Mary Denise Lyons

In these days of chaos and doubt,
Don't listen to the loudest shout.
Listen to the whisper within.

Don't buy the lie they tout.
Don't listen to them shout.
Listen to the whisper within.

Reject the agenda.
Swim against the stream.
Stand on your own.
Don't listen to them shout.
Listen to the whisper within.

So the emperor 'has new clothes' -
But you can see his naked skin?
Don't listen to them shout.
Listen to the whisper within.

Better to stand alone than sell your soul.
Stand firm.
Don't listen to them shout.
Listen to the whisper within.

Sun sparkles on lake waters.
Sun shines, swallows swoop, chattering wildly.
We escape from work, a weekly fleeing.
Growing again in Nature.
Picture postcard perfect.

I'm frightened. Like a deer in the forest.

It was different before.
Your laugh was just a laugh.
Your smile was just a smile.
It's not anymore.

How did this happen?
You were never really my type.
Or so I thought.
I know better now.
It's a hard knowing.

We struggle up the hill
and I can't keep up
but you wait for me at the top
and lay the mat on the stone
for me to sit on.

Little acts of kindness.

The warmth of your nearness seeps through my skin.
Electricity sparkles in the space between.

I don't like heights but I do like you.

Dandelions float in the sunbeams.
A robin picks and preens.
Why do I sit here, silent?
Why am I afraid to speak?

Don't birds have it easy?
They swoop and sing
and build their nests 
and think no more of anything than would the Man on the Moon.

Wild strawberries blossom and bloom.
Delicate little snowflakes,
From cracks in crags they peek.
Not yet ready, not yet ripe.
They look at me.
'I will be sweet,' they wink.

Delicate little snowflakes peek:

Secrets In the deep.