THEY HATE

by BB Curtis

Sitting in my yard with my dog’s head on my knee,
Warmth of the sun on my face,
Chill of the wind still making me ache,
Thinking about how often opposites in tandem
Can create so much joy.

As I closed my eyes to focus on the sun’s heat,
The awareness of the inevitable opposite
Reared its ugly head, and my heart aches.

Those who preach a gospel of love
And throw it in others’ faces,
Wearing their superiority like a badge of honor
Acting as though they will be saved
Because of their empty words;
But their hate overwhelms.

People, animals, plants, resources, the planet as a whole –
They hate it all with an all-encompassing and everlasting hate.
No one or nothing is safe from the overpowering hatred,
The hatred in their hearts and souls – if they have them.

As a tear fell from my eye to my cheek,
I blamed it on the sand blowing in the chill wind,
And went back in the house. 

© 2022 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved 

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Did I Just Forget?

by Brenda Abrigo-Rich

Did I just forget?

When was it, do I even remember a time, a feeling, a sense of it? Not really.

Waves of feeling take me; up and down through the motions of living.

Grateful for feeling what I can but longing for what I don’t even know I know.

Did it happen long ago? When he left and I couldn’t understand why everyone was crying he was just asleep wasn’t he?

Did it happen as I sat there watching the words grow smaller to forever float in that Galaxy far far away; knowing that that reality was so not this one?

Did it happen when I left for learning and in the end learned nothing?

Did it happen when I left the east to go west but only to come back?

Did it happen when I finally realized that I wouldn’t be what I thought I would be?

When did I die and just forget?

© 2021 Brenda Abrigo-Rich, All Rights Reserved 

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When the Stars Go Out

by BBCurtis

Writing the songs that no one will sing,
The stories that no one will read.
Hugs and kisses made irretrievable by the dust of time.
Tears cried and sadness and loss unacknowledged.

Is this what the end looks like?

© 2016 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved 

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The Whole

by BB Curtis

 

I took a long, long walk.

I let the road guide me,

But then I wondered how it would feel to wander free.

 

I took a long, long walk.

I felt the breeze, the rain, the snow,

But then I wondered how it would feel to grow.

 

I took a long, long walk.

I let things happen instead of running the show,

But then I wondered what would happen if I let another take control.

 

I took a long, long walk.

I became tired and lay down to rest for just a bit,

But then I wondered what would happen if I made it all fit.

I took a long, long walk.

I realized that fulfillment came from doing it all.

I no longer wondered. I saw the whole.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis 

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Dark You

by BB Curtis

You know me not.

You see me as you expect me to be,

As you theorize me,

Not as I am.

You base your assumptions on the memories of a child,

Memories with little fact rolled in,

Misperceptions strung together with bubble gum,

Recall tainted with your own lies.

The child “you” lived in my house

Over two decades long past.

During those years of pain and growth

Much has changed – for me.

I rid myself of things that didn’t serve me well.

I threw off old trappings for improved methods.

I made conscious effort to be more than I was.

I changed.

You are still, however, about twelve years old,

Acting out, lashing out, out of control.

You hurt people and expect to wash over it.

You make dark out of light

And think it is good.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved.

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Self-Eulogy

 by BB Curtis

Do not grieve for me when I go.

Remember that I lived an interesting life;

That I learned and grew and changed;

That I expanded my universe beyond my own skin;

And that my intent is that you do the same.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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May you Always Feel Loved

by BB Curtis

May you find serenity in a world

You may not always understand.

May experience give you the strength

To walk your path,

Facing each situation

With courage and optimism.

May love and understanding

Always be there

When you feel most alone.

May you discover goodness in others.

May you believe in a world of peace.

May a kind word be yours

Every day of your life,

And may you give gifts

As well as receive them

To teach love.

May the teaching of those you admire

become part of you.

May you place value on the goodness

In your heart.

May you see the beauty.

May you see clearly.

May you view everything

As a worthwhile experience.

May you find enough inner strength

To determine your worth for yourself and

For your accomplishments.

May you always feel loved.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved 

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Good Again

by BB Curtis

The grayness can become thick and heavy
When the breeze hits a chink in the wall.
Although it happens in only short bursts and seldom
The intensity, mass, weight push down and down.

