A SAFE ROUND TRIP DAY
(Two Haiku Perspectives)
I
Fell asleep last night.
Have no idea where I went;
God, sending me back:-
II
The sun rose and left;
The moon waxed throughout the night;
Sleep waned; I woke up:-
From the time I was a toddler
I saw you as my protector
You held me, feed me
And I even saw you as my corrector
Anything you told me to do
I did it just to please your way of being
The problem is that you were totally unaware
Of all the patterns my spiritual self was seeing
I knew what was at work in our home
Division, derision, hatred, and the splintering of souls
Ensuring servitude to the system of reciprocity
Guaranteed that our relationships would never be whole
My other sister was never safe
I knew that and kept her at a safe distance
When she took my hoisery and my paycheck
I knew it was futile to form any kind of resistance
I yielded to the bully in our home
I played the game and hoped hearts would change
But as time and distance has proven
Nothing is healed and restored, simply rearranged
This is what I have come to accept about home
And the family that brings you to the point of choice
It is not our job to gift the abuser with peace
But stand firm in TRUTH, and with a balanced voice
....silence fear
Written by Trudy Schrader on 10-06-2026
Safe is the feeling of secure and happy, no worries, and able to grow without fear and harm and persecution.
Safe is when you are in an environment that is secure, that has all of your best interest at heart, a feeling like being in the womb of your mother, warm and secure.
Safe we want, we need, we love, we want to live and breathe safely each day of our life.
Safe should always be the most important way we live our life, it should be universal and it should be for all.
Living in an unsafe environment causing harm, harm to oneself, harm to the environment and leaves us unable to grow and learn just to mention a few of the negative effects that living in an unsafe environment can cause us harm.
Safe we want, we need, we love, we want to live and breathe safely each day of our life.
God’s heaven we are told is safe, it has many rooms for us to live, it is a place of love and joy, a place like the garden of even, we look to God to remove all of the unsafe from our life.
Lifting prayers to God, today and always.
My book, "Recycled Paper: A Safe Place To Hide" is available for sale on Amazon! Thank you all for your encouragement and support!
I remember the nights
when the sound of your voice
would caress my soul and reassure me.
The gentle warmth of your words
would embrace me and convince me
that everything would be alright.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Pacing in the church porch
my heart tastes everything
surrounded yet so separate, in the name of a ring
I start to hear the organ, my body’s frozen stiff
as they pull me to the aisle, it all comes down to this
spectators are just faces absent of my recognition
I’m a buffering engine running on forced ignition
flash backs of months of turmoil assessing the who, the where the what
echo through me now with no means to stop
but then this stunning silence, like he’d planned it a perfect science
fell over me, his eyes the only diamonds that I could truly see
really, I had seen a different glisten
stood opposite, I had tried to listen
to the sound of the organ, beckoning the real life bride
they’d closed the doors and started filming but I’d assumed myself inside
this day was special, sacred and safe
this day defined new time
this day was everything
this day just wasn’t mine
A SAFE ROUNDTRIP
The sun rose and left.
The moon waxed throughout the night:
Sleep waned; I awoke:-
Romantic tapping;
Sends us inside, for napping
Shower happening
Currency is blood
Every man has a symbol
No God is safe here
Dark thoughts attack at will.
Be brave and fiercely fight them off.
Trust the sun will return.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
My safe place is within myself
God fearing, needing no one, other than myself.
Anchoring myself, like a solid boulder
Unscathed, unblemished, rigid and complex.
A safe place, within me and myself…
The house was cold, the doors were shut,By those who should have held us tight.My mother’s eyes, my father’s heart,Turned far away into the night.They left us standing in the dark,My little brother and myself,Two children wishing for a spark,Like dusty books upon a shelf.I craved their love, I wept and prayed,To feel the warmth a parent gives.Perhaps that bond was never mine,Perhaps it’s not where mercy lives.But in the shadows of their lack,A saving angel took our hand.With silver hair and bending back,Our granny chose to take a stand.She was the one who truly cared,The only soul who loved us true.The lessons and the bread she shared,Were everything we ever knew.Her own deep fears, her anxious mind,Her insecurities so deep,Became the armor left behind,To shield us while we were asleep.She fought the dark to give us light,She built a future proud and bright.And though my parents walked away,My granny held us through the night.
emergency vehicles are racing down the freeway
the noise of sirens would have my nerves screaming
if I were out there
but I am safely and cozily wrapped inside my home
with two enormous puppies
Feeling a sigh of relief that my freeway-driving-days are over
Retired now, I do not have to go anywhere
during rush hour or non-rush hour
I live in my pajamas some days
and my fluffy slippers
Movement is sensed
Processor scanning
Frequency mismatch
Response planning
Muscles tighten
Jaw clenched
Eyes set
Ready to present
Guarded heart
Sharpened mind
Decided action
Avoided bind
No connection
Flying words
Perceived pain
Displaying hurts
Inverted receptor
Knowing mistrust
Foggy skies
Accepting what one must
No safety about
Threats all around
Damage done
Hope drowns
Too hard to open
Impossible to receive
Soldier on duty
Ready to leave
...the conversation
Written by Trudy Schrader on 05-19-2026
?The heart I buried starts to wake
?A warmth I thought had long grown cold
?A chance on love I dare to take
?A brand new story to be told
?
?The smile you wear undoes my guard
?Your laughter cuts through all my walls
?To love again seemed oh so hard
?Yet here I am each time I hear your calls
?
?Your eyes speak words you've yet to say
?They pull me in like morning light
?You make me want to find a way
?To hold you close and hold you tight
?
?The fear of falling out renew
?Each moment feels like solid ground
?In loving you I'm born anew
?In your heart am finally found.
?
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