When I speak with confidence
I hold my head up high
I look ‘em in the eye

When I speak with confidence
I no longer feel small
I am ten feet tall

When I speak with confidence
I stay calm and kind
I say what’s on my mind

When I speak with confidence
I stake my claim
And invite others to do the same

© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.

Today I watched a cloud float by
By far my favorite accomplishment of the day
Time paused as I watched
graceful puff of white against blue
All thoughts paused
No To Do List
No guilt
No aching muscles
No errands
No work
Nothing but the cloud as I watched it float by
in the blue blue sky

© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.

The summit looked so far away
We started walking anyway
Sometimes we spoke
Laughing and teasing
Sometimes we fell silent
Looking and listening
Sometimes we needed a brief rest
sip of cool water
granola snack pulled from a pack
Then back to the hike
Walking and walking
As the trail ascended
Navigating rocks and sand
One step and then another
Until we looked up and realized
We made it to the summit
The place where we started looked so far away
from the top where we now stood
Thrilled with ourselves and the view
Happy to have made it there, together
The land never looked so alive
the sky, so blue
As it did from that summit view.


© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.

Truth
It breathes
It speaks
Sometimes in a whisper
like a mother’s gentle kiss on her child’s fevered forehead
Sometimes in a fierce growl
like a protective dog with hackles raised and teeth bared
Sometimes as a calm, steady chant
like the beating of a drum
vibrating in your heart
Truth speaks
We just need to breathe
and to listen



© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.

Careful
Crutches can become cages
Time passes
We lean and lean
We forget
Where we end and the crutches begin
Forget the viable strength of our own legs
We grow fearful of falling
We think we need to be held up
Look
carefully
Maybe these walls aren’t protecting you
Maybe instead of holding you up
they’re holding you back
blocking you from seeing
You are strong enough to stand
You can put the crutches down
You can take that first step
then the next
You may stumble
but you will not fall
Time passes
And you will learn
You can walk on your own after all


© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.

Crashes upon crashes
metal and bone smashes
Blood and oil
evidence of fruitless toil
And they cheered at the spot where our soldiers died.

Headlines repeat
many spelling of defeat
So sick of such sickness
Endless, borderless mess
And the boy laughed, holding up our dead soldier’s kevlar.

Mortars upon mortars scream
More tears stream
No genuine smiles remain
Only arrogance and pain
And those students smiled as our flag turned to ash.

List after list
Scaly agendas twist
Politicians visit
make hasty exits
And there’s no need for rain in this land where blood and tears flow

And all will repeat tomorrow
And tomorrow


© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.

A quiet moment
I steal it and wrap the stillness around myself
Bury my head in it
Until the sharp, outraged cry of my babe
Indignant at being left alone in his crib
Pulls the covers off
leaves me cold, shivering
Then I’m up
Tripping along
to my day job as Mommy


© 2025 Joan Zaruba. All rights reserved.