the bumble bee
when i heard the buzzing,
i was afraid that there was
a wasp in my house;

to my surprise it was just
a big bumble bee—

hello, bumble!

i asked the universe to let her
trust me,
and i held out a hand;
she seemed to recognize i was
trying to help her and she crawled
onto one of my fingers—

as i headed out of the steps
of my apartment and outside she had
managed to walk from one
shoulder to my other shoulder,

and she seemed to buzz in
gratitude;

but it was so loud in my ear
that i waved her away—
but the following day i saw her
checking in on me,
as if to see if i were okay.
–linda m. crate

---

i rather dance with the moon
i couldn’t begin to tell you
every place where
it hurts,

for there are so many
scars that are only half-healed
or open themselves
when i scratch deep enough
into the wound to feel it again;

so let us not imagine those places—

instead let me dwell in the places
of healing: books, conversations
with friends and family which are
cozy and comfortable, music, poetry,
fantasy books, the forest, underneath
the moon in a sky full of stars, in the
sunlit kisses of the creek, in the wings of
fantasy and imagination where my mind
is prone to go;

for these places bring me joy—

& while i will not deny the pain i’ve known,
i’d rather dance with the moon than relive
all of that misery again.
–linda m. crate

---

shift in perspective
climbing faery hills
the world seems
a bit more magical than
mundane,

and i am able to see
rainbows of flowers and
colors i may not
otherwise observe;

and i can suck in a deep
breath of fragrant life beauty
and fall in love with the
blue skies and the sunlight dancing
through the trees once more—

sometimes a mere shift
in perspective is needed for
happiness to come flying in.
–linda m. crate

---

a different world
butterflies do not swim,
neither do fish fly;
but i imagine a world in which
the inverse is true—

a place where you can
swim with
butterflies,
and where sometimes fish
sometimes forget where
they’re flying to and smack you
in the face;

but i can imagine the chaos
it would cause for the drivers
who are simply minding their business

only for a fish to fly into their windshields—

but i still think it would be fun to swim
with butterflies,
imagine how quickly they’d be able to swim
to keep themselves from the hungry maws
of predators;

imagine how their beauty would dance
across the sea.
–linda m. crate

---

even the sun feels cold
serenity is a state
of mind that i’d like
to reach again,
sick of being caught in the
chaos of all this fear,
all this anger, all this pain;

sometimes the daffodils
help me see the beauty in the
midst of all these nightmares

but i fear i need more light—
i know there’s light within me,
but it feels too weak and dim
to illuminate my soul the way
it needs to shine;

need some other source to touch
me with their fire—
because even the sun feels cold.
–linda m. crate

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As a side Note we wish a happy Book birthday to Linda for Her Faerie Witch Queen that released today.

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She is doing well with the Challenge. How are you doing ?