#vss365
Our babe was born on the Sabbath
as #bonny as the old wives foretold.
Her beauty made wolves out of men;
our treasure was worth more than gold.
#vss365
Our babe was born on the Sabbath
as #bonny as the old wives foretold.
Her beauty made wolves out of men;
our treasure was worth more than gold.
#vss365
The house had known disquiet,
the quiet of holding its breath,
Its curtains kept her secrets,
rooms dimmed with her unrest.
The windows remain open,
now that she is gone;
the house breathes in #harmony
with fresh air and sweet birdsong.
🫶
#vss365
Clear blue eyes darkened
like the sky
before a storm
I didn't see it coming
#lightning fast
one Mississippi,
two Mississippi,
three...
I counted seconds
between flash
and thunder
till the sting,
till the tears,
till I took flight.
Beautifully said. Thank you for these words.
#internationalwomensday
#vss365
She was born a gallows bird,
she knew one day she'd swing—
it's what her grandma told her
when she took her under wing.
The #jewelry hanging at her throat,
caged in twisted silver wire,
meant to keep her #spellbound
from the demon born inside her.
#vss365
Gold and rust fall.
Autumn’s #bountiful
letting go.
Persephone departs
for winter—
bitter, moonlit winter.
Yet #magnanimous winter waits
for snow to soften
and ice to turn to rain,
for forests to green
and fields to flower.
Winter waits
for Spring to return,
again.
#vss365
I could not pinpoint the day—not even month or year. It was just a slow decline: diminished sight, selective hearing, dulled interest. Fatigue gave way to #lethargy.
I no longer had any fight left.
Even hope abandoned me; still, I wake each day, breathe, and search for a glimmer of change.
#vss365
"It was a year ago —
to the day,"
she spoke through a #cataract blur of memory.
He tried to understand her,
her need to reminisce,
to hear his voice.
She had spilled the milk,
long since spoiled.
Today, her thoughts are clouded by self-protection.
He holds his cups,
steady, protectively.
#vss365
Spring wakes
from winter’s slumber.
Insects rise,
quiet in their labor.
Spiders spin,
threads taut
with lives unseen.
Birds return
with song & seed.
Yards quicken for
the #splendor of flower & weeds.
Bees lift air
with honeyed wings.
Ants colonize
ground no longer green.
habitable grace.
#vss365
The honeybee,
#obsessed,
embarks on its #quest
to save a #timid flower.
Flower, leaf, and seed—
dandelions feed
the wild
and the wild-hearted.
#vss365
Popularity = Friends² × Acquaintances²,
and
Reputation = Kind Acts ± Transgressions,
then
Pedestal Height = Popularity × Reputation.
And if
Rumor = Gossip ≠ Truth,
and
Change = Rise or Fall,
then
#Velocity of Change = Pedestal Height × Rumor²,
the Gravity of the Situation.
#vss365
I exist in an #orbital inevitability,
pulled by the energy wells
of family—
suspended
between the roles I have been assigned,
seen when need bends the path.
I am parent and child,
serving parent
and child.
Outside this nucleus,
I have a name.
#vss365
We were a #stellar constellation,
five wavering stars
bound to the sky.
I was the most distant,
lost in the orbit—
Mama was a myth to me.
I can no longer see
Mama’s light.
I am still in her gravity.
#vss365
Tight-lipped,
they watched
Wanda’s panic grow.
Purse dumped
on breakfast table—
like a TV show.
$200.00
in my wallet,
my secret stash.
Who took it.
Who stole all my cash.
“It's your own fault,"
Mama said,
What'd you expect?
“You #knowingly left
your purse, in a room,
with a drug addict."
Its so close and so tempting 😫 but it was designed by the devil.
#vss365
The plan at IKEA
was in and out—quick
Djungelskog stuffie;
Punch’s viral pick.
I was lost in aisles
with items so silly:
chairs called Poäng,
a bookcase named Billy
Mild me,
on a quest for a plush,
turned Minotaur
in the mad rush
Each turn
left me #crazed
Dante's hellscape
is Ikea's maze.
#vss365
A forced pall
on display
in a dim funerary light.
Kin play ghost
in shades of gray
squeezing tears
from traitorous eyes.
Still. Silent.
Ritual observers of
this life.
I bounce,
wearing #blatant joy.
Lips painted loud.
Ready to eulogize.
I am here to bear witness:
to celebrate
this death.
#vss365
All tucked in,
wanting to cry.
My head buried in sheets;
my lips quivering
Grandma’s prayer—
“If I die…”
Her house is #beastly.
Branches scratch at walls
threatening to grab me.
Shadows lurk in every corner, waiting.
Gnomes plot in the garden.
The floors creak.
They are coming—
for me.
🤣🤣🤣
#vss365
I am #mystified every time I pull into a parking garage—
a concrete labyrinth
where I circle and spiral,
one direction, up and down,
never finding the minotaur
but somehow always finding my way out.
#vss365
Dottie didn’t need love potions; she only needed a sewing machine and a Simplicity pattern. She added a wiggle to her walk and a red lace crinoline to accentuate her #bouncy figure.
Behind the bleachers, she flashed Billy and he came running—then she rewarded him for being a good boy.
#vss365
Bonnie was verdant
and green,
a #mountainous woman
wanting to be explored.
Clark was tired
of rock climbing,
scaling shallow surfaces
with little to hold on to.
They bumped into
one another and met—
Someone to have,
someone to hold.
#vss365
Each passing day
the visit
grew
less #enchanted.
Glitter-bomb sparkle
became
dust
in my pores.
My cozy,
contented life
dulled
in the visiting shade.
I began to itch
with social discomfort—
my home
invaded.
Auntie Social
took the toll.
Anti-Social
is what remains
when the visitor leaves.
#vss365
Potential
aloft
i am
#minuscule.
a molecule.
a dust mote.
sparkling
carbon
pressured
to be
imagined,
ready
to be
polished.
i am
awaiting
discovery.
#vss365
It was unwanted—
That Winter’s #kiss
blooming flowers
A rejected gift.
#vss365
Mama’s daddy sprouted from a broken branch—
our #lacuna legacy,
bound in trauma,
shallow-rooted
in yellow bayou bottomlands.
#vss365
“I found a rainbow,” I beam
but before colors
spill from my mouth
they are stolen
midair.
Mouth agape,
a #dark cloud gathers
in my throat.
I am a fool,
left out in the storm,
watching you
gather my gold.