Lockless

Keyless is my lock, yet I readily surrender myself completely,to my thinning skin with shadows of whispers and prickling flesh.Secrets buried beneath a stratum of my dried and cracking crust,as my haunting heart hungers for a yielding stillness, I can truly trust,until my essence is so sweetly scented fading back into ash and dust. Struggling […]

Climbing Trees

Sweat oozed from my pores as I ran toward the barnSand spurs stung the bottoms of my fleeing feetAs I sprinted wildly toward Margie’s southern farmI prayed my drunk daddy would do me no harm In the woods, I had played with dollies and climbed treesThe big three, one with a treehouse I had visited […]

Merpeople

(A Follow Up to A Tale of Two Widows https://the-inner-child.com/2019/11/22/a-tale-of-two-widows) Reading time for this piece one minute and thirty-three seconds. Dark Crimson is mindfully mingling withthe full moon’s daunting and luminous light.As my clotting blood was slow to tricklefrom my slender ring less fingers tonight.An enigma of my existence to theMerpeople which I did so […]

Stream of Tears

Smooth white rocks line the familiar bedA sad child sits close beside me by the streamProviding me a harbor where I come to scream. Yabbies, mountain lobster or mudbugsCrawdads swimming against Nature’s mirrorI point them out to the girl who is now nearer. Appalachian bristle fern surrounds usNo one will attend my nursing graduationI share […]

Making Eggs

Tied up, beat up, washcloth stuffed into her bruised mouthTwo legs and two arms tied to bedposts in a messy fashionMuffled screams came from their room quite a frightful sightHow was I to tell my mom a normal, love you, and good night Why didn’t he just shut the door and save me from this […]

Scorched Earth

Drifting in and out through the crying blackened bushRestricting airflow from seeking lung cells that pushTowards pockets of coolness and a nontoxic timeTo a land where the killing of nature is a real crimeWhere bullets and hatred don’t govern the dayAnd children with asthma come out safely to play An environment where oodles of patents […]

Hope

born was the babywho carried all of our sinsforgiveness from God Haiku by Joni 12/23/19 – Photo by Joni

Mistaken Pleasures

Crimson cheeks and curled confusion, you wear upon your head,Satan’s satin covers and putrid odors ornament your bed.Countless corners hold your breath and tremble at your power,So many times, your favor won, with the pardon from a flower. A tongue found bitter from your taste, and yet it won’t recoil,Implanted in a weakling’s eye, another […]

Just One Thing

Anxiety, perplexing pain is like drowning in the ocean,The entirety is closing in, submerging us in slow motion.Getting lost amongst the rubble and all the after hours,Ever wonder how they came about all their dreadful powers?Instead, let us ruminate on the Son of Man and so rejoice,Giving thanks to Our God with every single grateful […]

The Lonely Sailor (Part 2)

For Part One click here (Reading time for Part 2 is 6 minutes and 19 seconds) Conscious of the thin sea mist that was clinging to my body, I licked my lips, tasting a hint of salt. My big browns were taking in an exciting array of individuals walking around the boardwalk. Among the men, […]