As a child comes bare and blank.
For his own good only to be spanked.
Loved, cared for, and protected.
Mothers first born not rejected.

What are thoughts to think?
Food to eat, milk to drink.
Urges unknown.
Hugs being shown.

Why was I so well blessed.
Yet when I was young molested.
It killed a part of me.
Forever changed whom I'm to be.

I grew, I saw, I learned to be.
So shy, scared, and lonely.
Parents, brothers, sisters too.
Friends, foes, teachers too.

Through School and battle.
I made my travel.
Did things of my own.
Thinking I was grown.

Next came her and I.
Joined as one under a lie.
Gifts came as little ones.
Two daughters and two sons.

Now a turning of the page.
In this life that I've made.
Now that I'm fully grown.
Striking out on my own.

You have a list though not long.
Of things you seek in a loved one.
They are all for nought.
Fleeting soon gone.
Your list sees only outward coverings.
Not one thought of inner things.
Wealth, looks, clothes. Dressings.
Things soon gone.
You've already broken my heart.
Without even a first kiss.
My inner worth not saught by you.
Not one word about who I am.
How can a woman be so shallow?
Will you find one to fit your list?
Will he be like you?
Seeing only you from the outside.
Never pearsing your inner soul.

Fancy funeral
Stale love
Empty coffins
Chiseled stone

Fancy coffin
Just to be buried
Dead mounuments
Vanity, vanity

Not for the dead
Cryps, tombs
Rites, rituals
Macabre, dank

My chains unknown to me.
Hindered my way.
Held by a force unknown.
I was too young to see.

As I aged, clanking I heard.
Foreign at first.
Yet familiar to me.
Great peril unknown.

Older I grew, links I've made.
Easy it was, without thought.
Seeing vaguely chains anew.
Searching for what I knew not.

Older still, wiser it seemed.
More links I dread!
I made these too!
Dragging me down!

I'll loose these chains!
Not knowing the Way.
Plodding along. As most do.
Seeing my doom all too well.

I'll make things right.
Try as I might,
No end in sight.
Save me oh God!

I HAVE MY CHILD!
IT'S DONE LONG AGO.
I HAVE THE KEY.
A GIFT OF LOVE FOR THEE.

HIS NAME IS JESUS.
HE IS MY SON.
WITH LOVE HE TOOK YOUR CURSE.
WITH LOVE PLEASE TAKE HIS GIFT.

With guilt and shame.
I see my wrong, my weakness.
I see Your Strength, Your Love.
I accept Your Gift from above.

The One, the Most High!
The Lamb, the Lion!
The Sacrifice, the Resurrection!
I shall not dread, my peril erased!

My Freedom Cometh! AMEN.

END

Hiking here and there.
Strange things I've seen.
None more mysterious as
Stairs in the wood.
Have you seen yonder stair?
Such a sight, dare not climb.
Drawn to its strangeness.
Mystery abounds.
Here in the woods.
It should not be.
Straight from a house.
Or so it seems.
Some have seen the other side.
And lived to tell but a few.
Many never return.
Most have trouble.
With horrors unknown.
Broken, sick, and weakened.
Many stay away, some know why.
Tell the new ones this way go.
Time on top is not the same.
Farther it goes, we know not where.
Some are white, some are brown.
No matter the color, touches only the ground.
Makes no sense, these sights of sights.
Stairs in the wood.
Misplaced and strange.
Will ever be an understanding?
Of these flights, just one or two.
Most stay away, stories they lived.
Lost kids too they take.
No mercy these stairs give.
Hardest to see, perils not fake.
Don't assend, strange things do come.
Again, return unscathed only some.
Out of all the weird here in the wood.
None such as these, stairs in the wood.

We lie to ourselves, we justify much.
We wine, we scream and complain.
We're human after all, did you such?
What does it get us? We all distain.

Not another day richer,
No closer to freinds.
Family lost, so much deeper.
How long to pretend?

How to do better?
We need to ask.
How to break the tether?
Not to use a mask.

With love in our hearts.
Helping one or two.
Is where it starts.
Away goes the blue.

Stop the sobs and wining.
You can do it too.
Bright and shining.
Our lives will renew.

Held high, to be spoiled?

Then what for?

Vanity I say!

Perfect.

Taker and giver.

The woman, lovely.

Weak, frail, pitied.

A curse for men.

Strong, smart, determined.

The woman, ugly.

Smile, wave, wink.

Taken and received.

The woman, lost.

The gift for men.

Flawed.

Costly and costly.

Taken from her place,

Better lands to sow.

The woman, cherished.

She is forever sought.

Marked. Inked.

Beaten and bruised.

Harasser, to get her way.

***** and ravished.

Broken, forgotten, left.

The woman, beautiful.

Devil and Angel.

Gift giver, to get her way.

Loves, lover, loved.

The woman, stunning.

Bearer of life.

Murderer, kills with words.

Diamonds pale next to her glow.

Qualities she possesses are in high regard.

Protected, guarded, and safe.

She makes her way so clear.

The woman, selfish.

Persevering year to year.

Who deserves such a wife?

Shapely, mesmerizing, lushish.

Little ones nourished all their life.

Security wanted, more than love?

The woman, shamed.

The woman, praised.