Safe Haven

Warm floorboards drenched by midday sun, 

swept clean, 

the tidy broom in the corner

Yellow is the room - 

the walls, the glow, the aura

There stands a bare table, aged 

and worn smooth 

with a sensible chair to keep it company in its elder years

I shall place my typewriter there

I shall click and clack and breathe in ink and electrical warmth

Stories will flow, 

characters will fill the room; 

heartbreak and heartache will be the tune 

as main and minor characters will dance to a healing finale

This room, my soul, will protect them and nurture their transformation

Amen

Love

Love like dappled light

intermittently blinds then clarifies

as my heart drives the back roads of my mind.

I don’t remember the pain, but

briefly it surprises me with bursts of sunlight that

quickly vanish into shades of clarity.

I follow the road with confidence, knowing well

the curves that wind deeper into dense, lush forests of noble fir.

A new stretch of certainty emerges and

I coast through the present road conditions

with eyes wide open.

When the road unwinds through quiet, tawny pastures,

the sun sets in my rear view mirror and twilight greets me;

the stars guide my way

reflecting the illumination of my intuition and

the draft of wind through the open window

catches my breath.

Playlist for "Inheritance"

Better Together

 Photo by Marcus Aurelius

He wakes and softly chuckles at the sight of her: hair in disarray, baggy eyes, mouth agape and drool because her teeth are in a glass on the bathroom counter. This is the woman he married 35 years ago.

They'd lived together longer than they'd lived at home with their parents and siblings. Almost a lifetime together. There were more years to come.

He paused. They'd separated once. Had grown apart in the early days of raising a family. How did they fall away from each other, how did they come back together?

It didn't matter. He vowed to stay.

Crossing Bridges

 

Photo by Decha Huayyai

Worn boots on a weathered table under a canopy of oak. Hot coffee. Angie joined him on the terrace.

There was nothing to say. The weight of it all dampened the sun's warmth.

“You shouldn't have called him.”

“It's time to start fresh, Hal.”

“He doesn't know me. I don't know me.” He looked pained.

“I know you.” She squeezed his shoulder. “You are the man that showed me with your love and patience how wonderful life can be. You'll be a great father.

She sat beside him. He kissed her hand.

“Maybe,” he said.

Healing Tide

 

Photo by Nicole De Khors from Burst 

Calypso. She dances in the salty wind, the sea swells beneath her feet. I fell in love with Calypso, the mistress of my soul. Yet darkness hid within her.

She threw the wine glass at the hearth and it shattered. I watched as if it would magically dissolve into the black slate. “He raped me when I was ten,” she said.

I took her hand. “I will never hurt you.”

“You already have. Only a fool makes that promise.”

“Then, I will hurt with you.”

Reduced to a slow-rolling wave, she gently broke upon me. “I believe you.”

The Heart's Expanse

Photo by Steven Hylands

It was a well-traveled road with detours that tested them. The journey took most of their lives. At last they crested the rise where a familiar sun greeted them.

“Take my hand once again,” Sonny said, inspired.

“After all we have been through.” Rae took his hand without hesitating.

“I don't understand why you're still here.”

She said, as plainly as she always had, “I love you.”

He did not understand why and never would, but as they reached the summit, the expanse of rock and cliff and deepest ocean stole his breath. Finally, he accepted it.