El Cuco
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Pelicans bathing
Hearts erasing
Painful memories
Backbone mending
Soul strengthening
Heart and mind at ease
Waves crashing
Flecks of sand
Wisping away in the breeze
Rainbow colored fishing boats
Wide open blue sky
And sunny days
Love and forgiveness for my father
Let the old wounds heal
We are all doing the best we can
With what we’ve got
The test of time
We will withstand
The sun rises in the east
And sets to rest in the west
And the moon rises and sets just the same
Day in, day out
We do the dance of life
Out here in this astral plane
.....................................................
Betty Bailiff
.
Sea breeze as you please
Won’t let this life
Keep me on my knees
Take the reigns, yes take hold
And follow wherever
Your wild wind blows
Over the mountains
And through the woods
To grandmother’s house we go
But she will tell us her stories
Only in our memories
Because she is with the lord now, honey
But her lessons we have learned
And her love we still feel
And it is with us
Forever and ever
Amen
.........................................
Breaking Branches
.
Don’t get ahead of yourself, honey
No don’t let yourself get wrapped up
In the same old shit
Chasing love to be fulfilled
Keep seeking
Keep taking chances
But do not hang your hopes and dreams
In the branches
Of someone else’s trees
Expect those branches to break
Expect those leaves to fall
Down will come baby
Cradle and all
Because life goes in circles
Sometimes you’re up
Sometimes you’re down
Some days you’re high in the sky
Other days you’re lying flat on the ground
Yes life goes in circles this I know
Or does life come in waves?
I guess we really don’t know
But one thing is for certain
It’s been a lovely wild ride
A long strange trip
A refreshing
Exhilarating
Little skinny dip
If you live it right and if you live it well
If you seize each day by the balls
You can say you did not waste it
You can say that you tried and tasted
That you did it all
A life full and rich
You were nobody’s bitch
Not confined behind anyone else’s walls
You can say you were your own woman
Or your own man
Or anything else in between
You can say that your fire burned bright in this world
Your wish
The world’s command
.............................................
The Injured Bird
.
A one-winged pelican
Injured
Left behind
And then picked up
Taken
Out of his home
Out of his habitat
To be rehabilitated they say
A lonely man - he sits and stares
At the ocean’s crashing waves
And he tries to take off
To go home
But his injured wing keeps him grounded
Unable to soar
As he did before
Unable to glide along the waves
He stares longingly
At his old friends
As they glide on by
Effortlessly
Plucking fish out of the sea
He ambles gracelessly into the ocean
Trying to get back to his home of old
Will his rehabilitator
His captor
Go and save him
Rescue him from his frothy fate
We watch as the story unfolds
............................................
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Original Poetry & Photography by Heather Cobb
Photograph: Angkor Wat - Siem Reap, Cambodia