Acknowledging
Sleep will not come.
Shadowy wings caress the echoes of my mind,
whispering, reminding me
of another time. Regret rises in my chest
like a winter ocean’s swell;
waves pulse through thought,
flashing faces long forgotten. Shame I buried so deep
I thought it gone
bubbles in my veins like
hot lava seeking an exit,
an instant to crystallize me. Water and magma meet and whirl,
each trying to drown the other;
steam hisses, spits,
fuel for the storm within. I watch, a pawn to memory,
my inadequacy’s pounding 
suppressed battles climbing to a raw crescendo at my core. I have learned, in time,
I am not alone:
we all carry regret,
heartache, sorrow. I have learned to find myself
among the force de mer of life
to be brave, to love, to hold fast. Now I seek to forgive
the child I once was,
who knew nothing but survival.
Delightsofmysoul 10 June 2026
















