Veronica

Teddy

I was there when you said your first word Your mother’s laughs of joy being painted into the walls Your father’s smile combing them with the scent of pride Your words ever floating, hanging in the air

I was there when you had your first kiss Your dream-induced eyes engaged with mine Your entranced lips telling me all about his Your hair a mess from running your hands through it for excitement

I was there when you had your first breakup When your eyes dripped of uncertain loss Your cheeks like early morning dew from your river of tears My fur a mess from crying into me, no more of a help than a punching bag

I was there when your parents told you what was going to happen How they still loved you, no matter what Your hands trembling on my soft arms Your indignant sobs of unbelief thrown at the door behind them

I was there when you had your first time The soft words of passion mixing with the powerful hands of lust Your uncertainty, your reluctancy, your anxiety His response when you refused

I was there when you cut yourself for the first time Your tears of self-malice ripping down the fabric of your cheek The first drops of siphoned blood falling on my body Your heaving cough from your third Or fourth Or fifth cigarette Of that day

I was there when you brought home the first customer Your dead Empty Expression writing believable lies filled with contempt and self-pity Entrancing him for the sake of money’s worth The monster that lay deep within I remember seeing for what wasn’t the first time

I was there when you brought home the pills Your hair a mess, your cheeks like glacial rivers, your hands trembling Your uncertainty, your rage, your decision

Your words ever floating, Hanging in the air

You don't need to get to church, you need to get to God.

Pastor Matt Hayden

“NIGERIA West Africa Jos Portrait of craftsman potter holding a ceramic pot and his son”

art by sysmstudio

Choctaw and Ojibwe woman, Mikah Whitecloud, United States of America, by Evan Frost

New doodling style

Still working on it, but it's a thing.

Though brightly shines the early eastern sky Though radiant does its brother end the days Though so plethoric shine the stars on high The light that comes from you decries their rays Though sweet the songs that sing the morning birds Though tenderly protects the mother bear Though strong the bonds between the grazing herds Your voice o’er-heard makes silent their affair

The oceans roar and ceaselessly devou’r All that it pleases; nothing is exempt And all is subject to the fire’s pow’r None flee when flames, their targets have been dreamt But you are more astonishing than these For in your heart, it’s God you long to please.