Like a sweet fragrance
It lingers, the memories of your childhood and youth
Vague, some lost to the years
A few remain, un-erasable
Like a mark
An impression on your heart

A part of you that you forgot
A part of you erased
Relived again, even if for a few moments
As you meet friends from school
Recalling the times and some incidents  about each other
Even though fragmented, these memories and moments, like a treasure remain

Breathing light through stained glass, from the school Chappel that we visited
Felt divine and the memory transcends
Even closer to the heart, lest the present buries the past
A promise made to keep in touch
Until we meet again

the slight movement of a Santa doll
in the corner of my eye
flickering light as I begin to doze
then a whisper or a sigh

a kitchen ceiling bulb cover
seven years without a peep
decides to loosen and shatter
as I lay fast asleep

heard the voice of a young man....Arthur
when I botched the last name at his stone
'my name is not Stickler, it's Strickler!'
he said in a mild mannered tone

He spoke a second time one year later
during a recording session in my den
clearly said my name...'Thomas'
as he flew left to right
and back again

I notice them when they visit
there-in lay the key
they notice when I notice them
the grateful dead
and me

When you don't have friends,
When you are successful and you win,
When things you do, go your way,
Is also when so-called friends go astray!!

When you do have money and
they do come around,
When you are suddenly broke and
they're no where to be found,

All you wanted was
a friend to the end, but
All in return, you just
got people that pretend!!

You're the type of
person that'll go all in,
to lend a helping hand,
to a so-called dear friend,

to bend over backwards and
to try help them through, but
you could only do so much,
what more can you do???

Then THEY GET MAD and
START FEELING ALL BLUE,
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!!!"
YOU'RE ****,
YOU'RE WORTHLESS,
I CONFIDED IN YOU!!!,

You BETRAYED and DEGRADED ME,
JUST OUT HERE HAVING FITS,
THEY FEEL You're NOT A TRUE FRIEND
BUT A HYPOCRITE,
FROM A FRIEND TO FOE,
TIME TO LET THEM GO!!!

I can't believe you did this,
SOME FRIEND YOU ARE!!,
YOU USE TO BE COOL, BUT
NOW, YOU THINK YOU'RE A STAR!!

I'LL FORGIVE YOU RIGHT NOW,
I WILL NEED TIME TO MEND
AS FAR AS THIS FRIENDSHIP,
THIS FRIENDSHIP HAS TO END!!!

When you don't have friends
When things just aren't the same
When you did me wrong and
you're the one to BLAME,

YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS, and
THEY HAVE DONE YOU WRONG!!!
YOU HAVE A FRIEND IN JESUS,
THROUGH THESE WORDS BE STRONG!!!


B.R.
Date: 3/12/2025

The chains, although like weak as smoke,
They lay heavy on me — a silent choke.
No sound of them rattling, no lock to see,
Nothing to free me from what binds me.

Yet even so, I search for why,
But the tighter they grip, the more I try.
I can't break free, no matter the fight,
These chains wrap my soul, and squeeze my light.

Not just my body — they hold my heart,
A prison unseen, pulling me apart.
But in the dark, a flicker remains,
A faint little light that cuts through the chains.

Though small, it brings a calm, a peace,
The knowing that I am not alone in this piece.
Someone sees what I fight to bear,
Someone who knows these chains are there.

The key to the smoke is that light they give,
A hope, a hand, a reason to live.
Even if only one stands near,
One is enough to fight through fear.

My friend, if this is the end, I will hold my head up high for you.
Barring arms, I will fight at your side.
If one of us is to die, let it be me to shake death's hand.
For life's plan for you as yet to come true.
After all, your loyalty for me, I share the same for you.

The long nights
We spent together
Cradled
In each other's arms

A laugh we shared
We could only wish
That summer
Would never end

I had known from the start
I loved you
We watched the sunset
Together

The sand in your hair
The smile on your face
My worries faded
With each word you spoke

But I saw the way you looked at her
When you thought I wasn't around
When I saw the sparkle in your eyes
That's when I began to cry

Do you not love me
My dear
I always thought you were the one
Who would settle all my fears

So now I wonder
Will we ever stay the same
Will you remember me
When summer ends again