Bleeding Heart
karma ashton

Like an eagle
Borne on wings
Of silver,
You swept me
Away
And gripped
My willing heart
Within the clutches
Of your talons.
My love
For you grew
As we soared
Together,
Spiraling higher
Into the vastness
Of the blue
Sky.
Then,
Abruptly I felt
Myself falling
From your comfort
And as I looked
Upwards to
You
I saw shredded
Pieces of my
Still willing heart
Clinging desperately to
Your

Bloodied claws.

Don Wallace

Nurture
Jennifer Cox

The Answer to Life
Neal Geidd

A fragile Father takes his Daughter,
Still limp--not quite cold,
Up in his arms
And with tears falling like
Snow on Christmas,
His pain is sprinkled with release:

The pressure stifled by
Mournful gestures;
The waiting patiently ended by
Saddened moments;
The sickness remedied by
Sleep eternal.

The crooked steps he carries
In Burden-lifted Silence
Bring him to the Answer
He prayed he’d never find.
The little girl he loved before
. . .