Dysfunctional

In the far off distance of the
past where honor was the cause
and the effect was heart tearing,
I tried to understand my difference
in this world but I didn’t find
the understanding which I craved
so.

I was like a hungry lion looking
for his prey, stalking it, pouncing
yet it got away. I hungered for
knowledge, yet I died of starvation
from lack of wisdom.

People told me to grab the world with
both hands or it will pass me by. I was
paralized to watch it decay. The
endless corruption, the violent and horrendous
acts of people. I treid to stop them
yet I was paralized only to pray.
I breathed their polluted emotions and
drank their intocixated blood, I didn’t
crave it, I had no choice, but to live,
to live in the pollution, the darness,
the family of my past. But I have
recovered.

– Blake Rackley

Skies

Like a sprawling canvas
After an artist’s distinct touch
Stretches the sky.

A mosaic of all textures
Swirled round about,
A never-ending kaleidoscope of color…

The sun looks across the expanse,
Gleaming through the wispy clouds
Sending ribbons of radiance down upon us.

All the different splashes of color,
The dark clouds, the sunbeams, combining
To create a different masterpiece each day.

The same ingredients to work with day after day,
Yet no two skies ever look quite the same.
It is ever changing… A work in progress.

Sometimes I wonder if we should view our lives the same way…
Sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy,
Always different with each sunrise.

Sometimes it seems as though the canvas is opaque,
Filled with the clouds of our trials and troubles.
And we can easily lose our way in the darkness…

We have to remember that the sun shines each day,
Even though we can’t see it sometimes, and the clouds
Help us see our lives in a different way.

We have to realize that every cloud
Gives way to sunshine in due time.
We just need to be patient and keep the sunglasses handy…

– Blake Shoemaker

Pit

Falling without end,
Nothing to save me,
Darker and darker…

I cry out for help,
Voices answer the call,
So many, yet so few…

Yelling to me in the void,
“Reach for me!” “Come to me!”
Where to turn? Who to trust?

Scarred by my past,
Afraid of being misled,
Terrified of the pain…

Like an abused and abandoned animal,
People try to help, not realizing why
This creature shies when they near.

I am looking for the answer,
But the darkness is thick
And everything is distorted.

I choose to fall alone,
Not wanting to drag others
Where this troubled soul is irrefutably plunging.

Maybe those who watch
Learn from my troubles
And avoid my fate.

Falling, falling, falling…
Out of sight, out of touch,
Out of the picture.

– Blake Shoemaker

One Great Friend

There once was a time when I was alone and confused
A time when I yearned for something closer
A period of feeling closeness and happiness,
where I could listen or tell things to
I had almost given up for that something,
Until one day when I met this Great Friend.
Never will I forget that day when I saw that perfect smiling face,
gleeming at me with sincere honesty
Words can’t begin to describe how I felt that day.
And I have but one thing to say to MY Great Friend.
“THERE’S JUST NO WAY”

– Scott Ford

A Friend

A friend is someone who likes to have fun
A friend is someone who cares
A friend is anybody who will listen
A friend is always there
A friend is lovable
A friend is compassionate
A friend is joyous
A friend is glorious
A friend is a brother
A friend is someone you look up to
A friend is like no other
A friend can always say, I love you
A friend can never say, I hate you
A friend can lend a shoulder to cry on
A friend would never dishonor you
A friend might have a problem too
A friend just might be the ONE for you

– Scott Ford

Standing on the Edge

While standing on the edge of a cliff
I notice down below
What I thought was so high above
Was really quite low
So I thought I could jump
Leap off the cliff and fall
Yet when I lept off my feet
The ground got very small
I jumped straight down
But no where I found
To place my feet when I would fall
To survive the great wall
So instead of surviving
I must have failed
Because there’s no more left
Since I failed the great fall

Standing on the edge of a cliff
Looking down below
I see the water glistening as it flows

– Mary Scudder