I don't mind the counting
The big items that are easy to see
But it's the tiny little buttons
That gets the best of me
I know that taking inventory
Is necessary every now and again
Seeing what you got on the shelf
And what others require for you to bring in
I run a tight ship shape shop
Very aware of what others desire
It may be my building
But you'll never see me playing with fire
No I don't take to snooping
In the business of others
I've got enough to get on with
Taking care of the unmet needs of mothers
...searching for safety
Written by Trudy Schrader on 07-30-2026
Note: Codependency sits on need
April, a season wet
Wishes, oft unmet
I was over the moon
Crashed down, soon
Selfish heart, hurt
With strong spurt
I recoil, refused
Rejected, bemused
A truce, declared
Damage, repaired
For a while we drift
Biology, the gift
Birthdays intrude
Marking the prelude
Troubles delayed
Close to a decade
In time, a non event
Space, to resent
Slowly, came betrayal
Dealing the blow,fatal
The depths of pain
Life lessons learned
Infinite my choices
Promise their voices
. ( ( ( ) ) )
( \ / )
( =0= =0= )
( Gales create a threat ) =====
( O )==============
( ) ==== ========= ===
( ( ) ========
~~'''''~~~ ~~~ """" ~~~
~~~~ ~ ~ "" """" " """"
~~ Zephyrs may bring dreams unmet """"
~~~ ~~ ~"""" ~~~~ """""" ~~~
~~~~ ~ "" """ ~~ """"" ~~
~~~ Spring ~~~~~~~~~~
~~~ winds ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ bring ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ regret ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She is a body,
Yet she carries a soul,.
Men know her only,
Through the curve of her form,
Touch only the surface,
Never the purest part within.
All hunt her shell,
Praise her fleeting beauty,
While her soul remains untouched,
Radiant, immaculate,
A light so pure,
It could awaken yours,
Kindle the eternal flame,
Of never-ending spiritual love,
She knows,
Every man is dying inside,
Chasing shadows of flesh,
Still she waits,
Patient, apart from her own body,
Dwelling already in the realm of spirit,
For the one rare soul,
Who will seek her there,
Her true mate.
But her vigil ends in flames,
On the pyre her body burns,
Her deepest longing unspoken,
Unmet. No man ever learned,
The language of her soul.
an empty space
occupied by calm or chaos
an undulating vacuum
ear drums reject the dense stop
tremors trapped in a passive void
levitation upon the tongue
the grey between articulation
a cliff with an out of focus edge
wet mist on cheeks that isn't tears
reverberation in stereo
unmet by counterbalance
death by being undone
#3 placement
Once smitten
Twice shy
How can I erase you
Out of my mind
Shadow lingers
After sunset
Pitch darkness
Yearnings unmet
Paint portraits
No face
Palpitations
Through this haze
Lay flowers
On the grave
could have been
Kids and a home we named
Unmet expectations damage your demanding mind,
your senses become the fast spreading wild fire.
Uncontrolled, it boils the blood of your intrinsic pride,
and as it flares up, it burns my gentle demeanor.
Its ferocity blazes the bonhomie of bonding chords,
my life turns into an urn filled with your ill feeling.
Your flashing eyes can’t conceal you seethe inside,
generate an inferno of malice for me in your heart .
The twisted tongue spills out your sentiments so sadistic,
smeared with the vicious venom of your malicious mind.
The scorched petals of my floral essence are dislodged
to feel the dreams turn into debris, suffering in silent pain.
I pray to God to give me the strength of tolerant psyche
and the acuity of empathetic acumen to sense that
“the only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.”
So, the spontaneous spurt of imbibed divine forgiveness
emanates from the fountain of my benign soul,
and I perceive my genial mind evade the pangs of agony.
When the heart cries, the eyes well up,
Heavy with feelings long confined.
When the heart bleeds, the eyes go blind,
Choked by sorrow undefined.
When the heart cries, the eyes shudder,
Shaken by grief behind the grace—
Bitterness born on a lover’s shoulder,
In a restless search for a tender place.
When the heart cries, the eyes release
The pain of reckless, fragile love—
Nurtured in silence, grown from fear,
Now aching from what it’s made of.
When the heart cries, the eyes grow dim,
Lost in a fog of silent despair.
Emotions swell along love’s rail,
Calm as a child in dreamless air.
When the heart, like the belly, takes in too much—
Hungering still, though overfilled—
It swells like a balloon with every touch,
Yet aches for more, unmet and stilled.
When the heart cries, the eyes cry out,
Weary of silence, unmet need.
Jejune replies to aching calls
Leave tenderness to wilt and bleed.
When the heart cries, the eyes grow tired,
Longing for days of softer light—
When trees were green, the winds were kind,
And love was gentle, pure, and right.
Growing old, things loved and cherished come and go.
Phone calls- text messages thinning.
Tossed aside in a world of folly and thickening frost-
Growing old in a world that keeps getting colder.
Hard faces-hovering over graying steps.
