A sanctuary
A haven
Another world to be in

A place where I exist
just going with the flow
breaking the trance every so often, to
laugh or sigh
A place where I can escape the turmoil, the chaos, the familiarity of home
where I just be
where I just watch, and see, and hear, and smell, and feel as if I am spectral,
having floated into the authors creativity and genius

Expressing your feelings
splashes of color and sound
against a blank canvas
words that flow like water
paint and paper as bright as the sun
notes that fill a world of silence
spinning, tumbling, making art

Living, longing, seeing, observing
Never quite doing, acting
Until a clear cry sounded
Breaking through my gray haze
A cry of need, of wanting
A cry for help

As I rise from my unseeing
I start noticing, taking in
Others than myself
They're all in stages of loss, of guilt, of shame, of poverty, of disarray
I want to go to them all, bring them back into the light -
But the voice calls again
I must focus - overwhelming responsibility will not aid those in need

I have found a voice, a voice
That will guide me, a voice,
A sound that will calm me,
A hand, a hand to show me
How to help those around me
And how to listen to others
And how to let them show me

And now I’ve been shown
Shown to care for others
Shown to see others
And now I can
Guide others
Calm others
Show others
To care, to see, to do and act

You may rest now, voice,
And I will continue your work

Gone
Never to be seen again
Never to be noticed
or used
or heard
As if it never existed, never to exist again
But from the vast emptiness
Comes creativity, ideas, LIFE
New things
that never would have existed
Unless something was deleted,
Unless something was CHANGED

You ask What's so funny
I say You
You're funny
'Cause you say I started it
When it was you to begin with
You were rude and
What you said pointless
But you say I started it
So I'ma tell the truth
I'ma say what you said

But I'm the better person
And you're gonna live with your lies
And I'm gonna be free
Free of you
And I'm gonna forget about you
And I'm gonna live the better life

Lanterns glow in windows,
Fireflies flash outside,
Dawn is coming, let it be known!
Fill the world with color.

A light, bright, white moon
A lonely, far away world
A whisper of a dream to come
Changing, moving, flying
The spotlight of the night

Line upon line,
Curve after curve,
Layering elements
of art over another,
Inflicting feelings
making people think one way or another
"It's so creative" "It doesn't make any sense"
it doesn't have to because
It's art

Change can be for the better,
can be good
But change can be scary,
new
DIFFERENT

but humans are resilient, strong
we can persevere, and stand tall
no matter how hard
Change can throw us off our feet
but even if it does
WE CAN GET BACK UP
even if it leaves us battered and bruised
WE CAN GET BACK UP
and we will
we will not let it get the best of us
we will not let it win
WE WILL NOT LET IT WIN

Rushing, gushing, moving quickly
Wet, cool, loud, fun
Cold, refreshing water
Run, stream, run
You will win the race.

Secrets are for best friends, silver and gold
Secrets are for journals, ink and lead
Secrets are for those who listen
Secrets are to be told,
but still kept

Something new
a thought, a word, a thing
Something different
unusual, strange, out of the ordinary
Something quiet
a secret, a surprise, private
Something

Bird song
Rain song
Wind song
Snow song
High notes
Low notes
Whole notes
Half notes
Chirping, dripping, howling, silence
a Nature song

A place of peace,
of birdsong and freedom
A bubbling brook, soft with moss
the stream runs a steady pace
bringing me quiet

What would we do
Without the screens
that we are constantly glued to
What would we do
Without the recognition
that we get from social media
What would we do
Without the network
of lies that we rely on
to comfort us when we're down
What would we do
Without the platforms
that we use to edit our lives
to make it look better
to cover up the darkness
and shine as bright as we can
even if the darkness will only grow
when we ignore it