Born into a culture
Geared toward work
Any slack
Got a smack and a smirk
Money coming in
Went to household bills
No sense dreamin'
When the children needed meals
The longer one traveled
Down the road of duty
The more removed
The heart disconnected from life's beauty
By the time independence came
The chains were securely in place
More of the illusion practiced
To prevent public disgrace
Bound to work that demands
A heart to numb and survive
The TRUTH of LOVE
Invites surrender to be fully alive
To leave the familiar
And walk in the unknown
Requires a surrendered trust
To grow, until fully grown
...not useful, but LOVED and KNOWN
Written by Trudy Schrader on 01-28-2026
A hypotenusal segment would stray.
Concerned geometers would say, "What way?"
till the brightest of them exclaimed, "Hey!
I think it went from B to A."
wild whirlpools within
tender breeze blows serenely ~
calm before a storm?
A new light has befallen me
And eclipsed a part of my past
My fears were quelled so quietly
By heavenly eyes she cast
Her gaze was so entrancing
Her smile so warm and bright
She sent my senses dancing
Like a flame of candlelight
Am I a fool to love a star
That distracts me from my ways
Or just afraid of an ugly scar
Left painful in younger days
For once I shall not shade this light
Nor will I hear the thunder
Of distant storms that sometimes might
Return to make me wonder
No, I shall open up my heart
Like a flower she has nurtured
To refrain from playing a silly part
That always leaves me tortured
And when this light is gone elsewhere
It will not leave a scar
For new light is always there
Just look for another star
Willingness alive
reaches upwards seeking light
bravely choosing change—
unafraid of exposure
to blaze of introspection
It knows direction,
knows where it must go and when
reaching up, striving—
being both humble and brave
yielding, but so resolute
Seeking a small crack
that lets the light come inside
so shadows fall back
so fear turns into wisdom—
with the will making its hay
All coalesce—
seed, branch, root, twig, stem, and leaf,
bending into light
growing with courage and grace
with willingness on the way
Cravings of lower mind repulse ~
Follow only the truth impulse
~ quote by poet
Ego but serves our body-mind
But we’re not this form, we’re not this
Who we are is love, light and bliss
Pursuit of lust makes us unkind
Let not feral instincts prevail
If we choose love, we will not fail
Why do we wander like the blind
Embrace one and all, friend and foe
Repay now debts of love we owe
Exit oh hermit, ego’s bind
Focus on growth of soul alone
With mindfulness, consciousness hone
Let’s be with our conscience aligned
We heed it when our heart has thawed
Know dear child, it’s the voice of God
Ego but serves our body-mind
Pursuit of lust makes us unkind
Why do we wander like the blind
Exit oh hermit, ego’s bind
Let’s be with our conscience aligned
Wayward son
lost in the maze
of fleeting days
following a path
of wisping wind
and whipping flame,
a labyrinth
of choices lost
in shadows,
seeking destiny
on shifting sands.
There's a trail that takes you everywhere.
Just be patient, that trail will get you there.
Up ahead, there is the town of Everywhere, USA.
When I got there, there was nobody.
I wanted to know where there was action.
So there was nobody to ask.
Nobody said that it's down there in the center of town.
When I got there, there was nothing.
Nothing said that the center of town is up ahead.
He said when I get there, just go right around the corner.
That is where the place action will be.
So there I was.
I finally made it here.
In the center of town, standing by the saloon.
Just Go Right Around the Corner.
There was Action.
Prettiest little thing you've ever seen.
Saw my heart beats passion Burns
soul denied heart is torn
Minefield would forgetfulness
Spirit filled with loneliness
How where will I go
the last wayward soldier
no longer going to war
walking home to his wife and children
the war is over
12/4/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2023
Breaking my chains
expanding horizons
swerving past roadblocks
escaping cages I once died in
A wayward wind now guides me
tousling my thinning hair
Beads of sweat blind my conscience
evaporate in nightmares
Landing softly on a riverbank
where beauty's swept downstream
It matters not where the current takes me
~ only that I follow the dream
Tales Of The Wayward Hero And His Life
Under the crispy crust was soil that sang right out of tune
its musical tastes, akin to the weather in late June
its melody came from a broken harp hiding upstairs
most of all the hero loved going to the state fair
with a torn raincoat on and a dear whiskey bottle too
all the while he was broke with his month's rent long overdue
The hero laughed and always said, "Life is for good fun"
Said that too, just before he shot his head with his friend's gun.
Robert J. Lindley, Sept 3rd, 1981
Rhyming short
I feel the wayward wind,
Whispering incessantly to me.
It comes unbidden but then
So many events come unbidden.
The wind promises me an afterlife,
It threatens death forthwith.
I dare to walk forward,
Meet my ultimate dreadful destiny
Be it sorrow or love
Success or mere defeat.
The path is etched too murky,
The horizon is masked in gloomy mist
Hidden from me with such painful cruelty,
With sinister shadows and shameful secrets,
Neurotic dreads and bitter tears.
Wayward so
Mercy held
Grace hold, God’s heart
Held is the soul
Holy of holies
Marcy’s grace Hallelujah
8/8/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2022©
Wayward spirit.
If you love me
Accept me for who I am
Am wayward they say
Yes I am I can't deny it
I can make you smile laugh out loud
Yet I can also make you cry
Cos am who I am
I learned in the hard way sometimes
Do you expect an angel from
The ghetto
So am wayward yes I am
When you say you love
Accept me for who I am
Am not perfect
Wayward spirit
My woman is in love with me
She say she loves my soul
She says my words are strong
That why she love them
Am nasty and she loves it
She love my vibes
Despite am wayward
You are different she says
You are my kind of man
She sings to a wayward soul
Like me
I love you always she says
And that keep me royal
To her soul
Despite am wayward
Yet I got love
The trials of life couldn't change this
The circumstances of my up bringing
Never stop me from feeling
Cos personally I love life despite my
Wayward spirit
Woeful wandering wayward soul
Hither-thither you go to a place
so lonely and cold
Dwelling and sometimes reveling in
a sunken place
Hither you go, leaving
a dark trace
Wandering and wavering, so capricious
Aimless and shift less, so pernicious
Traveling this plane
in search or maybe not
But during this course what
surely can be seen is pain
Rest wayward, soul, won't you?
Salient feeble eyes speak so much
longing for a moment to see anew
On the nature of daylight
So entropic!
The crushing blows of thunderous
midnight
O, somber cello playing as the
piercing violin harpoons the heart
In search of refuge and a new start
Strings of melancholy so dark and cold
Void of light, what 'was' remains old
No rest now ends and begins to fold
A vessel of unrest, old, weary wayward soul
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