Image: Unsplash, downloaded (https://unsplash.com/photos/gray-scale-photo-of-angel-statue-Lie2dac88yY) 16.12.2023.
The Painful Sound
I heard an eerie sound, like a whisper
dancing in the denseness of a
metaphor. With a muted gasp, I
tried to erase the sound, but I burst into
weeping over the strange shroud covering
the dark reverberations. My memories
smoldered in the shivering shadows inside
my mind as my thoughts vanished into dim
gaps of reality, separating hesitant thoughts
from ambling illusions constructed from the
dust of bleached bones. I remembered the
strange sound echoing like the moaning of
tears, and my mind stumbled into a cavity of
unquenchable emotions. Listening to
echoing pulses of the sound I sensed a
strange longing caressing its essence. An
image appeared in the bitterness of my dark
memories, and my mind touched that which
had been subdued, and forgotten. The sound
came from a place that I never wanted to
find and was part of an old nightmare
simmering in the shadows of yesterday’s
misery. It was the echoing of the word amen,
the end of a mother’s prayer for her son,
who was killed in war.
About the Author: James lives in Santa Ynez, California with his wife Sandy and an Aussie dog named Scout. He has published five collections of poetry, The Silent Pond, Ancient Rhythms, LIGHT, Solace Between the Lines, and Serenity, over 1795 poems, 40 short stories, two thrillers, The Monk, and The Nostradamus Conspiracy, a popular science fiction novel, The Ideal Society, and two mysteries. He earned his doctorate from BYU, and his BS and MA from California State Polytechnic University, SLO. He has been nominated twice for The Best of The Net award, and four times for a Pushcart award.
