We found the lost bridge
none could find it
by daylight
at last
there
You spoke my old name
as if returned
from somewhere
forgot
years
I woke before dawn
you crossed over
the river
still blue
gone
A porch light hums faintly against the slow-warming dawn;
a single leaf turns over in the breeze without hurry.
Far down the block, a mailbox closes with a muted click,
while the street rests easy, holding its quiet like a cup.
"THE SON STILL SHINES"
(by Michelle L. LeBlanc 9/30/26)
Beautiful is the horizon
Although the sun, may be skewed
It matters not what we see with our eyes
The sun still shines beyond our view
Sometimes when the clouds appear
We think that it is gone
But that's when it's time to refocus
For we have the strength to carry on
The dawn will break once again
Just as the morning always comes
As we learn to refocus our eyes
Away from what others have done
There's beauty shining through you
You are beautiful, can't you see?
It doesn't matter what others think
The beauty is still in you and me!
The dew isn't frozen for a change,
each step leaves a dark hole,
a trail to my soggy shoes.
Once again,
I stand at the old wooden shed door
with a bent, rusty key
that no longer turns the stuck lock.
It would be easy to break in.
Inside,
the axe,
the scythe,
the shears,
all in need of sharpening.
I'm not ready yet.
Through grey rainfall,
The rose cannot see the sun,
But time still calls
And alone it must grow on.
Yet shrouded in the shadow
Of grim well-worn roads,
Stars shine bright,
Their gold light,
On a lone budding rose.
DARK AND QUIETER STILL
When dark and quieter still
The hours melt away
A whisper on a wick
My true and secret flame
Her need for breath and life
Puts memory to shame
Each night I lie awake
Each night she dies the same
Shall she be reborn
When ash can only blame
This whisper wrapped in wax
My true and secret flame
Just so you're aware I'll tell you
It's you my heart will always choose
I still believe what we had was magical
And something too precious to lose
I cannot believe that we're done forever
Don't you desire what we were too
Ask yourself and your heart will answer
What we had is too angelic to be through
How is it you wonder I still love you
Even after all the hell we went through
There were bad times but remember the good
My heart longs for those moments with you
I miss you in ways I can't explain
A piece of me is missing without you here
My love is greater than I ever knew
What I couldn't see it before is now clear
I wish I had the chance to show you
And I truly hope someday that I will
If you decide you need our love again
I will be right here waiting loving you still
I was a child with questions, no answers in sight,
Why was love absent, why was home not so bright?
A little girl stood in a storm alone,
Searching for love that she had never known.
But then two hands held me, old yet so strong,
My grandparents whispered, "Child, you belong."
They did not ask about my scars or past,
They gave me love that would forever last.
They taught me to read, to write, to dream,
To find my voice, to proudly scream.
Where mother left shadows, they gave me light,
They turned my darkness into mornings bright.
So no, I am not broken, not lost anymore,
I have found what I was looking for.
I am not the tears my childhood knew,
I am the love my grandparents grew.
we buried witchcraft
but kept old snake oil bottles
lined up on our shelves
hooked up with magic potions
to give hope when logic fails
science displays signs
fate is foretold on the screen
yet we plead for cures
still brewed over smoky fires
hope fixes we can't forgo
hunger stays away
concoctions remove old stains
herbs promise rebirth
purging latter-day poisons
making tomorrow spotless
old curses survive
though no cauldron lights the room
we demand revenge
through hidden spells and curses
that only witchcraft provides
when reason falls short
shadowy figures emerge
in crystal ball veils
to give our nameless fears cause
rather than leave darkness blank
science lights the room
yet something circles in flames
older than knowledge
witchcraft belatedly lives
where reason cannot go
I have fallen once again…
I know… everybody falls,
And I’m trying to get up
But can barely even crawl.
All these burdens that I bear ,
They have knocked me to my knees.
So, I call upon the Lord
And I hope He hears my pleas…
I believe the Lord will save me,
But even if He won’t,
Still will I serve Him…
Life can be so very hard.
We must struggle everyday,
We all stumble and we trip
As we follow on His way.
It’s so hard to find our peace
And to keep His end in sight
When worries keep on growing
And we cannot sleep at night,
I believe the Lord will save me,
But even if He won’t,
Still will I serve Him…
So, I’ve fallen once again…
Seems I do it all the time…
And He says to let it go
But I still cling to what’s mine.
And I know that I lack faith
But I’m trying to believe
And to open up my heart
So, His grace I can receive…
I believe the Lord will save me,
But even if He won’t,
Still will I serve Him…
There was a time they grew thick and fair.
I thought them friends. They'd always be there.
What made them loosen up their grip
and say, at once, "Abandon ship"? -
my long lost, faithless, hair.
It was nearly without sound,
Save a pine-brushed mountain breeze
When I rose beneath fog's blanket
And stepped lightly through the trees.
In reverence of the aura there
Subdued in temperance;
Without a word, just in tears
I offered holy reverence.
Before me in this quiet place
A lake, in still perfection,
Lay without the slightest wave;
Heaven's mirror gave reflection.
As I gazed into the glassy lake
My soul and spirit swooned
With God's creation holding me
He healed my hidden wounds.
No greater ambiance nor scene
Has since renewed my core.
I found the Prince of Peace that morn
On a pristine mountain shore.
Next, the sun began to rise
And the Quakies clapped their hands
Creation birthed a brand-new day
And I began to understand:
God is a God of perfect peace
Who in countless ways can bless
Whether heaven sent or by a stream
He gives the seeker rest.
If your world has left you wounded,
"Come unto Me, sons and daughters"
God offers early morning grace
To bless beside still waters.
Psalms 23: 2 (KJV) “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside still waters.”
A leaf falls from the tree
looks for the verdant stems
Had I had the key, it thinks
to come back once more
While on the flight the bird thinks
I wish the rain had a little pause
I could have decked up the feathers
The whistle too would have returned
In fact it's we who are the birds and leaves
We have been thinking for thousands of years
Had we been able to plant some more trees
We might have seen an abundance of roses
Rose represents the civilization
We are still amidst the thorns
29 August 2026
a small clock breathes once
on the edge of the shelf~
slow exhale, lifting the dust
as if time were tired
of holding still
So glad ‘I can keep my doctors on my new insurance plan’
My endocrinologist’s next opening is June 07, 2027
Today I got a reminder call for tomorrow’s appointment with the insomnia specialist
Had to take a pass on the meeting, for it wasn’t in my book
As the year I made it, (2014) I had not by insomnia been overtook
And as for my Primary Care Physician, before I saw him, he retired
So I saw his partner, who with duct tape together had been wired
I asked him if he was actually a PCP for car mechanics
He smirked, then howled ~ said he’s just obsessive-manic
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