It’s been a long road
No sense of direction
No ending in sight
A challenge at every junction
But it all leads to the same destination
A steady rough road
No lines painted
No guidance for me to follow
A flow that is always flowing
From corners to long stretches
Riding every bump
Slamming into every apex
Never stopping
Never slowing for a speed bump
Flying everything into the air
Over and over again
Pot holes getting deeper and deeper
Like being punched in the gut
Over and over again
Confusing and mind altering
Tiring every corner of the mind
As the long road continues
Still no end in sight
Winter sheds gloomy, dark leaves\\
in the realm of rough road
Sunny, ornamental thoughts dwell
in various , healing steps
of tough road,
The Last Bend
I knew the road before me
Would soon come to an end
And I knew he would be waiting
Just around the last bend.
The tears of sorrow will flow
With many questions of why
But there are no simple answers
No easy way to say good-bye.
My spirit will continue
In those who remember me
And wherever you look
I'll be in everything you see.
I'll be the gentle soft breeze
That kisses your face
I'm the frost on the window
Delicate as fine lace.
I'll quietly sing to you
As raindrops dance
A symphony of my soul
In a harmonic trance.
When the day ends
And the sky is on fire
You'll think of me
And lift your head higher
When the leaves change
And dance to the ground
I'll be that serenity
You feel all around.
The rough road before me
Has come to an end
But I will be waiting for you
Around the last bend.
Those one way streets, that lead to dead ends
The giving and sacrifice on a way road
The words of help echo from ears that don't listen
Then a rough road turns in one's own life, nothing is there
Where are they? Understanding diminishes in the fog
What one can see, another may not and it is dark
The worry for those who don't worry about themselves
The brick wall of denial, that cannot be broken down
All that wears on the soul, as tiredness creeps in
There must be boundaries and the signs of teamwork,
leading to unity, and peace on two way streets
Caring can be accomplished in a special silence,
with conversation at a different kind of speed
There is only so much care in one's being to release,
before their self becomes completely ignored
Life is a process of learning, building a safe house board by board
Heidi Sands
10/9/24
(C)opyright
Teaching is a noble profession
But, given less regard on golden opportunities
I saw their plight of sacrifices
One example, teacher in remote places
Where servicing education to less fortunate ones
I saw teachers start hiking on a Sunday morning
And arrive at the place at evening
They have to go to the ordeal of cliff hanging bridge
Flowing river and rocky rough road and too many stops in between
They are stay-in teacher for the whole week or even more
Only few teacher survive the ordeal
Many quit and gone abroad for greener pasture
Some change places and practice in private school
Those who survive the ordeal remain skeptical
But because they love their profession and the children
They remain true and love their profession by heart
I wonder what the government can do to alleviate the situation
I wonder where our taxes go, where the resources went
I wait God to intervene my government and raise good leaders
To address many social issues that concern people and its progress.
Clad in Kevlar on some forest land leased,
big saw in his hand, engine idling,
gets put to the tree and shatters the peace,
works it just right, and the tree is falling.
Adjusts his visor, then lops off the limbs,
the yarder comes down, cables cinch up tight,
makes sure it is a good distance from him,
then yanks the logs up as if they’re in flight.
A claw grabs them there, loads them in the truck,
down rough road it trundles with its cargo,
off to the mill, so they can make a buck,
on to the next tree the lumberjack goes,
knows if he screws up there’s a chance he dies,
the risk you take working the mountainside.
man of old
talking to himself
in this run down
watering hole
not crazy
just lonely
turns his head
and him I know
chief of police
when I was young
put me in jail
more than once
now he’s nearing
the setting sun
sitting in a bar
getting drunk
I can't take it
I buy him one
he remembers me
some things I'd done
harmless, really, just
"you were a wild one"
well, I guess I was
I had my run
all my thoughts now
settled on being settled
finish my beer and leave
there's somewhere
I'd rather be than... he
"Aja when all my
dime danc'n is through
I run to you"
quiet endless sea
of gentle femininity
my beautiful tranquility
she soothes and succors
every need
I don't know if she knows
how my heart bleeds
I don't know if she sees
the rough road in me
unwinding
in her soft eyes
just feels
like hard times
are starting to smooth
silky petals unfolding
sweet nectar flowing
she takes me in
somewhere it feels
I've never been
* "Aja" by Walter Carl Becker and Donald Jay Fagen for Steely Dan
It was rough road
Trying make our goal
It was fun
Tho was a tough run
Our plan
It's stand
Will full fill our plan
Just has to get out bed
To make it work not be a jerk
Our Best year
AHEAD
She wore her skirt short,
her lingerie to be seen.
Such sights aplenty!
Gawking, gawping eyes
lusted at shear nudity.
They burned with hunger.
She proudly stood in
ruffled edges of cheap chintz,
dimmed and stained with wear.
Though worn and weathered,
her shoes had seven-inch heels -
a platform for love.
She was hardworking,
a rough road for seven years,
never a complaint.
She saved her rewards,
wed an investment banker,
retired at 30,
and laughed her way to the bank.
To lighten the load upon a rough road
I fall in a wonderful dream
Where golden plants bloom with honey perfume
under a sky of ice-cream.
Pause walkabout where waterfalls spout
Soothing and smoothing my way
And with natures tune I leave the cocoon
To salt water sands of gourmet.
There on the shore where eagles wing soar
In beams from the sun on her set
Warm zephyr zen tempts me again
Where clapping sticks tap by the met
Enticing with song crescendos prolong
Nourishing richness within
And here in this place I love to embrace
The dreamtime graces of kin.
Heaven on earth seems to be so unfriendly
because of the pandemic’s subjugation!
Life is trapped in the quicksand of poverty;
unable to get up through any motion!
The rough road is trodden in difficulty;
but the end of plague is on the horizon!
So sufferance only makes the spirit firm;
letting soul have the strong hope in the long term!
A peaceful path some may call a rough road,
In succulent scents--they feel a forebode.
Me--I'm only a drowsy dreamer
pitching pebbles at all troubling times.
Searching skies for lovely rainbows,
climbing clouds above mountaintops.
A wistful wayfarer finding my way
December 15, 2021
rewritten as free verse July 12, 2022
BUMPS IN THE ROAD
Bumps in the road that I travel—
Menacing, to say the least!
Why are they there in the pathway?
I just do not have the peace!
Bumps of the past and my failures,
Bumps of some bad memory,
Bumps that some cold, callous people
Put in that pathway I see.
Bumps of my life’s daily struggles,
Some are my fault there, I know,
So on this rough road I travel,
Now long I’ve traveled it so.
I could just give up the journey
Jump off a bridge here or there,
Or other ways I could detour,
For I don’t think people care.
Then someone came there beside me
Who’s been on this road before,
He said, “The bumps are for climbing”;
I knew it was the Lord.
Strange as it seemed, now here with me
Bumps in the road I don’t mind,
For someone there is now with me,
And in His strength I can find
Courage to travel this highway,
With all its bumps on the way,
But knowing GOD’S there beside me
Helping me climb bumps each day.
--Thoughts based on selections from a devotional by Warren Wiersbe, shared on Facebook, April, 2017
Quite fortunately,
There's unseen beauty in ugly things.
And altogether fascinating,
Unrevealed mystery in every smile.
Just as a treasure is hidden,
Not every purpose is outwardly intended.
The smoothness of a road doesn't always gurantee a safe destination.
Sometimes, it's the rough road that leads to the strongest direction.
He looks straight ahead
and keeps walking neath the sky
despite the rough road.
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