Resilience fades. Time moves on,
Putting on a brave face for those around.
I'm asked why the "we" and "I" when speaking of self—
Putting safe before all else.
If loved ones knew I'm draining dry,
There is no perfect way to answer why.
My words expressed... stolen by the stress.
Pushing on... a weight that comes perched... a place that it regains.
The hell of an empathetic mind.
I long so much for brighter rays,
To care in ways of innocence.
question burning, cries
answer me before I cool
urgency insists
quickness passes for wisdom
deep thought waits outside the door
paper catches fire
while we search for the answer
ash erases words
haste thins what truth might have said
the quick answer lies ill-formed
the hotter questions
leave far less time to answer
asking feeds the fire
burning time on more questions
until doubt devours the clock
fire lights up the words
bright enough for us to read
while it eats the page
what fire destroys can still speak
through embers buried in ash
time is not the clock
for time itself is the flame
it burns while we ask
what became of our answer
left in ashes asking why
MINDING MISPLAYED WAYS
1.
Hate wanted his way;
Love refused to have it so;
Peace joining with her:
It’s like having it your way,
Rather than God’s chosen way:-
2.
Hate came out to play,
Rolled into a hole of peace;
Melted into love:-
3.
Always slap Satan in the face,
Continuing in God’s life-race:-
4.
God’s way is always the right way.
Opening with complete ignorance
With a loop like tolerance
Most likely with Vengeance
Lace with an effect of balances
The choices of no obedience
No room for obvious clearance
Noting that there is no more chance
The thought of evil romances
Leaving a thought that may
An equivalence of being a prey
When things come with hope that say
A final abrupt stop in decays
The final outcome of a dream
The flow of beautiful stream
Then a burst of angry steam
Things never are what it seems
The More Selfish
The Sacrifice,
The Better For
Everything...
In Darkness,
Or In Light.
So, What's
Illuminating
The Darkness?
Over There?
-Gray Squirrel
07-20-2026
WAYS OF SEEING
conventions
extending
meaning
&
rapidly
remain
in
a
spontaneous
wellspring
of
spontaneous
utterances
unrestrained
simple
impulses
expressed
signs
of
primeval
quest
for
harmonic
exotic
figures
The bright lights flair, outshine the stars.
Your laughter leads me in their sway,
Past ticket booths and candy jars.
We miss our footing, hand in hand,
Leaving the rat-race far away,
We fall like children, down the sand.
The carousel spins horse and mane,
Prances and canters on display
To "Yippee!", "Yahoo!", once again.
The roller coaster swirls its arc,
Climbs up, then drops, without delay,
Leaving our screams, lost in the dark.
The Ferris wheel turns crystal pods,
Stealing our breath with its display
Of all the lights, beheld by gods.
The gates swing shut, the lights burn low,
Yet we still yearn to ride and play,
For lovers, tumble as they go.
TRUMP ISSUES AMAZE
PROBLEMS CONTINUE TO RAISE
MUST BE IN A DAZE
melancholic tidings—
optimism asystolic, now
fool’s paradise.
laconism stentorian
saline fluid agglomerating
“malignant” obfuscates,
formulates black stars.
fluttering, clouting
against ghostly pale tile.
aesculapian screams
circumnavigate weak cerebrum,
foxtrotting endlessly,
cold-blooded mockery.
serene bedrest
sinking linen counterpane.
morphing, suffocating
anaemic stature,
tasting like metal.
thrashing abnormal growth
actuate tunnels unending
i feel it.
i feel everything.
head encumbrance,
vessels strangulated,
blue skin a horror.
needle-punctured, scanned.
inhuman study. a specimen,
neglected medical non-priority.
fragile. no mind.
deteriorating. weaker.
sick. morningly.
please. help. ignored.
stained. vomit. pale.
monitor accelerating.
oxygen. chemotherapy.
please. help. me.
i. am. human.
bottom. medical. food. chain.
neglect. oxygen. oxygen.
oxygen. oxygen.
need. medicine.
nurses.
loud.
sonorous.
ringing.
light.
hunger. thirst. taste. smell. vision. touch. hearing.
taste. smell. vision. touch. hearing.
vision. touch. hearing.
touch. hearing.
dont. go.
hearing.
loud.
asystole.
We part ways on the path we shared,
finding it hard to say goodbye.
I hope to always hold your memory;
you were a shadow at my side.
Through thick and thin, the journey was long,
and we both learned what we needed to know.
We stood together through the struggle,
but now it’s time to let it go.
The road is wide, the air is clear,
we walk our separate ways today
untethered, light, and finally,
carefree.
Written: May 2nd, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Len Gasun
****************
If a house is brimming with lovely delight,
where laughter lights the day, and love is light.
Grandkids gather, giftings glimmer of grace,
their winsome wonder warming all the space.
Good children, grown, still gentle in their ways,
bring balm to burdens, light to lingering days;
A family’s fervor—full, familiar, true—
turns simple hours into something new.
In this sweet symphony of kin and cheer,
life’s luster deepens, dazzling year by year.
Love has ways, love can lead us astray, make us take our time and life and give it away.
Love has some ways, some good and bad, making us think if we have been tricked.
Love that is true never makes us blue, never makes us cry, never leaves us behind.
Some loves trick us and later leave us very confused, we thought they were true, then later find out they only wanted to lead us to hell.
Love that is true will always stay with us, as a friend, as a supporter, as a positive person in our life, they are the ones that make us happy and we cherish each one.
Love that is true can be felt, it radiates in our heart and mind, it gives us a feeling of a sweet love song.
Love that is false will show its signs, we need to beware and run from that kind.
So, pray and love, and beware, choose the love that makes you the best you can be all through your days.
Lifting prayers to God, today and always.
It’s a bleak evening.
My mum sits in an armchair,
wrapped in a blanket
with a rosary in her hands.
On the table is an apple pie;
as it vanishes, the dark deepens.
Only the moon behind the window
is the same.
Life breathed into us by the Creator
dependent on our mamas ‘til we
take our first tentative steps
though so soon we fly
to the far reaches of the cosmos
up and away, physical and intellectual play
tethered to Earth by jobs which pay
for the fascination of our
solo ways
Yesteryear, dreams as promises perched on my pillow. Faithscapes
were landscaped with dream manifestations. Yet, arrival was aloof
to youthful years when I lacked fears and my strength was of infinite,
eager length. Now, in my winter, I often sight dream chances. How
cruel time is to deliver dream possibility slivers in winter when one's
vitality is history and old age, a reality!
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