Leaving

For all the right reasons, she reached out to another life.
Reality and sustenance called to her with vengeance and light.
She fears stepping over the boundary; Will it take her back where she doesn't belong?
Slowly now she goes..baby steps on a landmine.
Knowing she is smart, capable and wise, fearing she is not.
With joy, trepidation, love and angst, she opens the door.

Til Next Time

"It's happening again", she thought to herself.
Waiting, again - Waiting for him to keep his word, he said he would this time.
Standing out there, alone, again, the words form in her mind, "You sonofa...!"
"Perfect!", she exclaims to no one, as the rain descends on her mood.
Her watch tells her it's too late; She is thrown away.
And she wonders exactly what she will do - next time.

The Ugly Sweater

Darla sat next to the girl in the pretty pink dress, in the front seat of a car that delivered them to kindergarten, where they would sing about being "a little teapot, short and stout", and they would learn A-B-C...
The radio was silent when the girl in the beautiful dress began pushing its buttons, click click click click.....
Thinking, "that looks like fun", Darla joined in, and they continued, click click, until, abruptly, the driver swatted at her hand, demanding, "Stop!"
"She's doing it!" Darla mumbled, feeling the warmth of embarrassment fill her face.
Without looking at her, the driver answered, "She'll stop."
Darla looked down at the ugly sweater she was wearing, striped and red, knowing if she were prettier, she would be allowed to play; and the buttons continued to click click click.....

Going, Going...Gone!

Nellie sensed fear in their voices, their worn work glove faces told of foreboding.

The orphaned shell, once her farmhouse, spit her out in disgust and anger

So, Nellie and her best friend, Roger cat, found their safe place on a tractor in the desolate wasteland where crops once flourished.

She recalled fun times riding with her dad, and longed to have him beside her again.

But the world was turning, life was becoming cold, and Nellie knelt on that seat, vice grip hands clinging to the wheel of her flying machine.

As her parents moved toward her with suitcases and tears, she was the beautiful bird soaring high and far away.

Art by Mike Handley

The Plan

She was a 25 year old mother of six children, waiting for the next to happen.
She married the son of her father's good friend, and they lived on a farm they didn't own.
The soil was rich, the cows gave milk faithfully, and the chickens provided eggs for breakfast.
Every day was the same; there was nothing more to life.
So, in the early hours of that morning, before he arose to tend to the chickens, and while the children dreamed in their beds, she took her carefully-packed suitcase from under their bed, and disappeared into history.
The note she left explained, "sometimes it's better to walk away." and she did.

We're Not Out of the Woods

It was a lifetime ago I was with him; and even today, I love him.
Just being with him, I instantly sizzled inside, I wanted to swallow every part of him so he would stay.
For years we enjoyed sharing life, with an ever-present distance that could not be explained.
I did not understand when he said, "We are not out of the woods", knowing I wanted more; fearful this is where we would stay.
It ended, sadly; He left the woods, with me behind missing him in my life; maybe today.
But I took with me a sense of giving and patience he doesn't know he gave me; because I was left alone, in the woods; He could not hear me tell him

I Believe in Sex!

It's a well-documented phenomenon, that, as we age, many seek spirituality in a quest for the meaning of life, for salvation when it's done.
Now that I've reached "a certain age", I am revisiting the issue of belief, and what it means for me.
Today, I decided to believe in sex; it can be spiritual- taking me to places unreachable by vehicle or pony; and talk about "giving witness"!
I have had varying experiences in this area; some leaving me wondering why I bothered to get undressed, while others showed me the way and the hope.
So, I've decided I shall seek more inner sanctum in the area of sex.
If I believe what I read, sex will help me retain some sense of youth, and it's great for continued good health, communing with others, not to mention exercise of vocal cords