Jess Eaddy

Bits & Pieces

Lois A. Cheney

People

People important to you

People unimportant to you

Cross your life

Touch it with love

And carelessness

And move on

There are people who leave you

And you breathe a sigh of relief

And you wonder why you ever came into contact with them.

There are people who leave you

And you breathe a sigh of remorse

And you wonder why they had to go away leaving such a gaping hole in your heart

Children leave parents

Friends leave friends

Acquaintances move on

You think of the many who have moved into your hazy memory

You look at those present and wonder

I believe in God’s master plan for all our lives

He moves people in and out of each others’ lives

And each leaves their mark upon the other

You will find that you are made up of bits and pieces

Of all who have ever touched you along the path of your life

And you are more because of it

And you would be less if they had not touched you

Pray that you accept these bits and pieces

In humility and wonder

And never question

And never regret

Bits and pieces

Originally published God Is No Fool (1969) by Lois A. Cheney. Reprinted in 2009 by Beaufort Books: ISBN 0825305950 9780825305955.

God Is No Fool is available online at https://books.google.com/books/about/God_Is_No_Fool.html?id=26NXPwAACAAJ.

BV

Feels like I drove slowly right past my heart

Left it sitting on south main

By that little store on the corner that sells art

With those painted coasters I forgot to bring

They’re all still facing those mountains

And looking west

Heart beating slow and steady

Finally at rest

I never drove to an unseen place that felt so much like home

I forgot how much it hurts to fall in love only to have to let go

Heartbroken, tipsy, and blinded by tears

I tripped and fell straight into you

Twisted into your body and I gave you all my fears

Enamored by the prospect of someone new

Now your memory is tangled up in snow and pines

Buried under a blanket of

I’m left wondering for whom or to what does my heart pine (draw a line)

Paralyzed by indecision, I

Lost Lake

Sandstorm

Pieces of a life I never should have lived

Keep swirling around me like sand

From that night on the beach where I asked

Can this really be happening?

And you said

Yes, I’m finally here

The ocean waves were crashing behind me

The moon shone brightly beside me

All I remember was you looking deep into my eyes

While I sat there believing every lie

I gave you my whole life

You sang me to sleep

Under blankets and sheets

And you pushed yourself inside of me

As I kept saying no and pushed back against you

Until I lost hope

And you lost love

Then there was only darkness.

Now when I see that banjo moon

I remember you

Your last words were, “I hope that someday you can forgive me.”

I can, I have, and I do

But you came back to take my future too

Some days a sandstorm still clouds my sight

Under that sorrowful banjo moon.

Darkness

Too much weight on my heart to open my mouth and sing

Want to speak in rhymes and metaphors but just gotta say it plain

Mileposts are flying by as I travel down this road

I have no directions and I see nothing

Just trapped under a dark canopy of trees

Midnight strikes and I forget what I came here for

Hours pass by and feel like days

Thoughts spinning round my mind and I feel dazed

Your eyes, they are sky radiating light

And I get so blinded in the reflection

Distracted, forgetting to travel on

I don’t know why I keep looking at you

So mesmerized

When I could just turn my eyes up towards the bright night sky

But I guess you must symbolize some piece of youth I forgot

Some life I had wanted and then I lost

Some hope destroyed upon being sought

Your gaze is elsewhere and that I understand

You can’t save me from this inevitable end

I wouldn’t want me either

No, I wouldn’t choose this life neither

I can’t remove what I set out to do and what I thought I wanted

What I fought to keep but now I’m just so haunted

So I’ll keep driving on til I see some sort of clarity

And I’ll keep walking on til I find peace inside me

I’ll keep searching until I finally reach

Some sort of love as clear as your eyes are blue