The older I get the more I feel the pressure.
I’ve come to curse the breezes that blow through that chink,
And I can’t seem to find any mortar that stays.
I stuff crap in that hole, and it falls right out.

In defense, I call it “alone.”  In reality, though,
It’s loneliness.
Then I remember the sameness, and how much I hate it,
And I’m good again.

© 2017 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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Legacy

by BB Curtis

I’m not full of wisdom;
I’m full of questions.

Age does not make you smarter or wiser.

It makes you realize how little you know,

How much you still want to learn,

And how little time you have left to learn it.

I’m not full of hopes and dreams;

I’m full of despair.

Age brings the knowledge of all you’ve missed –

Opportunities gone forever,

Possibilities never realized.

However, the chance still exists

To make a difference,

To teach the young and the dreamers

To never let their dreams blow away.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved 

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The Thinning

By BB Curtis

I love the days when the leaves make merry on the asphalt,
Skittering and scattering about;
And the creaks of pine boughs are reminiscent of the groans of old timber on sailing vessels,
Floating on open and choppy seas.

When the wind whips my hair into a frenzy and tugs at my pantlegs and sleeves,
I know that Samhain is around the corner;
The energy of the veil thinning grows more palpable by the day.
The urge to meditate longer and more often tugs and tugs . . . like the wind.

The memories of those long (or short) gone begin to fill
My head and my heart.
I miss many —  more every year, every month, every day.
I breathe in the smoke of dead leaves and pine needles, remembering more,
Forgiving more, loving more.

Even at other times of the year, no matter the season,
The sound of leaves skittering and skuttering on asphalt
Gives me a bit of a shudder, a bit of a shake,
As I feel the winds of late Autumn through my hair.

©  2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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The Owl

by BB Curtis

Sailing through the moonlit night
O’er trees bereft of leaves,
Stringy stalks in eerie light,
A landscape that bereaves.

Snowy ground of unpeaceful peace
And scathing, ripping gale
Tear the soul before release
And cause the breast to pale.

Night so black the demons fear
Not the coming of the light.
But, instead, that deepest dark
That has no blackly peer.

But the snow white owl,
Gliding and dipping,
Blending with the trees,
And moving with the wind
Defies the dark
Fights the black
And opens the soul to light.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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Take Care

by BB Curtis

It waits for you.

It knows no time.

The fangs and claws

Reach and clamor

Knowing no limits.

The bridge between life and death

Is now complete.

Watch your soul

As you might watch your feet

On a broken path.

For the broken path is the

Life you led,

The one you thought

Was open to love.

Do you know with what you deal?

This is the light side of her nature.

She comes from the world of experience

Where compassion does not reside.

She walks the dark

And finds the depths.

She knows the bottom, the belly, the underneath.

She knows the slime, the dregs.

She sees what makes others close their eyes,

Back away and turn to run.

She stands her ground,

Waits out the inevitable,

And glares at the results she knew would come.

She holds no reigns, riding free,

Allowing others to do the same,

Letting them trip themselves,

Hanging themselves on their own ropes.

Watch your feet on the broken path.

Mend the way . . . your way.

Watch your soul.

Take care, for the demon lies within.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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Gray Intent

by BB Curtis

When the delicate mist from a diamond forest
Licks the luscious, purple petals of the lavender,
Bringing light sleep filled with honey whispers,
I swim in a sea of foolish dreams,
Singing from the delirious heat of the screams.

The juice, the green milk, of the thistle
Touches my lips and tongue,
And I drink from the lake beneath
The Tree of the Silver Wreath.
The black knife fits my hand.
Its sheath stays at my side.

As Death’s dark desire kisses heartbeats goodbye,
I seek the Shadow of gray intent
And die in the arms of a lover.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved 

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By BB Curtis

In death there is peace.

At night comes the old darkness.

Melded — Paradise.

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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By BB Curtis

The fires burn brightly.

The birds came singing their songs.

Why is there no love?

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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Gone

by BB Curtis

My friend left today.

He’s not coming back.

He went on to better things.

Because he is the way he is,

He’ll watch over me, he always did.

Now, however, he has a better vantage point 

And a contact with the Higher Power.

Things will not be the same,

My life is missing something,

But has gained so much more.

In loving memory of Mitchell Green

June 14, 2003

© 2015 Bobbi Curtis, All Rights Reserved

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