By J. Williams
My mind sizzled that evening
When the lights went out,
The glass shattered and the wind blew heavily
My thoughts were of infinite sadness
Brimstone at it’s finest
I grew fearful, tired and anxious.
I was at the level of discomfort that
I had never known even existed.
I exited the event in my mind several times
But saw no salvation
Then, like a lightening bolt piercing through
Soft butter, I saw what was awaiting me
The one thing I feared for so very long
Independence.
***
"A Lesson from Grandpa"
By J. Williams
I remember sitting out on the veranda with my grandfather one night while we were on a family vacation in Florida. I must have been no older than ten years old when the subject of sex was raised. I don't recall how it came up but I remember what was said--word for word--as if it were yesterday. It went like this:
"Grandpa, do you and grandma love each other?"
Yes, we certainly do son. But why do you ask?
"Well, I am just curious, why do women marry men?"
That's simple, because they fall in love with them.
"Well then grandpa, why do men marry women?"
That's simple my dear boy. Alcohol!
***
"Bittersweet Destiny"
By J. Williams
The brainchild of evolution
sets in its presence
the reason for being.
The common goal of existence,
the journey to find what is undetectable.
It is with this,
the abstract art of nature
that we learn to adjust to
ourselves, our surroundings and our
bittersweet destiny.
***
"Mindful"
By J. Williams
Through the contemptuous times when
the ice melts on the asphalt after a blizzard
and we are left pondering the very meaning
of our rather meager existence,
it's very important to know that
the answers to all of life's questions are present.
They are there staring us in the face
waiting to be found, eager to be learned
and eventually bound to be forgotten.
***
"Gas Leak"
By J. Williams
The smell of the
fumes reached all the
way up the stairs
piercing through my
walls and invading my nose
It was the horrid smell of gas
Devastating and dangerous
The trail was the sign of
imminent disaster
One light of a match could set
off the flames of certain death
I hurried downstairs
opening windows throughout the house
screaming for the neighbors to
call the fire department
when I reached the kitchen
the smell increased. Horrified,
and almost unable to breathe,
I reached into the cabinet under the sink,
pushed aside the floor and oven cleaners,
spilled over the bottle of washer fluid
and grabbed my combative weapon.
With one push of the button,
I cleared the kitchen of the gas.
Once the air was clear,
I begged grandpa to lay off the refried beans.
"Understanding"
By J. Williams
Cold,
That day it was colder than I ever experienced before.
Nothing was the same after that
Life had a whole new meaning,
There was a whole new way of understanding the misunderstood.
And tolerating the intolerable
There was a simplistic view here,
But nothing that I could easily notice
It was too far. Way too far in the distance.
Yet it was there staring me in the face.
Scolding my view with its presence.
Taunting my eyes in its vision,
Calling unto me to reveal its secret code
To explain to it the reason why.
But I couldn't.
I choked with fear and inherited repression.
I knew not what to say when I looked-
In the face of the one thing I never knew existed.
But God took me in anyway.
Understanding my lifelong doubt