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Strawberries and Ferris Wheels

The air was sweet, thick with sugar and sun,

Laughter tangled in the breeze, undone.

Cotton candy fingers, a ticket in hand,

Running toward wonders we barely could stand.

The carousel spun in a golden glow,

But the Tilt-A-Whirl whispered, Do you dare go?

Heart in my throat, feet frozen in place,

Yet the thrill in their screams made me embrace—

The fear, the rush, the moment so brief,

Like the flicker of joy wrapped in disbelief.

Funnel cake crumbs dusted my shirt,

Lemonade stained lips, happiness spurt.

A world built on lights, fast and loud,

Each ride a promise, each laugh unbowed.

One thrill ended, another began,

Never stuck too long, just took what I can.

And isn’t that life? A Ferris wheel spin,

Up in the clouds, then back down again.

We chase the sweet, the dizzy delight,

Forgetting that dusk will steal back the night.

So love the taste, the fear, the climb—

Because just like the fair, it fades over time.

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Reflections of Progress

The mirror speaks, but not in truth,

It shows the now, not all the proof.

A glimpse of you, yet not the end,

Just where you stand—where you begin.

Each step you take, though small, still grows,

A silent force the world won’t know.

The work you put in, day by day,

Will shape the future on its way.

Doubt may whisper, “Not enough,”

But strength is built when times are tough.

Stay the course, push past the view,

The masterpiece is made by you.

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Beyond the Storm”

The sky splits open, heavy hands of rain,

thunder speaks in tongues only the lost understand.

Waves rise like clenched fists,

the wind a whisper and a warning,

telling stories of those who never made it past the night.

Beneath me, the ocean stirs, restless,

pulling at my feet, calling me down,

but I have learned the language of sinking

without drowning.

The moment is long, the storm unyielding—

but I do not bow.

Lightning carves scars in the sky,

each flash a mirror of wounds unseen,

pain I have worn like armor.

Yet beyond this war of wind and water,

beyond the madness of the moment,

there is a light—soft, steady, certain.

A place where the sea hums instead of roars,

where the sun lays hands upon my shoulders,

where the air is thick with the scent of something new.

The storm does not last, though it swears it will.

The night does not own the sky.

What waits ahead is not just survival,

but something greater—

a land where my name is no longer spoken in past tense,

where my breath is not a battle,

where my story begins again.

And so I sail on.

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Upside Down and Nowhere to Go

Trapped between the sky and streets,

Where echoes fade and silence speaks.

Small-town lights, they flicker dim,

A cage of roads, a world caved in.

The city hums beyond my view,

A promise whispered, never true.

Yet here I stand, both here and not,

An upside-down and tangled thought.

The pavement cracks beneath my feet,

Reflections dance, the past repeats.

Dreams hang heavy in the air,

Yet every step leads nowhere.

I’m caught between, I’m lost in place,

A shadow stuck in time and space.

Yet maybe change is shifting near,

If I break free from all I fear.

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The change starts with us…. I vow to be better

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The best Get away is a nature walk with fresh air

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Not even the tide of time can wash your presence away from my heart.

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Nia Long in The Best Man, 1999

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