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Envy

Slowly gliding
upon gentle waters
absorbing warmth
and sunshine
from the sky
 
Tall grass swaying
breezes fluffing
soft feathers
friends land
splashing
and bob for food
 
Startled
from my reverie
by the jangling
of the phone
I turn from
my office window

Sighing as the boss
calls my name
surprised
I realize
that a mallard
I envy

 

Photogr...

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life

Fences

Gently you trace the tear
down my cheek
my pain mirrored
in the confusion in your eyes
not understanding what you’ve done
again
still
but wanting to

Words like barriers between us
we take turns offering apologies
reassurances
arms pulling each other close
losing myself
in your warm hard body against mine
as we both try to deny
the fences between us

 

 

...

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LoveLossConfusionLetting Go

Color

One only need look

at God’s handiwork to see

all colors in all forms

can’t possibly thrive

separately

 

 

Photography by Lisa Milligan

 

 

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The Patient

"I am a patient" I whisper in my head
and I should be treated like one
please take care of me
as I lie in this bed
with my insides burning
scared to death of this disease
my bones ache
I tremble and sweat
and cry as I stare out the window at the parking garage
where my car is parked, waiting for me to escape this nightmare
I wish I could say I'm here because I'm brave
but ...

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addictionsufferingpainstigmaindignity

Fidelity

 

Lemon brightness in my eyes

to warmer climes in winter he flies

it’s in his nature to choose his wife

instinctively choosing to mate for life

fidelity causes some men to flinch

they could learn a thing or two from

 

my finch

 

 

Photography by Lisa Milligan

 

 

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fidelityhumor

Waiting For A Star To Fall

Star

Diamonds strewn across black velvet sky

Starfish scattered along the shore

Star shaped maple leaves flutter and fly

Star flakes of snow in the winter's roar

I miss you so much wherever you are

All I ever wanted was to be your

Star

 

 

Photography by Lisa Milligan

 

 

 

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rejectionlovelongingstar

Pink Tulips

Two lips
soft pink and parted
waiting, saved just for you

Two hands
getting things started
knowing just what to do

Two souls
trust is rewarded
to both, joyful and new

Two hearts
no longer guarded
pledge to always be true

Tulips
bride in a garden
making one out of two

 

 

Photography by Lisa Milligan

 

 

 

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Absolution

 
I let the pussy go today; he scratched me to get away
I told him to take the tool with him
Because it would prick me instead of helping me
 
I took the arrows out of my back
There are bits of stone left behind from the arrowheads
But I don’t feel them anymore
 
I took my four small bottles of Holy Water
And gave them to people who respect me
 
T...

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Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

"You must understand, your behavior is hurting your children."
I sat confused, expecting the psychiatrist to blame me
the trouble making teenager, the problem in the family
but he was directing his comments at my mother

Back at home in my room
I could feel my father as he walked in
and threw a piece of paper next to me on the bed
"Maybe it would be better for all of you if I we...

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Cassie

 
Cassie came to me
damaged and afraid
“just let me hide in this corner”
it was like she prayed
“I’ll be fine if left alone
with food and water
to survive”
I’m not sure she wanted
to even be alive
 
I forced my love on her
for I wouldn’t settle for this
forced gentle caresses
warm hugs and a kiss
though I knew
she couldn’t be expec...

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Die Sonne (The Sun)

 
We see the sun shine every morning
she brings light and hope and happiness
and love to the world
she nurtures and warms us
and makes this world a cheerful place
 
But then the night descends
and we don’t see what happens to the sun
does she get extinguished by a malevolent entity
that robs her of everything she is
is she slowly covered over
to b...

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Waves Crash

 
Waves crash, warm sand
Gold ring, your hand
I can't stay
Away from you
But I know my place
 
You held my shaking body
Remorse etched in your face
You know you’re not where you belong
But when you’re here
You belong to me
I can't make it go away
Not with the wine or the others
Or the lies I tell myself
About how I'm just lonely
An...

