“In the Dark” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA
I am but a tiny being on this massive rock… I am a rock…
I am but an observant soul… Lost… Looking for a way to be found…
Looking for a way to ask for something I can’t define…
Looking for that elusive sign… Looking for myself…
Searching through the darkness…
Realizing I am of the darkness…
All is well… Everything is just peachy…
My lie of a smile denies you the real me…
Blue skies combined with yellow clouds in gray…
Evenings approach ushers in another orange day…
Another day of labor… Another day in the heat…
Another day I didn’t wave the white flag of defeat…
“Ninebark at Night” – Whitney Avenue – Wilkinsburg, PA
I am a fighter… I am on the outside one-percent…
And I have no desire to come inside…
I have no desires because my addictions took them away…
Fingerprint ID and the mug shot to display…
That is why I garden… That is why I plant seeds…
That is why I consider you when figuring for my needs…
I am not equal to anyone… I am six-feet below you…
I am staring up at the ground looking for a new view…
Looking for a way to erase these horrid memories…
Looking for a way to find peace with my enemies…
Looking for a way to find peace with myself…
With my memories… With my past… With you…
plant petunias and question everything – chriscondello
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chriscondello 
Hi Chris, haven’t visited for a while. Been busy with the darker side of life. Love the juxtaposing of the two images.
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I was very moved by your poem. I really don’t know how to put to words what it made me feel. It sounds like your addiction took a lot a way from you. I realize that you want to mend bridges with people, but it doesn’t sound like it is in your power, because those people can’t accept your apology. They can’t see that you changed. They can’t see how hard you have worked to tranform your life. Forgive them that they have no mercy, that they can’t find forgiveness in their hearts. Then forgive yourself. You have done an amazing thing to stop using drugs. You have aspired to change your life.
Remember AA’s serenity prayer:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
–Reinhold Niebuhr
I think the first paragraph is very profound. It resonated with me the first time a friend cited it to me when I was having a major crisis in my life. It took me a long time to find some wisdom to learn the difference too-
Honey
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Stunning photo and breathtaking poetry – as always. In both your photo and words, the darker shadow of the crisscrossing path extends into the light. You have an incredible sense to recognize and communicate the spectrum of beauty in all non-living and living things – a unique and sensitive gift.
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