River of guilt

when we fell into our river of guilt it almost
drowned us on the way down, and we realised
it is not the words that have been said, it is those
not

it made us want to surface again, back into
the stream of our forgiveness, where we saw
reason in the words that were never spoken
and still had to be, as they were known to both
of us

finally the understanding grew in our eyes, where
emotion settled down and made us believe a future
could still be kind to us

(c) JR. 2019

As my soul weeps

and yes, he was my father
in ev'ry sense of the word
I his promise to the world
he meant to keep

and when I fell in the face
of my future he raised me
up unto my feet so I could
live the life meant to be

and when he fell I raised
him up as well as I could
but in the end his life was
no longer meant to be

and yes, his souls's still
in me the one I couldn't
keep sometimes I can hear
him speak as my soul weeps

(c) JR. 2018

A thousand pains

over the road of darkness
travel those denied the light
spirits chained to a history
be it just or not

all have a tale to tell
how it came about in
the pit they fell where
only silence reigns

cries are muffled souls
are maimed where cold
flames house evil ways

yet do not burn flesh away
but still leave a thousand
pains

(c) JR. 2014