Our words tend to reap the frigid wind of sorrow
When we do not make ourselves clear
Anxiety tends to rear its ugly head
Some people often hide themselves in fear
But, we can not lose hope
We need to obtain that fire
Have the drive, ambition and precision
To reach even higher

I stand
I see the trees
the sky
and all the things
that make up my environment

between them
and I
is nothing to distract
no knowledge blocks
the path of my experience
no human division

the rose attracts me
as it does the bee
its colour
shape
and smell

and when I touch its petals
soft and smooth
its shine as well

a thrill of joy runs through me
that touches every sense
I live
I love
I'm free

Margaret Ann Waddicor 23rd March 2016

I’ve been seeing ghosts lately
the kind that keeps me up at night
Father wonders what’s wrong with me
Mother asks if i’ll be alright

I think I saw grandma, Pa
Her hair whiter than I remember
She was sitting on her favourite sofa
And playing with her pearls

Then I felt your presence around me
Your hands wrapped around my throat
With my heart on my sleeve
I begged and pleaded - "Please don’t go"

The ghosts have come back to haunt me, Mother
I can feel them in my bones
This time they taunt me and scream louder
But it’s better than being alone

- S.S (I want to see you but you're not mine)

Can’t relax in a forest of nightmares
with blankets of silence and
pillows folded neatly in the darkness
while down feather delusions suffer
anxiety in nightfall lulls –
Where the hell is the dawn
when you need it

We’re painting the roses red
Because the white isn’t good enough
It’s too innocent, too pure
It’s petals not yet touched by the crimson dripping from our hearts
What hearts?
Hearts we build out of plastic
So that bullets shot at us leave no drastic wounds
Only indents
Nobody says anything
We wrap lace around our rotten cores
Hopeful that beautiful will one day mean forgotten
And our mistakes won’t haunt us like stairwell ghosts
They’re band aids we place on each lesion
Doing whatever it takes to create shield of armour for our castle
Can’t you see you’re a castle?
A castle built on top of the ground you were pushed down upon
Where the white roses grow
Words are like arrows aimed at your throat
And you can’t breathe so you close your eyes
Covering your ears like a worried toddler
You hide and inside you build treehouses
With signs that read “No Trespassing”
Throwing stones at a fleeting reality that begs to be let in
But you’re terrified of what you’ll find waiting
Because you’re still just a child
Aren’t we all children?
Children left timid and quivering
Who pity themselves as lesser beings
Two halves in two worlds
Built only on broken roads that wish to bring harm
And their arms feel weak from reaching both distances
Somewhere along the way their compass was smashed
One hand pointing north, the other south
So they call themselves worthless and keep their mouth shut
But why does that make them the lamb and you the lion?
A lamb that counts their scars as they grow
And notice they all look like people
Snakes in mankind’s clothing
Who asked you to love them but their fangs sank too deep
They couldn’t see your innocence bloom in each petal
They assume that your heart is as damaged as them
Admiring the view of rose covered gardens all painted red
Where everyone wants to be different or dead

She sat there alone and cold and naked
I picked her up
Put her in a jar
I really didint think
The little sun flower
Would make it

I am out of tune
It doesn't matter what you play
The monochrome sound will remain
Even with new keys
The beauty of that piece
Is mangled in my strings.
So please,
Just leave me here in the dust
To rot in this silent room because
I am beyond repair
I will never play again...