Careful
Crutches can become cages
Time passes
We lean and lean
We forget
Where we end and the crutches begin
Forget the viable strength of our own legs
We grow fearful of falling
We think we need to be held up
Look
carefully
Maybe these walls aren’t protecting you
Maybe instead of holding you up
they’re holding you back
blocking you from seeing
You are strong enough to stand
You can put the crutches down
You can take that first step
then the next
You may stumble
but you will not fall
Time passes
And you will learn
You can walk on your own after all

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.

Crashes upon crashes
metal and bone smashes
Blood and oil
evidence of fruitless toil
And they cheered at the spot where our soldiers died.

Headlines repeat
many spelling of defeat
So sick of such sickness
Endless, borderless mess
And the boy laughed, holding up our dead soldier’s kevlar.

Mortars upon mortars scream
More tears stream
No genuine smiles remain
Only arrogance and pain
And those students smiled as our flag turned to ash.

List after list
Scaly agendas twist
Politicians visit
make hasty exits
And there’s no need for rain in this land where blood and tears flow

And all will repeat tomorrow
And tomorrow

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.

A quiet moment
I steal it and wrap the stillness around myself
Bury my head in it
Until the sharp, outraged cry of my babe
Indignant at being left alone in his crib
Pulls the covers off
leaves me cold, shivering
Then I’m up
Tripping along
to my day job as Mommy

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.

Didn’t always love you
In fact I think I hated you
Tried to erase you with my sick games
Tried to **** you by ignoring your light
But now I see
I feel
your light
your life
is lovely
What a feeling it is
to embrace and accept
I love you now
I accept you now
I see now
You
Are
Beautiful

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.

Hello world
You may not recognize me
though now I finally recognize myself

I made a difficult choice
freedom over familiarity
I ran to a new beginning
Shedding all those who attempted to control
through lies and vitriol

I have found my voice
I will use my voice
to be a truth teller,
a mirror,
a fierce catalyst for wellness

I have found my voice,
so I sing out
with rebellious joy
Hello world
Hello

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.

I once had a friend like a shadow
Always together wherever we’d go
Running and tumbling and laughing through life
Always connected, one in the same

But then a cloudy day came
And with no sun to shine
I lost that shadow friend of mine
The darkness rolled in and my shadow friend disappeared
Scared off by the first sign of trouble, the first drop of tears

So I learned my lesson
Shadows are easy to come by when the sun is shining bright
But shadows bring little comfort in the chill of a dark night

And when the storm cleared
And my shadow friend reappeared
Ready to run and tumble and laugh with me again
I had to turn away
And say goodbye
For I learned my lesson:
a shadow is nobody’s friend

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.

I’m putting on my perfume
as you enter the bathroom
“Smells like cancer,”
was your answer

Wish I’d been fearless
against your meanness
instead of hurt and speechless

“I never hit you”
That’s true
That’s not what you do

Words, not fists, you use
to lie,
to confuse
to strike
and abuse
Words don’t leave a bruise

“*****” is not my name
“****,” more of the same
But you have no shame
“Just a fight,” you claim

“You’re just sensitive”
You told me
And I accept that excuse
for years of emotional abuse

I stay
until one day
I’m brushing my teeth
as our son enters the bathroom,
“Why is dad always mean to you?”
Those words became the straw
that broke the camel’s back

And now me and my perfume
are never coming back

© 2025 SincerelyJoanWrites. All rights reserved.