Day 8: Demon.

Demon
I hear your cackle, it echoes in my ears,
Haunting my mind, in all corners are fears.
Every hallway has shadows, the stairwells are dark—
Hunched beasts are breathing, snarling remarks.
The heat in the air, like steam from a stove,
Suffocating and strong, burning my nose—
My lungs fill with black, dissolving in smoke,
That smolders my flesh, flaking ashes in my throat.
Strangled by hands, coarse and calloused by blood,
Reeking with death, ripped and rough—
Your arms grapple around, from ceiling and walls,
Reaching through flames that blaze with shrieks and calls
Of those you’ve dragged through the scolding coals
And now you torture them, searing their souls.
With your lies and lips that are dipped in venom,
That seeps and beats through veins like drums.
A murderous poison, silent and fierce,
From your fangs it drips, searching hearts to pierce.

Day 7: Snowflakes of Grace.

Snowflakes of Grace
The wind breathes in my face, her crisp air stinging my cheeks now pink,
She showers me with snowflakes, sprinkling iced confetti before my feet.
With pirouettes and spins she leaps from tree to tree, tiptoeing on the branches, shaking leaves tenderly.
Shimmering beneath the robes she’s draped, cloaked with powder from angels wings—
the earth is blessed—dressed in holiness, the promise of freedom that new life brings.
Raise your voice all you clothed, rejoice all you cleaned,
Proclaim your gift, to your Creator sing.

Day 6: Soul Song

Soul Song
When the music stopped, my world froze still,
My body paralyzed, motionless and chilled
I could feel my heart beat but the veins wouldn’t flow,
My hands wouldn’t move, my feet would not go.
A strange pressure grew, stretching my skull,
I had forgotten how to breathe, and my eyes were dull;
Colors drained like blood from the face of the sky,
Pale, sickly, and white, like a ghost in the night.
I floated under a sheet over the cold wood floor,
My lips stiff, my throat dry, my two lungs sore.
Robbed from rhythm, I was stripped and thin,
Naked without a song to wrap myself in.
But tonight you breathed into me, you filled my corpse,
You warmed my body, with merely your voice.
You sang to my eyes, and they opened at your command,
Blinded by bursts of bright lights that expand,
Fireworks explode and dance in the night,
Rainbows glow, and their sprinkles ignite
The skin on my face and then arms and then legs,
My cheeks fill with heat and tingles fill the rest.
Tonight I dance like the elves in the trees,
Like the fairies that tiptoe on flowers and leaves.
Effortless sways, like a feather in the breeze,
Like the wind’s paintbrush, I stroke the sea.
The song woke my soul, the melody my mind,
the harmony my heart, and I know it is time.

Day 5: Wait

Waiting here
hands clutched to my chest to
hold down the pounds, the drumming threats
bursting. A fountain exploding, a faucet on full blast,
No a fire hydrant released, the pressure shooting free
across the street to quench the burning building that moans and groans
with raging flames, a chorus crescendos with shrieks and shouts
of those trapped inside now blind with black smoke and choked by the
soot that sears their lungs.
Charred and barred my soul aches and
whimpers with each blow, each beat, each punch that takes
the hope away so
on my knees I plead, silently I reach
out to you and let my eyes burn so you can see the fire that roars and tortures
all that I am
but I will not make a sound No
not a whisper will escape
my lips may move and often open up they
wait for the taste of the saints to exclaim
'there's no shame and no chains for your soul is untamed
and came and abstained though changed from pain that wanes
across lanes through window panes, dark cham-
bers of this love game.'

Day 4: Tangled.

Tangled
It’s more tangled then I thought, more torn and frayed,
more tattered and worn, more broken I’m afraid.
It twists and turns and ties and tugs
Yanking and pulling the whole knot snug
Raw fingers are sliced, caught in the mess
Blood drips down, drizzling the edge
Of my rolled up sleeves, stained with sweat
Leaking from my brow, my body is wet
Not from running or spinning around and around
But from weeping and pouring from my eyes on down
I lick my lips and taste the tears
Like a mixed cocktail, a concoction of years
Slipping with salt and blood on the rope
My hands try untangling, they rip and they grope
With all that I have I yank on the nest
Woven with flesh and memories now shreds
Of me of him of them of us
Of worry of passion of stress and I must
Let go before I wrap myself in these vines
Strangling my soul with no escape to find
I suck on the air like a lollipop
Gasping, screaming, wishing it would stop
stinging my chest, my lungs, my palms,
my head is on fire, now not even a song
can save me now in the midst of long
shadows of darkness, my heart is a gong
that pounds and booms with foreshadowing eyes
my hands are caught, in these chains they are tied.

Day 3: Mama's Kitchen

Mama’s Kitchen
Chicken, capers, flour, butter,
Drench and dip, sizzle, sputter,
Blueberries scattered, nuts sprinkled on,
Avocado sliced, shaved Parmesan,
Dressing drizzled on crispy romaine,
Pasta steaming, waiting to be drained,
White wine fizzing, ice water chilled,
Napkins folded, plates are filled.
A garden has grown from the tablecloth,
With blooming bouquets on its warm golden top,
Soothing smells waltz in warm air,
Swaying in dim lights and shadows by chairs,
Glows and flickers, the candles set a mood,
For sharing and consuming much more than food,
Stories of the week and all our lives’ parts,
Satisfaction for the soul, full tummies and hearts.

Day 2: Complacency

Complacency
Rumble and tumble as you crash and slash
Mauling through the trees and ignoring the path
Snapping the twigs and crushing the trunks,
Demolishing baby spruce and old rotting stumps.
Your war cry bellows through the icy air,
Chilling souls and freezing blood in the hearts that you tear.
You are more deadly than Death, more damaging than disease,
You are sly and slow, like a seductive sleaze,
You reel them in with winks and glares,
You lie to their hearts and cherish their despair,
“Don’t act, lay low, the world is fine,
why should you care about them? Who needs to be kind?
Sure there are children without a shelter or food,
Mothers dying with their babies, murdered in the womb,
Fathers tortured and killed, daughters raped and burned,
Sons lost and brainwashed with nowhere to return,
Families sick with no help, no hand to hold,
No one to hear them, no one has been told.
But who cares?” You laugh, pursing your lips,
“You’ve got your own problems, your own future to grip.
What about your money, your clothes, your house, your car,
And all the other charges on your shiny credit card?
Just write a check, maybe you can feel bad for a sec,
But then move on with your life, there’s so much up ahead.”
You slither away, after your silent bite,
Leaving your victims paralyzed and without sight,
They are blind to your falsity, the destruction you’ve caused,
Oh Complacency, you’re lies have convinced us to pause.

Day 1: Held

Held
It’s the strangest sensation, when you hold me in your arms,
When I’m wrapped by your body, protected from harm.
You’re like a shield of sorts, an invisibility cloak,
A mithril vest, a true silver coat.
With the resistance of diamonds and the strength of steel,
Yet the weight of a snowflake is all that I feel.
The freedom of a feather, dancing in the wind,
The possibility of an eagle, that soars again,
The power of a hummingbird and the force of its wings,
Keep the beat of my heart, and the rhythm I sing.
The sky is mine, the clouds my bed,
rain my drink, and the sun my friend.
Cackling and sparking my heart is ablaze,
But my spirit is calmed by the peace in your gaze.
Like fire and water, like coals and ice,
You empower me and calm me with the truth in your eyes.