Purple Paths Poetry

The sky turned grey today,As if the elements themselvesJust learned that you had died.Tears overwhelm clouds to bursting.The grief of a worldTrying to understandHow it’s supposed to go on without you

Dying. Then death. Tears, laughter, tears. Hope, fear, hope again. Smothering in despair. Bones shift, Core displaced, Fundamental being changed. Come back to the moment, No, Run! Catching breath, Praying we’ll all wake up.

I pour through electronic files As I am prone to do this time of year. Clicking, Clicking, Clicking, I search For the email message That you used, to say goodbye “To the Glass menagerie.” You never acknowledged that you Had already been gone for decades. To read between each word, One more time, To find…

The words, Real and raw. Spill themselves Onto the page. Until they stop. Still, They call her Poet. She breathes As she waits Their return.

She let herself get lost in alphabet soup again. Her name alone, Never enough. Called herself Val Smith, N.L.B.M.N. (No letters behind my name). At 40, Invited huge debt, To become Val Smith, B.A. She was proud. Thought herself enough, Until she didn’t again. Alphabet soup burns hot. All the letters follow B, except A.…

Honoring Suicide Prevention Awareness Month BRIGHTER DAYS Dark Days surrender now. I’ll send you off, though I know not how. ‘Tis light that is seen at tunnel’s end, My heart need now only mend. Treated poorly, yes it’s fact, More than once was I attacked. But I am strong, will not be downed Pour in…

I will stand at the threshold, Seeing what stands on either side. Seeking to create a container. A container with the capacity to hold, Fear, love, anger, anxiety, dreams, Beauty and pain. To hold it safely and without judgment. Even while the messages on all sides Scream, “Take sides.” I have taken a side, It…

You have to sit still long enough. Long enough for today’s Disappointments to dissipate. Long enough for yesterday’s Activity to fade. Long enough for tomorrow’s Worries to disintegrate. You have to sit long enough, That internal processes, Begin to dance before your eyes. Long enough that unrecognized Longings, Take the shape of dreams. Dreams that…

Autumn doesn’t throw Itself into the world The way summer Rolls over spring. The way winter Heralds Fall’s completion When it has only just begun. No, Autumn creeps, One cool day in the Midst of sizzling weeks. A tinge of color Touching leaves, Garden’s yield ripening, Slowly now Summer’s growth, Excitement Simmering; a gentle roll.…

Day light wanes And she falls into bed Accordion style, Folding at every Bend, joint, crease. Collapsing… Onto herself. Into herself. Another day begs Review. She rests easy Knowing she has done What she can.

A quest Unending. Once answered, Begins Anew. Those who Seek Shall find And find And find.

Intertwined grief arises, Unbidden, unexpected, unprovoked. She arrives, Taking all the space she needs Depending upon her moods. She’ll stay, Until she’s ready to go, Asking no permissions Leaving no apologies.

Found the loosed thread. Pulled just enough to Begin the unraveling. Skeen upon skeen, Piles of color Before unseen, As her heart Begins to unclench.

Wooden plank, Afixed with corded rope, To the thickest of branches On the grand oak. Majestic tree Stands alone, Meadow center. Toes point skyward, Through shadows cast Like dancing clouds As the swing cuts Stifling summer air And bare feet brush Course field grasses. Bright purple finger tips Give testimony to the Origins of scratched…

You will never change anyone’s mind, Until you begin with a recognition of shared humanity. Even those with whom we most vehemently disagree, Started their lives needing someone else

“When I was young…” She whispers. Another nods. A knowing passes Between. A silence falls. How many have Tucked their childhoods Into their back pockets, Ashamed they may Become known? Foodstamps, free lunch, No bed to call their own. A dead parent. A drunk parent. A damned parent. Still they hold the blame. They hold…

Natural wonders never cease to astound. In each new experience there are words to be found. From river’s wild rush, to guardian trees, From sun’s scorching heat to fall’s cool, soft breeze. Through poet’s eyes, a creative twist lends. From loving heart, into words picture bends. A time must come, when all take leave of…

There is a peculiar tug, Evermore seated Above the heart Below the surface. A yearning as yet Unnamable. Present, yet distant. Undefined. The barest thread. A forward yearning. Leads to an Unseen tomorrow.

Seven rotations Since elapsed. Smallest gray tendril, Faintest whiff of Acridity. We perch, Ever watchful. Sunday BBQs, Splashing waters, Pause, As we await Word of location. Stomachs churn, Fears arise. Summer used to be The favored season.

The ancient mother weeps, Her children are in pain, From the roots of the family tree, The blood runs down again. Deep within the womb of earth, The veins of quartz do bleed, Bringing down the tears of sap, Bringing mother to her knees. The ancient one has seen before the Outcome of this strife,…

The unknowing Mystic, The resolute Saint, Constantly she waivers. Sound in uneasiness, Rejoicing in grief. Grounded in quick sand, Loose legs on solid earth. A joyful victim And angry survivor. Wondering in her own home While lost at sea. Found by grace, Renewed in love, Ill with remorse. Trusting in wisdom She holds the elixir…