What a great number this is
And what a great day it was
That deep sob
That came from deep inside me

I came there
To clear my head
And I did

I heard the words
Almost
Although I was surprised
And didn't really notice
Or even understand
But how good it felt!

I still feel it
Even more today
And every day

It was the sob
That stopped me from
The poison in my mind

I erased it
I replaced it
Because I am enough
And from that day on
I became a winner

i found a red light that turned to green
the moment i sped past

that hour’s train thundered above as
i threatened the glossy paint
against the stone trestle
of the railroad bridge

the fog of thinking dissolved on that
cold road as I watched it
consumed underneath,
seventy miles per hour
pulling the yellow snake
across the black

i thought about abbreviations
the way you squeeze otherwise respectable words
as you punch out the order for a classified

I know because
I've fallen in love again

Where did you put my heartbreak?

God is a Lover
God is a Mother

I'm here for it

My Goddess
I'm
HERE For it

Enshrouded in your impact,
I feel
IMPACTED AND IMPACTFUL

Christmas
Great day for love
Filled with happiness
Time to gather family closer
Yuletide

At the bottom of the barrel

Lies a bullet within

Its sole purpose

Is to do me in

It is pointed

Right at my brain

It has one aim

To kill all of my pain

It will blow me to peace

That I could never find

To a cold and loveless world

I will forever be blind

Now Darkness comes to settle Hinterland
Its breath draws close to rivers, fields, and trees
The Earth is still, as Father Winter planned
While soulful beings sleep in times like these

The steely sky lies heavy in the realm
Of Northern Lights, consoling one lone star
Where once the Gold Sun claimed the Royal Helm
The Graceful Moon inhabits, never far

Analogous to fire breathing
puffed up imaginary dragon
(in a land called Honah Lee)
ye might rightly think
what the deuce
haunting spectre ace of spades
goodfella aiming to be a poet all about,
meaning sexagenarian wordsmith,
this once upon a time jackanapes
presently decked out like cadaverous card

I remember
way back into my childhood

I would laugh and smile
with friends I did not like

I would engage with people
who had wronged me

I forgave people
who never apologized

I thought fake smiles and gritted teeth
was normal

This normalcy carried into adulthood
people pleasing

Staying in broken, neglectful,
abusive relationships

Only now do I realize,
it was never normal

and it's time to rewrite

I'm taking a long black train
coming along with dark rain.
It's pouring down profusely
I won't take this abuse.

I'm looking for lightning
to bury my pain.
I don't think
I'll be here again.

To this place where
my real suffering began.
I'll bury my weapons
deep in my brain.

Confront the demons
again and again,
but it might never negate
all the pain.

I sat there
Transfixed
By the beauty of the poems
The exposition of personal issues
And the amazing words.

I became one of those tortured souls
Willing to say what was in my heart
And on my mind
And I did so willingly.

The rawness of the emotions
And the words
Moved me.

The willingness
To give people a space
To say what they wanted to say
To respect them
Was overwhelming.