Cobwebs in the corner of an empty nest.
Growing old, another funeral procession -one friend less.
Life becoming an endless blue eulogy-nothing more, nothing less.
Layers of experiences - wisdom making very little difference
Growing old, what am I to leave behind...
A fistful of photos- memories forgotten
A few half-assed poems
a small sack of dirty dimes.
Where does time go when it's tired?
Years lost to a breeze-like a willow in spring.
Hard times and regret chirp away at the mind
Like sparrows on a line-so little time.
Where did the time go,
I wish I could buy a little bit more.
To release this overdue dream from its chrysalis.
Place barbed words back in the voice box.
Pay the toll for goals unmet.
I need a bit more time for apologies.
To tether forgiveness to regret.
Where did the time go, growing old?
The furtive idea, flares ghost-ignited,
in a fevered yellow-blue glimmer,
on the edge of sight,
just out of reach,
beckoning you towards it.
Pirouetting, bobbling and whirling,
above the sodden, choking, black mire
of mundane, numbed and stale thoughts.
You draw near,
It slips away.
Crawl closer.
It slings away.
Try to snatch a side-ways glance—
It dissolves,
like a phantom mirage.
But this will-o'-the-wisp—
this alluring fiery gas spirit
is undeniably real.
It’s not an illusion,
but a seductive snare,
a promise left dangling, festering, unmet,
until cornered, captured,
shattered and scorched,
torn, beyond recognition
by the ruthless pursuit,
in the reek of the marsh-fume ooze,
before dusk, devours the day.
It starts again
It's hard to breath
Lord, I have so many unmet needs
Please help me stand
I don't want to fall
You are God, in control of it all
This empty perception
Leads me into deception
This void in my heart
Breaks me apart
I can't move
I can barely speak
It's your love i desperately seek
The road has been long
And the journeys been hard
I'm finally letting down all of my guards
Take hold of my life
For I can't take much more
Help me persevere
What I was made for
In this silence I feel you near
You are the one who demolishes my fear
In this silence I feel you near
You are the treasure I now hold dear.
By: Sabina Nicole
JUne 12th
Unmet expectations strike hard,
hurting where they languish long.
Unkept promises are blows earned,
hitting where they find no resistance.
Unkind words are slashes harsh,
ripping through the calm conscience.
The dormant volcano within the soul
then gets the upsurge of melted psychic mantle
in the crust of brittle tolerance,
that collapses in the caldera cradling the vent,
reaching the magma chamber in the core.
The soul erupts the lava in the wild,
burns the gentle patience as it flows.
Uncontrolled, it blazes the heart,
undowsed, it singes the sane senses.
The smoke billows up thick and intense,
clouds the deranged essence.
Words rise like Sphinx from the toxic ashes,
perish the patient face of mental restraint.
The flame surges in the stream of neurons,
no longer the carrier of conformist signals.
From the volcanic inferno of the soul
the erupted fiery lava called anger flows
in the torrents of blistering words,
scalding whatever comes in the way,
blazing a furrow for the reticent life.
Look around, an era of strife,
Yet God still plans to bless our life.
This season brings abundant grace,
As trials and changes, we continue to embrace.
Progress on, define the way,
For needs unmet, let not your heart dismay.
Watch for signs, see ahead the story unfold,
Let the Spirit decree, make new things bold.
Towards fruitfulness, we now move ahead,
Seeking faith, while time is spared.
Faith will come through Word’s decree,
With kingdom steps, rise and see.
When trials come and darkness grows,
Let God’s great river freely flow.
Speak the Word, the foe will flee,
Have faith for all eternity.
Let every cell in our body and mind,
Respond with grace, in ways redefined.
O soul unbound by pomp or praise,
You walk the earth in humble ways—
No jeweled crown, no trumpet sound,
Yet peace and warmth in you are found.
Where others rush with tangled aim,
You breathe with calm, you speak with flame
Of steady hope and open skies,
A mirror of the wise and wise.
You do not seek the world's grand stage,
But in small acts, you turn the page
Of lives unseen, and hands unmet,
With kindness none will soon forget.
A gentle word, a helping hand—
Not for applause, nor to command—
But just because your heart believes
That every soul deserves reprieve.
And oh, your light! So softly cast,
It stretches far, though shadows last.
You find the sun in storm and night,
And teach the stars to reignite.
Simplicity—your sacred thread,
Woven through the words you've said;
A cup of tea, a morning breeze,
A laugh that puts the heart at ease.
O bearer of the quiet good,
Who plants not pride but brotherhood,
May every path you dare to take
Leave blossoms gently in your wake.
As the presented light peered to cross the meadows yawn
the timbre of the winds hollowness plied through the forest arches low to high as daring darts two squirrels did fly to here and there if only to dine upon the seeds of which they-had in mind. Against the grass she howled once more to twist the branches as they bore then sail this melody as she had before.
There above it all where trees not stretched the wind unbarred
lest the clouds which etched thick tumultuous breaths tween here and there unmet and unkept…
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