Let me say the word.
Let him give a chance.
It's beautiful, having it is grateful.
It's good, it's sunshine.
It makes withered bloom.
In the books i have read,
they say all about is the word.
The word is everywhere,
It's in the child's smile,
It's in the eyes, in the beating heart,
The word is unspoken yet understood.

I cannot silence it.

Words simmer forth from void to
Bone to skin.

Seep through
Sludge
Gold flecked river bottom

Rising up
Steady and thick with spirit
With blood
All of your silenced selves

Lanced from the wounds of the
Midnight hour
You clutch your own skin
Hot and red
Strip away the heavy years that
Told you to be quiet.

Howl in agony,

Sing

Whistle the ghosts in through the Windows cracked just so
The crisp night air weaves like
Snakes of ice
Around your neck and now

You write

You write

You write.

Saturday opens
its book of pain.

I’m tired of reading
the same story.

I search for an ink pen
to write a new chapter.

All I find is needles
searching for a vein.

Self soother naysayer tell me a fairy tale please
speak out a story that lingers soft as the breeze
Rein me in tight - by the light of an undulate sea
talk to me gently and rock me as if you were me

Calming yourself with a dream, let it be let it be
recall the walls of the sea and set yourself free
Self soother naysayer tell me a fairy tale please,  
speak out a story that lingers with gentle appease.

Memories are like clouds—

some are like the white fluffy ones

floating carelessly in the sky

bringing happiness and joy

putting a smile on the face

                    and

some are like the dark clouds

that stays, bringing with them

thunder and lightning

causes pain in the heart

and bring tears to the eyes.

Nancy


Dance with me Nancy.
Show me the way to go
Home.

Teach me the rites of
A life of strong colors.
I watch as you turn
the days into yellows.

Yellow is the sign of forgiveness,
the ripened tastes of love.
The kindness that blooms.

Dance with me Nancy.
I watch as your patterns

teach me

how to be in this
place of uncertainties

and

insecurities.

Follow me home wherever
my directions are
baffling.

I look at you Nancy
I see a Rainbow.

You are God's Promise
that there will always be

A

Way home.


Caroline Shank
August 16, 2025