Author: Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris

An invisible shroud
placed upon my body
By fates or Gods or happen chance
I do not know nor ever will I

Perhaps I was meant to be
a great leader of nations
Bringing peace and goodwill
to a world turned so dark

Or a great warrior among women
vanquishing injustice and setting things right
Whatever it was that was preordained
has been circumvented by physical pain

Instead of fighting for good
in a world filled with effluent evil
I have been set to fight myself each day
with a smile to hide my grinding jaw

The floods came
unexpected, unannounced.
chasing the living
into death, into nothingness.

The sea, so beautiful and kind,
turned angry, turned malicious.
Water once dipped in cerulean blue,
covers the earth in blankets of red.

Vehicles of man tied to tar ribbons,
bob without direction,
without combustion,
atop debris laden rivers of waste.

Livestock no longer living,
rush past on fields of favored fodder,
an uneaten cache of bloated
sweet grass and hay.

Mother Earth in her glorious wonder,
provided well and took away.
Unable to sustain that which was given,
she will try again, but not on this day.

Up the street
and ‘round the corner
Sits an old log house
with only one room in her

Yellow warning signs
nailed here and there
Warn any trespassers
they had better beware

Cobweb squatters
fill every nook and cranny
Birds nests line beams
up high in the attic

Decades of dust carpet
the old wood floor
Where scuff marks once trailed
in and out of the door

Books no longer sit
upon the old cedar shelves
Built into the wall
some say by elves

But I know the truth
though I keep it to myself
This was Grandma’s schoolroom
where she taught us all to count

On the outside looking
into a life that’s never been.
A life that to me
would mean the end
of loneliness and suffering.

Living through your eyes
your life and these times.
Locked as I am in this chair,
filled with hidden despair,
abject hopelessness.

You are a lifeline to things
never experienced by me.
Knowing that it could never be
that way for me, without you,
your energy and love of life.

That you chose a broken one,
that dampens your adventures
and often spoils your fun.
Never on purpose, but as the fates
choose to cut me down again and again.

On the outside looking in,
wishing for more, yet thankful to be
a part of your days and heated nights.
Stay with me now, as long as allows,
let me love you as only I know how.

Unfathomable despair
flickering in the shadows
An omen known to one and all
the portent of demons is 666

Dark wings cloaked
behind a gloaming orange hue
Hide the cunning charlatan
his evil flame deep within

His messages born
from the heat of his rage
Destroy what’s good
propagating hate in his name

In order to set things as they need to be
we must fight to our deaths
To secure the rights of women and men
and not stop until we see this to the end

In response to WDYS #248 posted by Sadje at Life After 50 for Women

Come with me
said the face in the aged tree
Come to where the wind always blows
where your feet never leave the warm soil

Come with me
said the girl to the aged tree
Come see the sites in the busy city
where cars jostle for stops and spots

Upon your branches she did crawl
up to the top and every single twig
Upon your branches did she fall
where she lives within you now evermore

There’s laughter in the hallway
just outside my door
It’s dark in here where I lay
blankets piled high to keep me warm

Beeps and whistles sound
throughout the tortuous night
A stick while I lay sleeping
wakes my slumber every two hours

A platter of food arrives
unappetizing and dry
The cooking worse than mine
even on a tv dinner night

Close my eyes and dream
of warm sand and lapping waves
The sound of seagulls as they hunt
for scraps of food or errant crabs

Instead of the smell of antiseptic
a salty breeze clears my nose
In my dreams I’m there with you
and not laying here all alone

In my dreams
I am healthy and well
I can walk for mile upon mile
Swim in the sea like a fish
Or serve it up in a lovely
fancy dinner dish

In my dreams
I am loved
Above all else
The one and only
needed and wanted
and never lonely

In my dreams
Children are kind
respectful and loving
outside having fun
Wanting nothing more
than to play in the sun

In my dreams
Oceans run clear
Rivers are clean
cerulean skies hover above
Couples walk white sandy shores
with hands clasped gently in love

In my dreams
all my dreams do come true
Blues are just colors
Sadness is real
Life is sweet and life is long
and feelings are never surreal

Heat rises from two intwined
twisted together ever tightly
forming one hard core

Beads of sparkling clear fluid
drip between the two
sealing them together

Steam rises forming a halo
hovering above both
blessing natures union

Raindrops dance on leaves of jade
sunshine lifts the moisture heavenward
little green sprouts erupt in joy

Slipping away as a fast moving river
gathering quickly into rapids rolling
into white impending danger

What started as two meandering creeks
merged lovingly into one solid stream
become swamped by too many estuaries

Their banks crumble beneath the onslaught
unable to bear the weight of the outside
interference and heavy flood waters

Fallen logs clog the brook’s way
splitting the previously joined current
two small springs proceed alone