“Sticks and stones …” the familiar saying goes
but words hurled in anger
are as sharp as a needle or sword:
the pen is mightier
and can cut to the core.

So, choose the words you write with care
as the wounds from your words
can fester and scar.

Instead,
use your words to praise,
to console,
to declare your love,
for those words
are the most powerful
and feed the soul.

Just be merry because the sun is shining just for you
Just be merry because the moon is sending love to you
Just be merry because the wind is lending breath to you
Just be merry because the water is quenching you
Just be merry because the fire is sending its warmth to you
Just be merry because the earth is endowing you with a home
Just be merry because the space is just letting you be

Feels grounding.

In the quiet shadow of a broken heart,  
Dreams whispered softly, torn apart.  
Yet amidst the tears, a light was born,  
From fragments of hope, a new dawn sworn.  

Through the storm's embrace, a soul finds flight,  
Transforming pain into strength and might.  
With each step forward, a rhythm anew,  
Carrying on, a heart once torn, now true.

In emerald seas where shadows play,
Steel ribbons thread the green ballet.
Through whispering pines and mossy glades,
A journey carved by human blades.

The iron serpents hum their tune,
A song that cuts through leafy dune.
Sunlight dances on rails' gleam,
In this hidden, tranquil dream.

Beneath the canopy, worlds collide,
Where nature and man in silence bide.
Tracks through forests' heart, profound,
In this sanctuary, our paths are found.

You are my temple, the one I visit each day;
Your golden shades wave from a distance,
Your windows look out to the world, yet hide
What’s within.

Your marble walls show strength,
With fine lines and cracks on side,
Yet you are still beautiful to me.

Your doors, once open to all, have now been shut,
Innocence transformed into heinous mockery
By an act of violent intrusion by another’s hand.

And my worship must now be visual,
I leave you be, for you may shun me,
Not out of hate but precaution and fear.

I will wait for you as you heal,
As the cracks begin to heal and form stories,
As the minutes make you wiser and stronger,
As the memory loosens its grip on you,
I will wait for you as you heal.

Let me offer you the gift of time,
And if you wish, allow me to restore you—
Don’t let this temple be destroyed by your
Inner tempest.

And when the tempests come, I will stand with you,
I will take the rain upon my cheeks and stay here,
Until the tempests pass.

And when the tempests go and the sky arrive,
I will be here and I will wait for you,
Until the day comes when you are well
And I have your permission to enter.