Category Archives: Struggle

Images Came in a Torrent

Courage is not the absence of fear…

Excerpted from   –   Images Came in a Torrent

…But the falling felt like forever so much time packed
Into scant seconds but that’s what she recalls
Maybe time just stopped

Then started again as tragic images came in a torrent
People were yelling and screaming for help above the din her
Thoughts turned toward those people and caring for the injured
Doing what she could for the moment

   -gl-

From   –   Bridges Don’t Fall Down: Stories from the I35W Bridge Collapse

How Great the Pain

Contemplating pain, love, and commitment…

   How Great the Pain

She winces sleeping
Not knowing how great the pain
That leaves him weeping

   -gl-

From   –   Straight Thru the Curves: A Book of Haiku   (WIP)

Robert Cried

Of pain and sorrow in the struggle…

   Robert Cried

As Bruce drifted like a phantom through the countryside
He began to draw
More that had become outlaw
One such had come to him but came not to hide

Here his dear old friend the Lady Christian of Carrick
And with her she brought her men that were mounted
More than a dozen her gift

But too, she brought news against which Robert would have wished
‘Twas the tales of his family she recounted
And it made him sick

Now for the first time he heard the fate of Scotland’s pride
How brothers and friends were tortured and killed in the English maw
How his women and beloved were caged with beds of straw
For all of this Robert cried

  -gl-

From   –   Robert the Bruce: A Warrior’s King

Each New Dawn

Of life, love, struggle, and friendship…

   Each New Dawn

One more great man falls
As do all

No longer famous
But was among the bravest

Knowing him we knew it to be so
And thru the years his valor would only grow

Those of us that walk around ready to fight
For loved ones, duty, and for what’s right

And those with families that knew him knew his commitment
To be the best he could for those he loved and to be decent

His world champion fame and glory days long since gone
Each new dawn

He greeted as a warrior
No matter the trial or travail he was a fighter to the core

To the end
Those that knew him proud to call him friend

   -gl-

A tribute to Savannah Svatma Russell (Known in his fighting days as SAVANNAH JACK)

From the Beginning

In the struggles of life…

Excerpted from   –   From the Beginning

…Sure we took her home to die
There were no doubts in our minds but neither could say, “No”
Not speaking our thoughts we didn’t know
Each one couldn’t say no, not bearing to see the other cry

Of course it grew worse
Once we were home and nurtured her for a while
And became so much more attached. We would love her so…

   -gl-

From   –   A Warrior’s Love: A Book of Love Poems