On the Other Side

On the Other Side

For the man filled with sorrow

anxiety that rises from brokenness

wondering if today is the day

when what your heart longs for

connection and comfort rests as a blanket

like a soft caress within

Where shame and failures wash away

leaving pure scars of vulnerability

that capture the eye as if priceless works of art

on display for all to see

beauty that's on the other side

the struggle that yields fruit of redemption and restoration

Poem 21-099B

Perhaps these words will encourage the man that is struggling with breaking free of shame and failure. A poem written a couple of years ago as journey through life in the journey of redemption and restoration. May God grant you peace in this moment, be of good cheer for there is hope.

#highplainspoet,#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#hope,#healing,#shame,#failure,#redemption,#restoration

If My Poetry Were A Place

 If My Poetry Were A Place

My poetry is a sacred interior soil 

that reclaims fertility

where the earth blooms

in a well tended garden

A place that invites

the weary to rest

and the wild to relax

solitude in secluded corners

Where dew drips off the vine

and sweet nectar drifts sweet

from blossom and bud

richness of earth mingled in a cocktail

Interior places inked

what was lost is found

growing hope from ashes

and love takes root beyond brokenness

Poem 23-020y

#highplainspoet,#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#healing,#rest,#hope,#spiritual,#peace

Grit

Grit

Yesterday…

I felt old

Like that old cottonwood

that creaks in the wind

with a few withered limbs

I never thought of myself

as old,... even though my face shows age

a little more each year

adding another ring to the trunk

Aged character like the gnarly grain

of finely polished oak

drawn out by the perfect shade of honey stain

Perhaps I'm just feeling

the stains of life upon my veneer

that has finally caught up

A weariness in the mirror

just below the eyes

like a gray-purple bruising

The bruising of life

that rest doesn't seem to cure any more

Poem 22-325.1 © Now, Brian 

#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#highplainspoet,#aging,#weariness,#the_journey

https://www.westernnebraskathoughtsandlife.com/

Human Condition

Human Condition

Like the stark winter wind

blowing over the drifts

a frigidness draws questions

of life and love

Who have I been

why have I been

remembering things once forgotten

that leave me exposed in the light

Truth has this way

of feeling uncomfortably uncovered

in a room full of strangers

until I realize that all are bare

Everyone covers up who they are

some more than others

because vulnerable intimacy

is something shared over a lifetime

Poem 22-035z

#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#highlainspoet,#nature,#love,#vulnerability

https://www.westernnebraskathoughtsandlife.com/

Drifting

Drifting

Snow skitters across the ground

driven by tyrannical wind

whipping up a ground blizzard

Those light fluffy thoughts

not rooted, looking for a fence

to drift against

Forming a cornice at the peak

of rigid stories

waiting for that stop

That avalanche that crashes

tumbling through the roof

until the mind calms and hope digs out

21-345A (c) highplainspoet

#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#highplainspoet,#ground_blizzard,#busy_mind,#nature,#peace

https://www.westernnebraskathoughtsandlife.com/

Cypsela

Cypsela

Love drifts like the white dandelion cypsela in the Nebraska wind

looking for a place to land, to bury itself in wet soil

or to float on the surface of the irrigation ditch

water that carries far from birth

into the gooey muck where life begins again

Poem 21-258A

minor edits

#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#highlainspoet,#nature,#love,#rebirth

Note: Cypsela is a dandelion seed.

https://www.westernnebraskathoughtsandlife.com/

Peace Upon Inner Critic

Peace Upon Inner Critic

November mornings filled with dirty pink dawns

light tenderly brushes the clouds in glory

hidden moments when world still asleep

where blessings and beauty bestows a new day

Moment where volume turned down

when inner critic is told to sit down

find solitude's connection and grounding

drawn to gaze at painted sky and live in today

The voice inside that catastrophizes yesterdays and tomorrows

bound with my own words that not welcome here

just an energy sucker and bearer of unnecessary suffering

I say get out… GO

This day is a day born in stillness

grounded in connection with Father

where I am His and He is mine

the accuser has no quarters here

Poem 20-320a © highplainspoet

#highplainspoet,#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#inner_crtitic,#healing

