There was an eerie quiet peacefulness
in the small sparsely furnished room.
The only sound that may have been heard
was of a solitary man wearing a brown robe
with the hood pushed carefully back in order
that his head would bared before God. He was
breathing in and out in a steady and relaxed way
as he occasionally and deliberately turned a page.

The man, perhaps in his sixties, one couldn’t tell
but for the age-worn hands that rested gently on a tome
before him. He was deep in thought and concentration
as he studied his Bible, something he did daily.
These were his moments of quiet contemplation,
but ones that he never shared, but with his God,
and upon finishing, he quickly rose and rejoined his Brothers.

He felt at Peace.

©Joe Wilson – In quiet contemplation 2014

If you have enemies.

If you live in a constant state of fear,

or you live in fear of state.

One day you wake up and realize

nothing you were promised was delivered

and resent the wealth of the few.

Sleep with the lights on.

If you live in fear of guns because

you don’t fit the status quo.

Sometimes you have fits of anxiety,

and other times you have sudden

jumps in identity and everything

makes sense because you’ve

stopped trying to analyze the chaos.

Start searching again.

Sleep with the lights on.

If you can’t breathe and can’t accept

that this is happening, although ****,

it’s so real, and all the pain feels real,

and the hunger feels real,

and the sickness feels real,

and you may sleep many days at a time to forget.

Sleep with the lights on.