PHOTO-Footbridge in Holyoke, MA

POEM

When I paint myself
My fingers drag down my cheeks
In place of tears that must
Always be there
I’m a downhearted spirit
Even in the abandon of pretend
I cannot escape it

PHOTO - Gerbera Daisy

Joint effort with my husband, Mike

POEM

This poem was inspired by Flannery O'Connor's short story "You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead":

My great grandpa
Was a simple man
Raised me the only way he could

Thought my father
A vicious man
Taught me what a man should

The day he died
I was left alone
Save for the voice inside

What’s black has faded
What’s clean is stained
For the first time, that day I cried

POEM

You saw no way out
A jumbled puzzle in your mind
A pitch-black cavern
An infinite abyss in your heart

You stopped the flow
You stifled the ache
And left one word goodbye