https://www.westernnebraskathoughtsandlife.com/

A Lament

 A Lament

A winter gale that pushes

snow about as if it

were sands of time

right into my lungs as inhale

all its rage pushes so hard against me

Memories like the glistening crystals

of winter's fury dance

as if to taunt me of heartache,

of all that I'd hoped for

that now lies about

being pushed teasingly out of reach

One of those days where acceptance

is feeling the bruise on my heart

an ache with every inhale

and 

sorrow with every exhale

as lean into a truth… 

suffering is part of being human

Expectations of a shared life that

is tempered with disappointment

of opportunities not shared

experiences that I had alone, without you

and that is part of journey of disconnection and repair

Still, I'm left wondering how we got here,

so far apart

with each of my micro-rejections

a small pebble placed

until a wall stands between us

How do we find each other again

How does the pain get reconciled

where does love begin to blossom

and we return as allies and lovers

where a sparkle returns in our union

And realizing…

love always finds a way

Poem 23-026z (c) 

A musing of my heart today that rambles all over.

#westernnebraskathoughtandlife,#highplainspoet, #love, #suffering, #life, #hope, #relationship, #family, #marriage

Threshold/Story Line

 Threshold/Story Line

Chiffon clouds veil the sun

teasing light and shadows

upon brown prairie blade

as year is at its threshold

Seductive memories jiggle about

to catch my eye

and thus beauty of life

remembered in each inhale and exhale.

Of God's goodness

as our children find love

watching them grow

in maturity and giving of themselves

Of remembering pain

of failing my lover

seeing the ache in

her mocha eyes

Of learning how to

stay present when all I knew

was to disassociate

the way I ran

Of those brought in my path

to stretch and grow me

to challenge the story I believed

and offer a Godly perspective that

alters my story line

Poem 22-364 ©

#westnernebraskathoughtsandlife,#highplainspoet,#remembering,#healing,#hope,#reconciliation,#story_line,#perspective

Thaws

Thaws

Beneath the warmth

of the winter sun

snow slowly moves

across the river valley

settles lower and lower

in all the crevices and ravines

and dampens the sandy loam

Just as my heart

ebbs and flows

with the warmth for you

settles in our crevices and ravines

which thaws the season of pain

melts the distance and all that

was frozen between us

Poem 23-008 ©

#highplainspoet,#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#love,#reconciliation,#seasons,#winter,#nature,#sorrow,#grief,#beauty

Ode for the Dog

 Ode for the Dog

Some of my best friends

have been dogs

they aren't fickle and

they are always happy to see me

a wet nose and nuzzle

excited for my presence

in the turmoil of life

they are better than most

January 8, 2022

Poem 22-008B

©

#highplainspoet,#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#love,#dogs

I'll Call You Nebraska

I'll Call You Nebraska

Upon finding myself in the backwater

of tall brome and blazing sky

I get it

the revulsion many have to this place

A taste acquired over time

a bitterness at first that lingers

like apple cider vinegar

deep in the throat

Until I realize that

I no longer have to swallow

the story of the high plains

painted by others who haven't paused

To notice the solitude

that disturbs the busy mind

upon the Great American Desert

where small things catch the eye

Years to see the wonder

and to accept the beauty

that was present all time

blind to what was before me

Poem 23-021z

#highplainspoet,#nebraska,#high_plains,#home,#beauty,#nature

What If

What If

Some say life it's about leaving a legacy…

what if life is about leaving a smile on another's face

 what if life is it about another knowing you love them fully

   what if life is about the times we made loving connection

  what if life isn't about leaving a monument or legacy 

 what if life is about love and loving well

what if that is a life well-lived

What if that is legacy

Poem 22-016z

#highplainspoet,#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#love,#relationships

Cedar

Blue green berries

on the tips of the cedar

hang seductively

as the finch lands close

only to spot me and fly to a perch

watching me, wondering what I'm doing

until his anxiety peaks and flies away

The top of the cedar broken off

leaving a scar and broken bark

pealed off from when natures violence violated

the tender growth

that in time will heal

and the cedar will grow

beyond my lifetime

Poem 22-017C

#westernnebraskathoughtsandlife,#highplainspoet,#nature