jumping puddles
hopping cracks
head down
having fun
temporarily unavailable

Filled with delight.
There were no obvious causes.
Around me, it felt like joy was everywhere.
Life seemed straightforward for a moment.
I know these feelings are ephemeral, though, deep down.
But it is difficult to understand why we sometimes feel such jolts of emotion.

A broken smile can linger for months
(coming from a heart waiting to die)
all things left unsaid, even, goodbye.

Lessoned learned the hard way
Like waving my hand above a candle flame
Sneaking a touch
Even after moms protest
But what child listens
My curiosity has always been strong
Just take scars from past burns as evidence
Be carful son
She taught caution with everything
Everything except the heart
I wish she explained how to navigate these feelings
No advice about girls and which ones you shouldn’t pick from
Trial and error is seems like
But I’ve had more error then success
Learning that what you give doesn’t always equal out to what you get
Subtle lessons about love I wish came quick
But just like the flame
I didn’t know it would leave scars like this
But like a moth…

This is the end time of a life
unfulfilled
a hurricane of possibilities
unexplored
storming through a life
untended
intended for Love    yet
somehow skipped
unrequited
except by Godlove
Kyrie eleison

Lord, Have Mercy


c. 2023 Roberta Compton Rainwater

it’s like,
I ride songs into sweet
remembers
of my daddy
of my friends
of my sister, and my twin

I float in a star-strewn nebula,
a compostella, each star
a different scene and cast,
each a member of my asterism of
memories
each and all beloved
clear as the ringing of a bell
flooding my eyes with tears
of sorrow and joy and laughter

I ride music like
a flying carpet lifts on the magical,
gently carrying my heart
into the beauty and sorrow and laughter
of Love lost and
Love found


c. 2023 Roberta Compton Rainwater