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I did not run away
I ran to

To the end of angry criticisms masquerading as love
To freedom from the dark cloud of your untreated mental illness
To standing on solid ground instead of walking on eggshells
To the time and space to discover my strength, my skills, my autonomy
To doing everything you taught me I needed you to do
To seeing my sincere happiness reflected on my son’s face
To the luxurious solitude of a queen bed all to myself
To waking up with a smile
To waking up

I did not run away from you
I ran
to me

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
She felt the weight of his words
Even as she waved a hand to dismiss them
Even as she smiled
And rolled her eyes
Even as she turned away
Bounce-stepping down the hall
She felt the full meaning of his words
Crushing her into the ground
Into dust

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
A faded feather shed upon the ground
trod underfoot,
soiled and bent,
Is still a feather

Though it no longer shines with colors bold,
no longer soars,
caressing the clouds
though it lays there
abandoned
in the dirt,
dreaming of sky

A still feather is a feather still
bent and broken
a feather still
Flightless and forgotten
a feather still

I am a feather

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
This rain reflects my somber mood
These clouds, my clouded mind
Rain and wind, the only sounds
No happy birds
No laughter
of playing children
in sunny weather
No happy thoughts
No laughter
on the inside either
Only exhaustion
pulling down the edges of my mouth,
holding this tired body
under a familiar weighted blanket of defeat
Tomorrow the rain may stop
Tomorrow the birds may sing
Tomorrow the sun may shine
So I lie in wait
holding on for tomorrow
for happiness to once again be mine

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
It's okay to not be okay, and today was one of those days for me. I couldn't help but notice how today's rainy weather reflected my mood. I wrote to capture it and to try to feel better.  It helped!  And I hope reading it can help you, too.
I am a candle
burning past hurts
craving new air
reaching to the sky
leaving a mark

I am stronger than my scars
wiser than my mistakes
more capable than my
insecurities

I can only be me
I will only burn

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
I wrote this poem at a vision board workshop at Magnus Veterans Foundation after making this art: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uZvqAIXrdZwrW6fPkhN9YSVMl0Pkk_f5/view?usp=sharing
the stillness after a long, hard cry
Friday night after a workweek from Hell
the cool down after an intense workout

Peace is so very hard to find
Once found, impossible to hold

A slippery fish
It slips through my white-knuckled, calloused fists
Leaving me empty and longing

Always longing

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.
—a poem for the broken quiet of Hello Poetry

This was meant to be a haven—
ink-stained sanctuary
where silence could bloom into verse,
where hurt could heal
in soft stanzas and shared breath.

But now—
every scroll feels like stepping
through shattered glass.
The comment threads,
once stitched with kindness,
now rip apart at the seams.

Accusations buzz like hornets,
each reply a stinger
piercing deeper into fear.
Names thrown like knives,
defense and damnation
fighting for dominance
in spaces meant for peace.

I see poems
not of love, not of loss,
but of monsters
lurking behind usernames,
of children caught
in digital snares,
of moderators gone silent,
as if safety were a forgotten draft
left unpublished in the void.

I haven’t spoken—
not yet.
But I feel the shadows
pressing against my page,
wondering if one day
they’ll find me,
slip through my poems
with sugary words
and hollow hearts.

What if I mistake poison for praise?
What if I smile at a trap
thinking it’s just another reader
kind enough to care?

I haven’t been touched by it—
yet.
But that doesn’t mean
the fire isn’t creeping closer.

I write in hope,
but I carry worry like watermark—
invisible until held to light.

So I ask,
not just for myself,
but for every young poet
finding their first courage here:

Where are the watchers?
Where is the warning bell?
Who guards the gates
when predators write poetry, too?

I want to believe
this space can be better.
That we are louder than the silence
that lets evil grow.
That we are not just witnesses—
but protectors,
word-warriors
with sharpened pens.

Because poetry should not be
a hunting ground.

And no poem
should end in a wound.
This piece is not meant to call anyone out directly. I’m simply expressing the overwhelming emotions I’ve been carrying while witnessing everything unfolding lately. I just want this space to feel safe — for myself, for younger poets, for everyone who comes here to share their voice. That’s all.
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