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One day a child will return
No longer in shame or chagrin.
There is always a home,
A beginning, initial rays of light, first steps taken.

Night falls in the quiet country
Crickets and critters, shapes and movements among the trees.
The screen door shuts, echoing in the darkness
A cigarette glows fiery red and orange, and then, a sigh.

It embraces you
This homecoming. You could stay here forever.
And perhaps some do, or will.
You either resist or you yield.

No place is Shangri La.
The green is as vivid or lean
As you wish it to be, wherever you are.
So: Will you reclaim this now, again, as Home?

Daily Prompt: Local

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A steady stream ~
Nonsensical faces, words and strides.
In and out of consciousness
A pretty heady ride.

A ghostly pallor.
A dribble and a sigh.
She knew not what to think or say
Her pillows sat too high.

Legs, then arms, akimbo
Satisfied and spent.
Sixty years alone and counting
Alone: She had no gent.

Dreams, unfulfilled dramas
This had become her life.
Afraid to venture beyond four walls
If only she’d become a wife.

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Family traditions
Revived each generation.
Heirlooms, rightful treasures
Secrets manufactured and displayed.

Attempts to douse the light:
Darkness reigns, the human condition embellished.
And yet, no amount of scrub and polish
Can undo that which must not be known.

Private affairs must remain so,
Confidences never shattered.
A sigh and one’s gaze, averted
To shutter and deny what is true.

Too heavy a burden to rest on any one’s soul ~ for a lifetime, no less.
Some skeletons are best kept in the graveyard of ancient understanding.
Let those whose skins have been shed and stripped away rest in peace.
A sanctuary for all.

Daily Prompt: Polish

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The painter’s brush
Strokes of color and genius
Inspired by light,
Love and hate. Questions, too.

The writer, as well,
Conveys a matching brilliance.
One that is more subtle
And thus, all the more endearing –
And precious – for the beholder.

Muse. Inspiration.
Wild delight!
The lovely words:
My refuge, my joy.
My flight.