Amethyst Sky

Photograph by Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

Amethyst Sky

Rain has fallen five days straight.

The levee breaks, hope comes undone.

Tears from heaven flood the grass,

Sparkling like diamonds in the sun.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice

Whispering as twilight draws nigh.

Your smile beckons from distant stars

Twinkling in the amethyst sky.

Now westward winds stir restless,

whipping up the anger and wrath.

Flames shadow dancing in the dark,

the fire casts its light upon my path.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice

whispering as twilight draws nigh.

Your smile beckons from distant stars

twinkling in the amethyst sky.

I don’t want this pain anymore,

It’s been far too many years.

Give me shelter from the storm,

Ease my anguish, dry my tears.

But it’s all right, I hear your voice

whispering as twilight draws nigh.

Your smile beckons from distant stars

twinkling in the amethyst sky.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

October 7, 2015

Between Black and White

Between Black and White

Between black and white, there lies a lot of gray.

Colors mingle, fading away in a torrent of tears.

I was stuck in the past, longing for yesterday…

Caught up in a tangled web of pain and fears.

Colors mingle, fading away in a torrent of tears,

Heart crushed beneath an avalanche of sorrow.

Caught up in a tangled web of pain and fears…

The hours slipped away with dread for tomorrow.

Heart crushed beneath an avalanche of sorrow,

Tripping over countless lies and a barrage of sins.

The hours slipped away with dread for tomorrow…

In games of a kid – rock paper scissors – nobody wins.

Tripping over countless lies and a barrage of sins,

I could no longer distinguish between truth or reality.

In games of a kid – rock paper scissors – nobody wins…

When merely breathing seems an exercise in futility.

I could no longer distinguish between truth or reality,

Drowning in a deep pool of denial every single night.

When merely breathing seems an exercise in futility…

I lifted my head, opened my eyes to the purest light.

Drowning in a deep pool of denial every single night,

Replaying the tape in countless loops inside my mind.

I lifted my head, opened my eyes to the purest light…

Finally, a place to rest and leave my troubles behind.

Replaying the tape in countless loops inside my mind,

Searching for answers, testing the limits of my sanity.

Finally, a place to rest and leave my troubles behind…

This was the beginning of my quest for serenity.

Searching for answers, testing the limits of my sanity,

Learning secrets of a dark world I didn’t want to know.

This was the beginning of my quest for serenity…

With the stark realization that I had to let you go.

Learning secrets of a dark world I didn’t want to know,

I slowly gained the strength to cast away the strife

With the stark realization that I had to let you go…

In time, you healed, bringing color back into my life.

I slowly gained the strength to cast away the strife;

I was stuck in the past, longing for yesterday.

In time, you healed, bringing color back into my life...

Between black and white, there lies a lot of gray.

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

September 22, 2015

This is a deca-pantoum poem dedicated to my son Vincent.  Thank you to all my family and friends who knowingly (and unknowingly) supported our family with love and prayers during our journey…. I am eternally grateful. xoxo

Dance of Life

Dance of Life

Perched by the open window

tiny dancer bathed in glow

beneath a veil of green eyes

gilded lily in disguise.

Faded scars cannot erase

sad memories from a place

where sticks and stones broke her bones

sharp lessons learned long ago.

Dodging minefields, cat and mouse

secrets hidden in old house

one magic moment has turned

to cold dust where fire once burned.

Sinews, muscles stretch and thrash

finding strength amidst the ash.

though hope seems lost with no trace

she exudes amazing grace.

A strong breeze from down under

pushes sorrow asunder

as she glides forth, free from strife

in this mystic dance of life….

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2015

August 19, 2015

Stairway to the Stars

Stairway to the Stars

He speaks to me from an anguished past,

His gentle words wash my troubles away.

Lone spirit walking with a wooden crook,

Tending sheep in woolen clouds of gray.

He beckons me to pastoral meadows

Where white tail deer frolic in the rain.

Cool winds to soothe my fevered skin,

A healing balm to soothe my pain.

I know you are out there somewhere,

I feel you up there in night skies afar.

Do you have a beacon to shine the way?

Do you have a stairway to the stars?

I look toward the blue ridge mountains,

Where a solemn sunset begins to glow.

His voice echoes in the strains of music

A song of sorrow that we used to know.

All I ever wanted was to dance in the sun,

Free from my worries and free from strife.

You led me to that place of serenity,

You promised me magic, gave me life.

I know you are out there somewhere,

I feel you up there in night skies afar.

Do you have a beacon to shine the way?

Do you have a stairway to the stars?

I do believe that second chances exist,

For I see your smile defy the foggy mist.

But I hear that rumble of that distant train.

I lost you once -- don’t leave me again.

I know you are out there somewhere,

I feel you up there in night skies afar.

Do you have a beacon to shine the way?

Do you have a stairway to the stars?

Colleen Keller Breuning © 2014

September 4, 2014