
“Light Within”



Maybe there’s no “perfectly ready,”
Although misunderstanding can
Lead to inadvertent mistiming.
Having overcome too many struggles, I must rest and reconsider concepts of manifestation.
Returning home after five years puts into awareness that in a way I was forced by circumstances to live as if I was in exile.

Looking through glass shuttle windows,
Sensing for how one would fit in locally.
And so I asked again…
Getting center-punch-rocked from behind through the spine while experiencing one’s neck go “whippy-snappy” strips one’s nerves of any artifice – exposing them to more raw stimulus than should be taken in, and leaves one feeling paper-thin.
I am the impetus,
The fuel to fire
Honing the sword
By pure desire.
I have been humiliated and cast out of homes again and again.
I need what I can rely on.
More than just a partner or a friend.


It was looking at me, and we had a conversation. Then it opened its wings, as if to pass with non-aggression. Funny how I still felt intimidated…
I did not want to spend this time, struggling more – yet more quiet and withdrawn, filling out paperwork, coordinating and organizing through inflammation’s back, shoulder, and nack aches.
From the inside’s drawing depths, the distance now farther to reach surface of the external, I see the light glimmering in ripples.
What matters are the simple things behind the grand gestures: what we underrated – and so buried in overcompensation, trying to be “good enough,” worthy enough to be seen and heard.
Yet, we are enough, just by our inherent qualities and by the simple fact we are existing in this material plane at the same time, together.
Life is much more amazing than we have dared to acknowledge that it can be.
Take the time to let it be.
Find your way.
Breathe.
And Believe.
Getting smacked around by life is not easy.
(Rear-ended at a stoplight)
For two weeks I have been excited, waiting to speak with a local school advisor because I had seen online that they had a Masters in Film program.
Turns out, it was misinformation.
By Ashley Anderson and Jacob Mann
I find out about my next possibilities.
Where is that cool, refreshing apease to blow the smokey air out to sea where it can recycle naturally?
Stepping out into the unrelenting wave of heat to the sound of mechanics loudly whirring with high-intensity, incessant thrumming from the across-the-way car wash reminds me of arriving those two evenings at the airport in Cairo.
My time spent there was behind the scenes, where I witnessed another world’s struggle that tourists have little comprehension about.
The communites there are very similar to ours way down deep in their core beliefs. They value love, honor, and valour.
As summer’s been climbing in the temperatures, I’ve been finding my body remembers those travels.

Waiting for my lab results to get processed, this smokey quarts buddy keeps me company. If you look closely, there is a thin rainbow line across the center. Within the crystal is the white “ghost” of its shape repeated. Therefore, this type of mineral is called a phantom crystal. When tilted just right in the sun’s rays, there is a bright jagged-flare rainbow crown on top of the phantom’s head that lights up a-sparklin’. This is where the title “King” comes from. The stone’s shape reminds me of the shmoos from the cartoon series, He Man, and this rock and I seem to share some companionable humor over it.
When we say “it doesn’t matter,” it is important to clarify what aspects about a particular issue we are referring to. Otherwise, something important and relevant to one’s identity might be lost in the wash.
Back when people
Were just people
And equality was
Not a bad word,
I had hope that
Our humanity
Was more than
Just absurd!
I called in to a radio show to give the awesome female DJ a shout-out.
Then, when she came back onto the air, she returned the favor!
Spreading joy and expressing gratitude to fellow artistic contributors that I meet.

Zoom in…
Curiosity inspired the cat to climb higher:
It had extra lives to reach farther beyond.
I had purchased from the local thrift store a smaller-sized crock pot for use in the hotel during the several months we had stayed there last year.
Because its volume was less than what we normally need, I donated it back to that thrift store when we finally found a home.
Now, our oven has burned out and there is an unknown waiting time period while the landlord decides to fix or replace it and plans are enacted.
Meanwhile, we need to eat.
I think I found that same crockpot today – and am repurchasing it!
A fun boon is having not just one – but two pairs of “cheap” sunglasses.
When one falls onto the street and gets scratched, I’ll have a backup!
Having been helped, I know
That others also need helping.
So when muscles are stuck and
Affecting movement neurology,
I am coming across people
Left waiting in community
Where I might have keys
That open locked doors
To quality lives worth
Reveling in once more.
I checked on my rescue tree yesterday, and it was looking like that stressed and droopy fold was returning to its leaves.
I know this is its first summer of heat on its own after last year’s disruption of its roots.
If it is anything like me, it feels intimidated by the repeat of a pattern of heat where it gaspingly previously struggled.
So last night, I had to go that way again and only had about two 20-oz bottles worth of water with me, yet it was enough to dribble around its roots in a circular pattern for two completions.
Today when I drove by, it looked to have perked up – and in the warm breeze, it looked as if its now-brighter green leaves and brown branch fronds were waving more cheerfully at me.
Guess I’m back on summer patrol, again – at least until the weather returns to more reasonable!
I must focus on developing my own.
It is nice to return to the occasional sense of it!
It isn’t enough to just think of finishing my Bachelors degree.
In order to do so, I need something even greater beckoning.

What do you hear?
Inner muse once used for others’ purposes, I release thee to use your gifts as deem worthy.