I wander through
I trudge ahead
I just keep going
Through the mud
Up the hills
Over the bumps
I fall I stand back up
I get knocked back
I roll down the hill
I brush myself off
I cry I scream
I begin again
I strut on by
I don't stop
I just keep on rolling on
I refuse to stop
I just stand tall and walk
I know there's something
ahead
I can't stop
I wander through
Till my rest is given
I then will stop
Till then
Wander , I do.
©Jennifer L DeLong 🦏 1/5/2023

Her neck was adorned by a neckpiece of unique memories trapped in ancient amber...!

For aren't some moments too worthwhile to be forgotten by the mind....

Yet too heavy a price to lose from the heart?

Dear God,
Preserve my sanity,
Preserve my identity,
Preserve my family,
Preserve my health,
Preserve my well being,
Preserve my relationships,
Preserve my soul,
Preserve my mind,

Preserve me for your goodness,
Preserve me for your plans,
Preserve me for my purpose.
Preserve me for a brighter tomorrow.

For it is only in you that I can be safely kept.

I am fully prepared
to lose everything
I've devoted my whole life
to preserve

when the hands of a chosen,
gentle lover
are not the first you have felt.
you flinch at the signs of intimacy.

because we are animals
with broken bones
mended with welded thoughts
and who cower at the idea of fracture.

because we are flowers
with plucked petals
striking with jagged thorns
and whose blossoms are choked by thistles.

because we are butterflies
with shredded wings
hesitantly fluttering with fear
and who are bodied by the terrible wind.

and alas
we wander
we grow
and we fly.

I wrote about you for the same reason I photographed you

Because even though we aren't the same people now

You're the same person I fell in love with on the old pages of my journal

But instead of being wrapped in your arms, the words on my pages hold me close and bring warmth to my heart, much like you used to

The photographs of you pull up the corners of my lips to create a soft nostalgic smile, though my eyes start to pool in the corners

Not tears of sadness, but of melancholy remembrance for how much has changed since the ink dried on my pages

Tears that remind me why I write and capture

So that I can relive the moments I held dearest and preserve those who walked down my path with me, no matter where they veered off on their own, they'll always remain the same in my story.