There's a dark crevice
In a frozen mountain of stone
Hardly allowing me
To squeeze my life through
No doubt the harsh elements
That mountain has stood
Has made her icy crust
Much thicker than it should
I push my way through
With struggles and glare
Brushing off remnants
Of her hardness
That has always been there
The warm sun and the birds
That finally greet me in the light
Encourage a new journey
Where I can finally
Let go
of the Fight.
Joni James copyright 2024
"change your view change your life" illustration by Joni James
(with a bit of help from a glimmer of sunlight)
It is within my purpose
where I find both
sorrow and
joy.
I suffer the pain
in silence and in crowd
my face may show peace
until no one is around.
But in my darkest
moments
it just takes a tiny glimmer
of light
to tip the balance
of hope
back in to sight.
jj
Wiping away the markings
of those
tarnished years
I slowly reveal the layers
of a soul's true beauty
through my own
tears.
I can once again see the luster
Which always longed to be seen
At times forgotten when life's hardships
unknowingly affected
its gleam.
We are all innocent children
Living these imperfect years
Our shine too easily lost
in our disappointments
and fears.
My hope for us all
Is to see in each one
the perfect jewel
we all
came from.
So, take up your cloth
and polish away the pain
forgiving the sting and blemish
And the damaging shame.
My mother, a jewel
And you are one just the same
So let your life shine through your struggles
Knowing, no one is to blame.
Joni James
I like to think
we all
have an angel
beneath our earthly
cloak.
For some,
the angel hides
in a dark and woolen cape.
But, if we look closely
there are those whose angel
breathes softly
near the surface
in linen
weaved together with
undyed string
and a quiet familiar
song.
jj
To think we know Infinity
Is to not really know it at all
For in our hopeful sense of grasp
As quickly as it comes
It is gone
Always moving from us
This vast necessary void
Just beyond our conceivable reach
Reminds us
to keep stretching ourselves
Lest confinement
steals our joy
jj
Scenes from my art journal
Art lives forever
In a memory
in a dream
And if the artist is lucky
It will live in the hands of someone
Whose heart is touched
By its lingered power~
The love
and the passion that was poured
through the brush, the pen, the vessel~
That is all the true artist hopes for
that their passions live on
in the shadows
of their lives
jjames 1992
You didn't worry if you fit in
It didn't take away your song
If the world saw you as different
You were just You
Just You all along
When the world dished out some trouble
And the dogs tried to drag you down
Along came a friend you could lean on then
A smile turned from a frown
And in those times you were lifted up
You returned the favor in time
It is us who hold your light and songs
Not forgotten
Not forgotten by One
jj 2019
In Memory of Daniel Johnston
an exceptional artist and light to this world
1/22/61 - 9/11/19
Our lives are passing Photographs
of remembered tears
and gathered laughs
Tucked away in an old drawer
in a silk scarf
folded in half
Scent rises from glossy finish
memories come in a flash
here to hold
in a hand
Part of Life Passed.
Joni James 1999