a wailing groan
fists of triumph
lies
the shards of broken promises
from this shallow vase
cut anyone who try to fix it.
Do you really have the answer
or are you just raising your hand?

my love for you
is a boomerang.
I aim for your heart
but nobody taught me
how to throw.
I release.
who knows if it's coming back.

your note reads like
'gone for groceries brb'
but you left this life
and forced me to grieve.

Sunflowers wave and sway
Bees land to reap their rewards
Pollen finds a new home

i am a filthy crusted towel
who was doomed to forever
in a laundry bin.
but when i came to Him
He made me clean.
i still collect stains
but His love will always make
me clean again.

I cried because I'm old.
You said age is just a number.
I cried because I'm ugly,
Age has collapsed me, taken
     from me the looks of
     interest.
I cried because the end is near.

You have given me the looks
my soul seeks.

I cry now because you are
     far away.

“You Raise Me Up” plays
     on my heart.

There are tears of longing’s
     frustration
now until you happily walk
     off the plane
  
  toward our life.

when we will sing
     together happily

in
  
   God's Grace.


Caroline Shank
11.3.2024

conflict is a woman
I can’t stay faithful to.
She makes a home in my eyes
wrapping herself in the lies that
lay crumpled on silk sheets.
Truth over harmony is the poem
she hums to me
yet
I still run to sing melodies
in the other beds I’ve made.