my heart is buried on hours of land

a lamentation

At Jernee’s Burial Site. Sunday, May 31, 2026. Photo Collage Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

eight months later, you still
visit me as I’m visiting you, and
my world has shifted to
peacefulness in other forms.

you were my peace.
you were my comfort.
you were my joy.

although, it is becoming familiar
in the void, I’m still breathless
without you.

I don’t think the same.
I don’t move the same.
the woman I am turning into
wishes she had your knowing
stare in front of her.

but this is grief…
I am covered in love
I carry in my bones for youβ€”you’re
still in every blink of my
eyes and every curl of my
fingers.

I can feel you in the gaps
and pauses of timeβ€”you are
everywhere and nowhere
simultaneously… and on most
days, that is a heartbreak I
shovel through until my
arms give way to the pain
sleeping in their veins.

my forever fur babyβ€”you will
never know how centered you
kept meβ€”how grounded I grew
to be in the comfort of
your care.

maybe you felt it as you
were dying.
maybe you smelled it as
you watched me take on
your independence when
it fell from your soul.
maybe you sensed the
slowness of every step I
took around youβ€”cautious of
your weathered bones.

I stand in the midst of
temporary silence, birds sing
a song of which I am lyric-less,
and chickens keep watch over
hours of land where my heart
is buried, and I wonder…

if you’re in heaven, will you
wait for me?

do you even want to?


Musical Selection:

Originally published in Poking the Bear’s Belly for Fun on Substack.

significance (*Ode To a Sofa)

a free verse poem about my new sofa/couch

The Center”Peace”. Photo Credit: Tremaine L. Loadholt

unboxing boneless comfort
shares significance
with an unnamed
peace that has
settled within me.

what do I call it?
how do I explain the
change that is
growing inside my heart?
it feels like honeyed joy and
chocolate contentment.

I can taste the newness of self
as the pain fades.

am I finally different
in the way I have
dreamed to be?
or is it perimenopause
playing tricks on me?

whatever this is, I’ll
drown my woes and
bury my fears here.

I am different when
these cushions
palm my back.


Originally published on Substack Notes: *I purchased a boneless sectional sofa recently, and the comfort that comes with this piece of furniture is on a whole new level of β€œYes, Gawd!” It’s still the simple things for me.

*The subtitle was suggested by LeggyPeggy.

Music Is a Healer

YouTube

Nicholas… I’ve known and loved him for twenty-seven years.

I adore that my friends know how to cheer me up. I am sure he could sense how down I’ve been of late, and twenty minutes ago, he sent me the above video.

The way my heart perked up and how I started dancing around my apartment should be a C R I M E!

I hope you have friends who know exactly what you need to hear and see when you feel like you can’t hear or see anything.

I sincerely do.

Hey, You Good?

Checking in without fully checking in is sometimes all a person needs

A simple image created with Canva.

Three words. Sometimes, that’s all we need.

They’re salve to the suffering.
They’re an alert on demand.
They’re a simple way to make sure you’re checking in without fully checking in.

Hey,
You good?

When a loved one is fighting the magician of madness within themselves, a text message with these three words might just abracadabra them back to where they need to be.

Hey,
You good?

So, are you?


Scattered Words: Hardcover $26.00 USD|Scattered Words: eBook $11.00 USD|Scattered Words: Amazon