Posts for June 8, 2026 (page 7)

I want to wish you the worst

I want it to all finally crash down on you

I want the world to make you suffer

I want her to cheat on you

To maybe get close to the way

You made me feel

I know I shouldn’t want that though

They say time heals all wounds

And that’s true

But it’s also true that you’ve never left me

That I take you with me

Hold what you did to me

Every step of every day

Right next to my heart

And sometimes

I open it

I let it infect me

Infuse with my bloodstream

I let it take me over

Other days I forget it’s there

And then

I see you

On my phone

In my mind

In my dreams

And I’m transported back

Into the body of a 14 year old

Who was left

Alone

In more pain than I’ve ever felt in my life

And so

I want you to feel how I felt

And maybe that’s awful

Or maybe that’s human

And maybe I shouldn’t feel bad for feeling it

But I can’t help wondering

What if wishing bad things on you

Makes me deserving of it all

A farm is not an esthetic

It is not gingham table covers

Or neutral tone dresses and pedicured toes with babies around your feet

It is sun cracked hands with soil running in every line

Tomato ripe like the blood in your veins

It is in the way the farmers can feel the frost in their bones

Before it ever glazes over strawberry leafs

Or the smell of snapped green beans forever in your nose

The thud of them landing solid in an old Lowe’s bucket

A farm is my ancestors, my uncle and papaw

That taught me how to till soil

And how to properly shuck corn

Brad that taught me how to peel a potato with gentle hands

Bill that taught me how to spot ginseng in the hills behind the garden

I still see their hands casting seeds like holy water to the land

And now I carry this legacy

Pulling weeds and sewing hope

Hot heat on my back

The coolness of a spring wind

Whispering to me that

They still live through the sprouting

Of life from earth

Nothing clears out the left lane faster
than a cop going 8 over.

Nothing clears out an online form faster
than submitting without one spot filled.

Nothing clears out the break room faster
than Jim from Accounting with a story to tell.

she stands out

on the edge

says to herself

does anything i do matter

and steps off

Blessed are the caretakers,
For their strength be replenished daily.
Blessed are the stressed,
For they are not alone in the fight.
Blessed are the potty trained children,
For they finally save the household money.
Blessed are the overstimulated,
For they shall soon be comforted.
Blessed are those who must restrain themselves,
For bad behavior doesn’t last always.
Blessed are those who see a mirror of themselves,
For this should promote introspection.
Blessed are the ones who persevere,
For this builds stamina and long suffering.
Blessed are the growing pains of brats and their attitudes,
For on the other side is joy and peace.

A plain Barlow pocketknife,
ever in his pocket,
not a collector’s piece,
pristine as the day it was bought,
but a tool, as beaten up as an old hammer
or screwdriver used for prying things apart,
outer casing cracked,
nicks in the blade,
oily crud in the cracks.

Never a collector,
things without utility
of little value,
never bought fine art
or fine china or items to display –
but a tool like a plain old Barlow knife.

That was worth keeping.

good morning, how are you, how have you been
well doc, there’s this weird thing right here on my skin
I know I have a habit of assuming the worst
but can you confirm I’m not under some curse?

it’s just that this rash only shows up sometimes
often when I’ve stepped a toe out of line
and this here on my finger, could it be an ulcer
of course I have not been picking, my good sir

I checked with The Internet and they said I’m dying
but could you take a sample to test if I’m fine?
you tell me I have nothing to worry about
so I move on and begin some light research on gout.

I feel like I am in a love/hate relationship with my body
I am a grieving mom, having lost my son a year ago
and I found 22 pounds, which makes me feel icky!
None of my clothes fit and I am getting ready to start
a new job-which is a very good thing for me!
Part of grieving that I have discovered about myself,
I will focus on the negative more often,
which is a big change from my optimist personality.
This may be my new norm, but I hope not.
Dark thoughts have been visiting since my son left,
thoughts that I would rather be in heaven than on earth.
However, God has been close by my side and showed me
that I needed help for this and stayed by my side while I got it!
So, I have been trying new things with my diet and exercise,
and my poetry has been such an amazing way to express my 
grieving journey and all the life hiccups that pop up along the way.
I am still overweight though,and am trying to love my body again.
Even with the extra weight.  I have been doing yoga, walking, 
and moving again and I am buying bigger clothes since I am changing
jobs and can’t wear weight hiding scrubs as often.
So, loving yourself is a journey, but you need to find acceptance for
where you are at every level.  I am loving my poetry writing, healthy 
eating, and exercising self more than the bulky overweight self,
but I am indeed working on it.  I am also loving that I am a child of
God and he is with me in EVERYTHING, and is cheering me on with
my new healthy focus and starting my new job.  

One bell
clapper strikes the half hour

Two bells first hour
78% copper 22% tin cast

Three bells
yoke & cannons swing the sound

Four bells shift half done
Waves through the fog

Five bells
Curved sound bow strong

Six bells 3 hours
before the mast in darkness

Seven bells
unfathomable through the fog

Eight bells shift’s done
settled to the murky bottom
silent waves shift the bell
restless

This purple bruise between us –     
            fault does not explain it  

Trading sorry for forgiveness            
            doesn’t change a thing  

it only ties a ribbon into a bow
            knots a rope into a lasso  

turns the surprise of separation            
             into a faux memorial  

lends a semblance of dignity to     
             selfishness – both sides  

Like tennis elbow needs a rest
             to rejoin body’s wholeness            

the bruise between was in mind –    
             it never touched our soul