A punctual Jay
Announcing our afternoon rainbow overhead
Dancing wetted wire-grass
Commanding the darkened , woodland edge* ...

Transient confusion
Senility kicking in;
Who knows.
In the beginning
There was purpose.

Red brick houses
One after another,
No deviation from the form.

Then
I spy the odd one;

The misfit
The outcast
Finally,
someone who thinks for themselves.

Help puts a smile
On another’s face
Help lends the helper
God’s gift of grace.
When you feel all alone
With now way to cope;
God sends a helper
To lend you some hope.
     © 8/18/2000

Down the dim and darkening tunnels
through the mazes of my life
While my soul deals with the trials
and my flesh deals with the strife
I still can see the burning
of salvations shining light.

While my heart has mourned with losses
and my tears have overflown
And my world has tossed and tumbled
from everything I once had known
Though circumstances said defeat,
through strength, my faith has grown.

I've learned to look past what is there
to what it might become
I've learned though strikes may be against me
that is not the total sum.
I must do my best to measure
up on the day my Lord will come.

As I lay upon a bed of death
it's claws gripped to my soul
I must confess a part of me
just wanted to let go
But a quieter voice said,
"there is more to do you know."

Who stands upon deaths' doorstep
and doesn't stop to wander back
To look upon the deeds they've done
or upon the things they lack.

I can feel the breath of God
Through the trees
As they bow to him in reverence.
Nature sings praises unto him.
I can hear it in every blue bird and
and whippoorwill.
The wind blows and the trees
Become instruments in the background.
It is spring and they sing from the joy of it,
And though my heart is burned
The voice of their magnificence
Has lightened my load

What if you think life isn't worth it?
You're just standing there.
Nailed to the ground.
Looking at your past, with your back to the future.
Trying to find a purpose in life.

Is life actually worth it?
Walking around with a smile on your face.
Trying to hide your pain.
People who think you're fine, that you're happy.
Till you collapse.

Life isn't worth it.
You just wait for the moment where you snap.
Where you get pushed over the edge.
One more step, one more thought and one more breath.
And then you're death.

She feared she won't make it..
Through her life,
Through the journey.
She feared she'd always be alone..
She'd been cheated,
She'd been stabbed.

She realized no one would stand by her..
Neither family,
Not friends.
She realized how cold everyone could be..
So heartless,
So selfish.

She decided no one should matter to her...
She stopped expecting,
Became her own shield.
She decided it was her journey,
Found courage within,
Found happiness within.

And, she emerged a butterfly!

When my life is gone at last
Don’t dredge up all the past;
I’ve forgotten every wrong
In this world they don’t belong.
Heaven’s gates are void of pain,
No more crying in the rain;
No more loss of hope
No more struggling to cope.
Only faith and love
Are centered in the world above.
And if by chance I don’t get in
It’s not your fault I live in sin.
It was my choice to choose.
It’s up to me to win or lose.
Everything in life’s a risk
A chance you take or miss.
Let it slide or take a voice,
You’re the one who makes the choice.
If there’s joy at the end or pain
You’ve only yourself to blame.
You can’t escape the consequence
Of a chance you’ve lost or missed.
No one ever said life is fair
You have to be the one to care.
By: Linda Duncan
©1/13/2002

When I look at the achievements of others lives
I feel like I’ve let myself down.
I’ve earned myself a measly hat
When I could be wearing a crown.
The paths I’ve chosen have been far from right
And I seem to get easily lost,
Instead of feeling vibrant and warm
I feel like I’m covered in frost.
My emotions always feel stifled.
I feel like I’m always held back
I remember as a child being happy
I wonder where I got off track.
I don’t think I even genuinely laugh
And I seldom wear a smile.
Mostly I just cry a lot
But I feel good once in a while.
I’d just like to be happy
And feel like I’m once again whole
To know that I’ve given all I can
Let my energies overflow.
I’d like to find the courage to try
The determination to see it through,
To be able to set some kind of goal
And watch my dreams come true.
By: Linda Duncan
© 8/24/98