Writing and Photography by Jeff E. Brown

Clip-clop outside your door

To go along with the creaking

Ache in your spine

That radiates undeterred, around your mind.

You turn out the lamps

And close your eyes

Exerting your will to manage the pain.

But the demons feed on you all the same.

Life makes no promises

From one day to the next.

You’ve learned that to live

Is to open your heart and to give.

Perhaps a reward is overdue

For the tortured frame you inhabit,

But no matter the trial

You know it’s better to say no to denial.

© 2021 Jeff E. Brown. All rights reserved.