A string of pearls gleams in her aster eyes
she tries to veil grief away
but truth will ever stay.
Trails before me
The guiding light of all who look
The veiling dark betwixt each star
The crumbled rook
The waning breath of who we are
Or whom we mistook ourselves to be
In sleepless fantasy
Fades as voiceless memory
Gazes upon a faceless sea
Turning, we weep
As silent ends the dream.
Pierces, the waking
The heart stirs once more
Beating with fierce unknown fear
We stept once more thro' trouble's door
We make our way in lonely dreare
If happiness greets us,
We'll away from here,
But no eyes dare we cross, or meet
We watch the ground 'neath our feet
Lest it fall away on some nameless street
And we fall double lost
To the waves of defeat.
Stare up toward the star that blinds
Know that nothing in the null binds
That the rush of life
Are the flowers of the eye
Frail and intricate beautiful
But ultimately a lie
Dream bears more weight
Than you or I
And the hour is late,
I’m afraid.
You've not been so dark, as dims
Of you, this appraisal.
For a world, for a time, bad, sad
"A priviledge, home, to call".
Nor so much a soul-crushing
As discourages it
Out of this fondness: " Worth each
Two-way needy embrace.
Whilst as Love's own nurturing place
You and me now merit".
Eyes opening;
Gaze slowly focusing;
White sheet covering;
A cold body quivering.
Icy shallow inhales;
Straps binding loosely;
Unable to move or speak;
Yearn for eternal rest.
Forcing another breath;
Strength so very weak;
Free of all addictions;
Search for a final veil.
Pitted face; rotted flesh;
As I slip into the void,
Of this endless black.
Forgotten in the morgue,
just needle me to death.
(“Outside Looking In Merit Badge”, 2011, original oil)
Within the veil of illusion
The mind spins its web
Of deceptive persona
For fun and fear
Projecting in the cause of protecting.
Since everyone seems to be doing it
You’re crazy if you aren’t
And yet by definition
You become crazy if you are.
The challenge
Is to keep your original-mind innocence
Or somehow regain it once lost.
Many people grow old and die
Without even knowing
What they have lost
Within all they have gained.
(4/28/26)
Space flickers revealing it is a veil,
circumferenced by a ring of white light.
We recognise the truth this does entail,
as light that lights all lights, banishing night.
We find we alone have beheld this sight,
which we then witness again and again,
being what it is, stated in words plain,
which although we share no one seems to care,
so as these epiphanies we ingrain,
of what lies beyond, we become aware.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
soft dawn unseals the stone
light drifts from Jesus’ tomb~
the veil between worlds quivers.
Your breath, older than the stars,
moves through the still air.
we rise in the hush of Your name~
grace gathers the world to light
The frost still clings to hollows deep,
Where shadows stretch in iron gray,
Yet waking from a frozen sleep,
The world begins to turn away.
A single blade of emerald light
Pierces the crust of hardened snow,
Brave herald of the coming bright,
Where hidden, rushing waters flow.
The winter’s veil is wearing thin,
A tattered shroud of mist and sigh,
As golden warmth begins to win
And paint the edges of the sky.
Each shivering branch and rooted stem
Prepares to shed its coat of white,
To wear the dew—a budding gem—
And step into the morning light.
Beyond The Veil
I recall the day I accepted Christ
It's now been many years ago
I've studied His Word along the way
Attempting His message to bestow
There have been hills and valleys
As along this path I've trod
I've learned to cling to His promises
And let Him be my staff and rod
Some things I do not understand
By faith, I must rely on His Word
And trust that His plan is best
When various issues seem blurred
It's as a veil obstructs my view
Making it hard to comprehend
But when I study Psalm seventy three
Verse seventeen, will my anxiety end
I know that soon, the day will come
I'll lay this earthly mantle down
Now, I find consolation in the fact
Then, I'll be homeward bound
A veil will no longer obstruct my view
Then, I'll meet Him face to face
That which is faith, will then be fact
Because of His "Amazing Grace"
By: Colan Hiatt
Inspiration comes when candles cast their light
Words flow mellifluously like honey
The heart's doors open onto the page
A release that tastes much like freedom
Daylight's veil no longer masks the truth
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
the veil of shyness
keeps you safe
as you hide
to escape the tears
and
the reality of the silence
afraid people will see it all
so you live behind a wall
a wall built
to protect you from
the worlds evil sins
so you live inside a cloudy daze
...of delusions
but;
...truth lies within the illusions
so...
take a leap into the unknown
and when your generals
directions dominates all bounds
don't be left in a place
...icy cold
just dwell in a place where
the heart beats
...true
a place where
all your wishes
hopes and dreams
are more then
your minds fantasies...
Shroud of eclipse,
Where murmurs are cloaked in velvet firmament,
And valor clings to breath held tight-
The cosmos halts in reverence.
Shroud of eclipse,
Where enigmas thrum within spectral gleam,
And destiny reweaves its primordial thread-
A lone ember dares awaken.
Shroud of eclipse,
Where umbral trials forge tempered spirits,
And hope is clad in dusk-wrought steel-
The precipice of metamorphosis.
Ascension of glory,
From the sable clasp of night emerges the soul,
Its vision refined in light's retreat-
A conflagration reborn.
Ascension of glory,
The veil unravels, the hush is shattered,
And triumph, sovereign and incandescent
Devours the vestiges of darkness.
Closed, closed I've been
Since the lifting of the veil
Enraptured with hope
I knew, love could not fail
Oh, but I did not count subtleties
Subtleties that ran like invisible wire
Reaching into the abyss
While enthroning desire
I believed you, every word
Words that told me I wasn't weird
My secrets became your weapons
That rusted away and ground my gears
....to powder
Invest, you want me to invest
In a love that shattered my very soul
Yes, it's true you brought me through
And made me whole
So what's the point
Point me to an answer I can hold
Maybe I could cover my face, again
Because I find TRUTH crass, too bold
My heart, this heart touched by LOVE
Finds the journey frightening, odd
Investing all to experience presence
Intimacy made by a child-like GOD
...to flow
I was in the Ocean....now the Ocean is in me
..........collecting the veil
Written by Trudy Schrader on 11-12-2025
The Psychedelic Veil
Shoulders stuck windows of silence in the flesh of embedded eyes,
the scales breathed with lungs of blue fog in everyone
we were overturners of worlds sifted in dreams that floated.
Silence floated in them like lavender smoke on burned lips,
the tallest woman sat on her chair looking toward me,
her gaze was a gentle sadness like a sleeping water,
our recognition tore the seen into fine silk cloths.
Under the veil my whispers slid on my forgotten cheeks,
distance settled with each moment between us like an ocean,
the veil was a curtain of wax melted in lunar transparencies,
my sadness slept on nobody's grass forgotten in eternity.
The scales breathed with souls of steam and with bodies of fog,
we were those who overturned light in mirrors of liquid mercury,
one fine day something floated like a white petal on heavy waters,
and my silence spoke in the lost languages of living oblivion.
Windows with shoulders of gazes nested us in strange eyes,
recognition was a deep trace in every gesture of loss,
the veil whispered with my voice on her cheeks far away on the horizon,
and we all lived in the sweet burden of existence that floated in us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not in shrine’s cold marble,
nor studio’s frantic clutter—
but in breath suspended
between midnight and dawn,
when mind sheds its armor
and soul forgets its name.
There: a flicker in the silence,
a pulse beneath the static—
raw, jumbled words awaiting hands
that know they are guided.
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