To start living,
you have to shake off the dust of yesterday
and refuse to let it define you.
We are not our failures, we are not our mistakes.
We are not our incomplete sentences or lost words.
We are our future,
shining bright.

-Rhia Clay

I
can’t
Tell.  if
The      sky
Above       Is real

Or not          Quite there

Quite near                            Enough
To hold                                                   The stars
In the                                                                             Palm of
My hand                                                                                         And be
So glad                                                                         That I
Can see                                             The light
That shines         All through

The night.       Will it

Go out? Will it?

Will      it?

Go
out?

I can't paint a pretty picture
when destruction looks me
right in the face
but
I can't paint a black picture
when I see hope shining
through the human face.

As I  look to the sky
Through the depths
Of the night
I  see you shining
In your own right
For you are
A Shining Star

Then when I  wish
Hope or Dream
Even experience reality
I know exactly
Where you are
Dear Shining Star
You Witness Me

My every breath
That I  take
Showing how
I partake
In a sense
Of being struck
Star Stuck
By your  Love!

Debra Lea Ryan
01/08/2021