In Plain Sight

Depression by George Hodan

Lost within the sacred space
That lingers in the silent night, 
The memory she cannot face,
Denial of her tragic plight.
Pain camouflaged in eyes made bright
By tears the world will never see,
A victim hiding in plain sight,
Held captive by her misery.

The Pain of Chores

Photo by Mary Mansfield

Chores are a pain.

Those words

Must have passed

My lips

A thousand times

As a child.

Dishes,

Laundry,

Vacuuming…

Who wanted

To waste time

Trapped in the house

When fun and friends

Beckoned from 

The yard,

The park,

The streets 

Of the neighborhood?

Those years

Have long gone,

And today

Chores are truly a pain,

Ten minutes 

Of vacuuming

Enough to unleash

A raging monster

Coiling around 

My spine,

Sending me writhing

Searching for ice packs,

Heating pads,

And painkillers;

Folding laundry

With numb fingers

Little more

Than origami torture

In a washable

Cotton-poly blend.

I’d trade a million 

Spaghetti-crusted pans

For just one day

When the pain of chores

Was not so literal.

~~~ This poem was written for a prompt from Poetic Bloomings asking for poems about chores, the latest in its poetic memoir series.

Totem

Totem Face by Julie Gentry
Image from publicdomainpictures.net

I claim pain as my totem, 

Cloaked in both ice and inferno,

As I accept and embrace the darkness 

On my path to redemption.

~~~  This was written for a prompt over at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads asking us to discuss a power image we use often in our poetry…oh, and to do so in 25 words or less!