I
Alone
Will suffer
Refusing to share.
The pain and disappointment
Have rusted the hinges on the exit door.
I will not fight, or scream, or break your heart in pieces.
This is my pain, my broken-hearted shattered dreams, my burden alone.
Refusing to drag you to the depths of my personal hell, is not noble.
It is not selfless or well meaning. There is a shameful part lying silently within me.
It know the truth that I have fought hard to swallow, that I continue to deny, the truth that proves I am no martyr.
There is, in fact, some comfort to be found in a pain so familiar that it has leached into the very fiber of my soul.

1

Overcast, sunless
Visibly silent screaming
Parched, now overjoyed

2

Wheat and weather watched
Drought gives way to summer storms
Lightning strikes with fire

3

Darkness falls so late
Chicken coop falls silent now
***** crow before dawn

4

Chasing butterflies
Buzzing bees on flowers still
Spiderwebs glisten

5

Birds bathe in sunshine
Chasing, dancing, singing free
Harmonious life

6

Breezes blow warm air
Waves of grasses hypnotize
Clouds float passed the sun

7

The water ripples
Slow concentric rings wave on
A rock and a splash

8

Attack, run away
Attack, attack, run away
Courtship rituals

9

Fowl scattered in fields
Hunting, pecking, roaming free
Chasing bugs and seeds

10

Corners filled with webs
Intricate art of nature
Respect without fear

11

Water beads on grass
Thirst quenched every morn
Silence before dawn

12

Seven eggs in nest
Encircled in royal blue
Three weeks to new life

13

Small spaces invite
The great escape attempted
Free birds in tall grass

14

Running through the fields
Frolicking in the sunlight
Sunset calls them home

15

Butterfly standing
Flapping wings in slow motion
Gently ate its fill

16

Short weeds in high grass
Flowers, bees, grasshoppers, ants
Seasonal creatures

17

Scorched earth, lightning strikes
Life lush green burning to ash
Renewal takes time

18

Five are missing, gone
The culprit is yet unknown
Life cycles throughout

19

Clawed dirt freshly turned
Evidence of a sly fox
Clever, impressive

20

Lightning strikes, sparks fly
Fire consumes through the darkness
A fresh start tomorrow

21

Winds of change blow in
Lightning storms of discontent
Perception adjusts

22

Stinging insects buzz
Flowers thrive in the meadow
View from a distance

23

The surface unmarred
Faint hint of things soon to come
Small crack, rotten egg

24

Distance still remains
Oceans and miles stretch onward
The phone is my friend

25

Leap and take a chance
Is easier said than done
knowledge kills hope

26

Change is forged in need
Optimistic tendencies
For better or worse

27

Clicking black keyboard
Ethereal glowing screen
Midnight love awaits

28

Separately we live
Together under one roof
Bound by a shared past

29

Swarms buzz all around
Armies crawl across the ground
Mammals hide in shade

30

Flying mosquitos
Settling in on warm flesh
Drinking in sweetness

31

Warm balmy breezes
Steam rising from burning streets
Lungs choke on wet air

It remains through a century
A dozen lifetimes
Through the pain

It shadows all that shimmers
Blocks the sun
Brings the rain

It weighs like heavy armor
Protects the heart
From love's refrain

It ***** out all the joy
'Til there's no trace
But for a stain

Stale air in a vase
Filled with water and a bloom
Becomes beautiful

I sit beneath the tree
As the breeze blows stale
Infusing sweat in every breath
Stealing the air and turning it wet
Almost too thick to breathe
No birds fly and nothing crawls
Ice melts at the thought of entering my glass
Yet, there you are
Doing things men do
Tending and fixing and mowing
Skin too sticky to touch
The outdoors melts to your flesh
Slow roasted and juices flowing
There you remain
Doing what needs doing
As I, too melted to move
Sit beneath the tree

Pendulum of life
The goal of balance remains
Centered at zero

Betrayed by good intentions
Stabbed and bled out by emotion
Rotting flesh of a useless heart
Better to turn away and be hopeful
Than open your eyes and feel pieces of you die
Swiss cheese analogies for gaping wounds
Continuity lacking
You aren't who you were
Yet you are who you are
We learn as we grow
Sometimes we grow apart

A few well placed words
Lift wings that they created
Kudos work magic

Oh, how the new day dawns
In lavender hues of beautiful.
Tired eyes renewed by the splendor.
As it stretches to peer over the horizon,
The sun grins Good Morning.
As I bid Good Night

Misunderstood and overwhelmed

Testy and dissatisfied

Apprehensive and alone

Shaken and yet stirred

Confusion isn't crazy

Crazy isn't stupid

Just because there is silence

Does not mean you are not heard