in some that got to me.
No more reminiscences
to be added and cherished.

As it turned out, I didn’t come apart.
I turned back to the photographs
and mementos that were present,
finding refuge in the stories
chronicled there on the wordless pages.

She was the purple
ribbon in my hair

now tethered to me
during these golden years

as my failing eyes
still see her gentle face

there -
long beyond her life.

Here comes the lonely night again

Comes to visit me like a long-lost friend

Lonely together like so many times

Across my face, we will draw the lines

I am so deathly cold deep here inside

With only the night into which confide

Wraps me up like a hunter in a blind

Waiting here, waiting for the killing time

Waiting for a sunny day to finally arrive

Just trying another night to survive

I keep anticipating the night

My safe harbor I hide away in the night

You’re gonna burn with Jesus-Fire.
(Honestly, I ain’t no liar!)
But if you make Him Lord and Master,
you’ll dodge damnation’s dread disaster.

You're gonna live, and live forever,
when slender strand will snap and sever
your soul from body, you’ve been used to,
you're gonna sup some savage strange brew

unless you trust the man, J.C.
(From fascist fears He’ll set you free!)
And when that bitter bonfire’s burning,
the wages that your sins were earning,

There are roads I once drove as a girl. Screaming my head off, hair flailing in the wind, hanging out a jeep window.

I drive those same streets tonight.
Images of a girl, a me who no longer exist, attack relentlessly,
Inducing panic with their haunting persistence.

and I thought…

I had friends here once, we were family
oh sweet family
just water but thicker than blood

I had a life here once , uniquely mine.
oh it was mine

But it’s gone now.

I wanted to write about stress
About being overwhelmed and anxious
Struggling to find a sense of belonging
In the mess this world has become

But it's not even about that
It's about the music that's playing in the distance
The melodies that come floating in the breeze
As I stand here on this balcony
Contemplating life

Dear John,

May you rot in hell
Buried with your lies
I'm the dirty secret
You wouldn't tell

Dear, dear John,

Karma's a bitch
A far bigger one than I
Such a shame
If your body wound up in a ditch

Dear John,

I hope this letter finds you well
You selfish, sadistic, abusive prick
Not one more tear will fall
May you rot in hell

You have no idea
What I’ve become or where I’ve been
I am as a stone standing,
In a pool of filthy water
A marker of a dead man's bones
My mind actively
Taking everything in
Contrasting the dark against light
The good against sin
A moment of doubt?
Not having left all hope
Scattered to the wind
But as everyman it is before me
again and again
Desensitized with none to turn to
Not a single friend, to help me
To bear up this burden
Here at the end
And though it crushes me

In the halls of high school, four girls did roam,
Each with their own unique charm and tone.
First was Lisa, popular, smart, and mean,
A girl who always got what she wanted, it seemed.

Next was Eda, the most pretty of all,
But quiet and reserved, never one to brawl.
And then there was Alice, athletic and loud,
Who always stood out in a crowd.