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My Father's Arm

 
I was dreaming…
 
“…I remember as a little girl
I would hold tight to my father’s arm
and he would swing me up high in the air.
Although I would be screaming with glee
I could still hear his deep chuckles…”
 
I wonder what it would have felt like to be precious to my parents
and to have felt cherished by them.
I wonder what it would have felt like t...

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Forget

The way you looked at me...
Warm brown eyes shining across a blue tiled table
The warmth of your hand
The fragrant smell of grass and rain
 
I watched your lips with longing
A smile like diamonds in my eyes
A smile I'll have to forget
 
A story with no beginning...or end
Just a look on my face no one understands
I will never forget your beautiful face
...

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I Thought White Was Beautiful

Kneeling in the grass
he sits back on his feet
sunlight glinting
in his blonde hair
and surveys his garden
he plucks and pulls out
all the weeds and grass
and the things
that shouldn't be there
throwing them in a pile
 
He gazes slowly along
the tiny blooms
of beautiful dark colors
burgundy alyssum
sapphire blue lobelia
dark red ...

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Bye Mommy [Lyrics]

She said when I was born that all her dreams came true
But there was one dream that fell apart that day
She vowed he let her down for the final time
Without a backward glance she packed us up and walked away
I was just a baby when she left me in daycare
Didn't understand what bills were or the debts she had to pay
As I held her tight, she stroked my head and held me clos...

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The Missing Piece

She has always loved jigsaw puzzles
as far back as he can remember
she gets at least one a year
and leaves it on the kitchen table until it's done
she gets the 1000 piece puzzles now
her latest one is of lighthouses
 
They talk a lot on the phone
he started college this year
she loves to hear about his day
anything, everything he does
it doesn't matte...

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Quotations

My baby, my baby!
Why didn't you put that away, he could have picked it up to drink it. It's poison!"
she yelled at me.
It was a bottle of some kind of cleanser, I can't remember what.

I was six.

I remember vividly my mother sitting on the steps with my 2-year-old brother in her lap. She was holding him close and rocking him back and forth, with his head against her shoulde...

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The Cape

Child un-nurtured
innocent confusion
hurt by idolized parents
maybe an accident
a mistake
that started a family

But to him, I'm a hero

Hurt and angry adolescent
surviving on the streets
same old story
fell in with the wrong crowd
too much drink
too many trysts
a bed for two but
a playground for many

But to him, I'm a hero

Self ...

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Heartfire

I want to be in love
I never thought I’d say that
I’ve spent years building walls around me
put my heart in armor
kept my head full of cynical disdain
sent my body into hibernation
hid my soul where no one could find it
 
But now I want the whole smash
flowers when he comes to the door
champagne and candlelight
a bed with rumpled sheets
instead of...

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The Ultimate Sacrifice

Because of you
we can get up every morning
and go to work
run errands at lunch time
drive through McDonald’s
fill up our gas tanks
and make it back to work
just in time

Because of you
we don’t have houses
we have homes
where we walk through the door
the dog jumps on us
as do our children
we hug our spouses
and smell dinner cooking

Because of you
we have art...

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Though The Demons Are Waiting [Lyrics]

You tell yourself
you've put it all in the past
where it can't hurt you anymore
standing outside the window aghast
thinking about how the ones
who should have loved you the most
and kept you warm and dry
sent you out into the cold
where you became a ghost
you watch wistfully at the window
as the snow starts to fall
at the fireplace inside home that glows
and you wish you...

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Beauty

Running as fast as I can
heart pounding
I can feel his wings beating
by the wind swirling around me
my lynx instincts are alive
as I try to escape this hungry bird
but I’m no match for his cunning
speed or strength

My breath rasping and out of energy
I know I’ve lost this race
as his claws slice through my body
I am his to devour
hidden wide eyes peer
through leaves...

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