She glows with focus,
a fairy who can truly see.  
a helium moon bathes
her, with bluey light.  
Quietly she stitches
by a sky of amber- red tea.    
Silk spun messages echo
through the night.    
She sits and mends quietly,
and fervently, until eternity
is out of sight.

At year’s knife edge
the night is long,
obsidian blade
cuts open new dawn.

The clock’s hands turn
and grasp the knife
to slice open the box
of a new year’s life.

And from the cut
the knife just made
comes ray of light
that glints on blade.

What this beam will bring?
I do not know.
But I’ll take some hope
and let light flow.

—

Photo here:
https://bsky.app/profile/jackgroundhog.bsky.social/post/3lem2baz3ks25

When fighting your monsters
- watch yourself
less you become monstrous.

When fighting your monsters
- watch yourself
and arm yourself with virtue.

When fighting your monsters
- watch yourself
and shield your deep innocence.

When fighting your monsters
(and you must fight your monsters
no matter the depth of the abyss)
- watch yourself
and let your true self stand.

An odd prayer to say at bedtime--
Especially for the children's sake--
Is one that has them saying each night
"If I should die before I wake."

“Die before I wake”? Oh, no!
That is not a comforting thought—
That all my efforts to live and breathe
This very night could come to naught?

So when the kiddies say the prayer
"Now I lay me down to sleep…,"
Just imagine all the thoughts
That into little heads might creep:

Thoughts rekindling many fears--
Of ghouls ******* out their breath,
Of monsters crawling out of the closet,
Of countless things that might cause death.

And after that, while the children's
Imaginations are on a roll,
They think that from a distant place
A "lord" is going to take their soul.

How can that be comforting?
Wouldn't something life-affirming
Be much more appropriate
And not have little bed goers squirming?

Something giving them joy and hope,
Something that will help them thrive
And learn to appreciate the world
And thus feel lucky to be alive?

Are little ones still saying that prayer?
Are there parents who still demand it?
I guess that one would have to be
A praying sort to understand it.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I hope I won't be counting sheep.
Let's ALL have pleasant dreams instead,
And wake up glad that we aren't dead.

-by Bob B (12-31-24)

Shell cast up on sea shore
holds the first songs,
breathes the first words,
a mother said to her child.
They are lost in the silence.

Beach combers look for
flotsam and jetsam.
Teenagers with earbuds,
and old men listening for
lost beloved voices.