Where is peace in this cigarette worldof light a bomb, and smoke a nation?
Fingers doom scroll until minds go blind,and eyes flicker as apocalyptic night lights.
I often find myself between hell and moonlight.Honesty stalks me with my own addictionto the thing in my hand that I try to denyis the cheerleader of chaos.
Like an ink pen hungry for confessionI journal pain, exclaim anger, and cryuntil pages are smudges even I can’t read.
I’m not a tree, but I’m a daughter of earth.I’ve watched leaves dance, green grow brighterwhen lashed by wind and assaulted by rain,so the forest is where I run when humansstrip the flesh from my smile.
In the shade of an oak’s generosity, the potpourri of pineI am quiet, hold every why inside my chest, and letwonder dance through my spirit, open my brokenness to joy and listen to the voice of limbs. 
In the calm of my own heartbeat, I feel my ancestors,human, and woody roots, sing light still comeswhen you’ve burnt every candle. 
©Susie Clevenger 2025
What's Going On? ~ Yearning For Peace