Pieces of Us

With a gentle, heartfelt, goodbye kiss

I smile and take my leave of you

Yet a piece of me shall stay to reminisce

Because you’re a part of me now too.

Now is not the time to grieve nor tarry

Fly free, love, and find something new

Yet cherish these memories we both carry

And know I’m always here with you.

Always remember that the sun will rise again

And embrace me as we prepare to part

Please smile for me as you and I end

And always and forever keep an open heart

I know I cannot lean hard on your shoulder

With all we’ve been through it wouldn’t be fair

With each moment that passes our love grows older

Can we simply smile on the memories we share?

I cherish the life that we had together

Even after it’s done and through

Look to the horizon beyond this stormy weather

The light shines down to something new

Love is like a kaleidoscope

The swirling colors bring me hope

In life, like the colors, we dance as one

All just shards of the light of the sun.

Goodbye, my love, we’ll meet once more

We’ll tear down the walls and forget our wars

I’ll be a better man for this sorrow

If I can find the serenity to get to tomorrow.

Parting is hell, but loving is bliss.

Take my hand, let’s end with a kiss.

©️ 2024, Accountec, LLC

The Echo Chamber

 Empty space surrounds me

Stretching out into the shadows

The echoes are loud here.

My head splitting with the sound.

A yell comes back again and again to assail me.

A whisper never fails to revisit me.

A cry of anguish! a laugh! a lie!

NOTHING dies in the echo chamber!

Not even a thought.

CAN YOU HEAR ME???

My voice is lost in the echoes of what you say…

Long before it reaches you.

As loud as I shout, you never hear my voice

You say you miss me

But who do you miss?

You’re so fixed on your own words

That I think you miss a ghost of your imagination.

I am not a pawn and this is not a game to play.

I scratch these words upon the walls…

Even as your echoes call.

Perhaps you’ll see them at last someday

Long after we’re done and I’m gone away.

©️ 2024, Accountec, LLC

Flutter

It rests alone in overcast fields

A wisp of cloth upon the grass

A breeze picks up and the cloth it steals

Slipping it away like a cherished time passed

 

I’m wondering what the lettering might say

As the wind persists to blast and blow

Lifting it higher and on its way

The fabric flutters, flutters, and flows

 

The sun’s kind rays will kiss the threads

Its blessing warm and bright

On cloth upon which no foot treads

Just a square of red and white

 

The breeze must not spoil its face

As it flutters so bright and gay

I’m wondering where it will find its place

As it flutters and flows away.

©️ 2024, Accountec, LLC

Disconnect

  The voice on the phone was familiar to him and still talking, but he had stopped listening several minutes ago. She obviously didn't realize this because the cadence did not change. He was far away, floating somewhere far above where he lay sprawled on the floor, his tense hand still clutching the cold receiver in some sort of karate death grip. His breaths were slow and shallow, his body motionless, and from the vacant look in his eye, one might mistake him for dead and gone. But Eddie was very much alive on a physical level, even if emotionally he was numb. He could still hear her words in the distance. He didn't really need to hear them. He knew what the message was. In some sense he had seen this coming. He never acknowledged it, of course, but the gnawing dread, the feeling of falling, had been there in the background for quite some time. The words themselves were unimportant and expected, words like "time", "space", and "different". Yet somehow he couldn't believe that the voice saying these words belonged to her, the one person he thought would be different, the one voice he thought that finally understood him after all those years, the voice that belonged to the sweetest, most beautiful girl that had ever entered his life. He wanted to buy into the idea that this was temporary, that this didn't mean she was gone. But deep inside he knew it was inevitable. She was no longer a part of his life. 

His thoughts drifted and in his mind's eye he could see it all over again, the cold winter day. He could hear the rattle of the engine in his ears, could feel the firmness of the brake underfoot as the bus slowed and stopped. His favorite song was playing on the radio and he was chatting up one of his regulars in the seats behind him. He was relaxed and wearing his usual infectious smile that made the regulars at home and the strangers at ease. Eddie was a people person. Always had been. The door made a hissing sound as it whooshed open. And there she was, sitting on the chipped concrete bench under the protection of the glass bus stop housing. The drizzle was making a soft tapping sound on the glass. She was petite, about 5'4" with milk chocolate skin and finely defined features. She gathered two brown grocery bags and, clutching them tightly, rose and stepped towards the open door. Then she suddenly looked up and directly at him, focusing a pair of soft brown eyes on his face. There was a quality of innocence that hit him hard. Eddie was not a romantic. He didn't believe in that shit. But he remembered that moment clearly. It lasted one long second and she stepped onto the bus, her worn but fashionable boots clicking on the metal steps. Their eyes met again as she scanned her pass, and she smiled for an instant. 

Amazingly when Eddie came back to the present the voice was still chattering. He wasn't sure how long he had been lying on the floor with the phone. Suddenly the voice paused and he realized she had asked him a question. He considered saying something. He wanted to say something, anything. Then he realized he wanted to say everything. That is when the receiver slipped from his fingers, falling gently to the floor. He could hear her calling out hesitantly, sounding slightly confused and alarmed. But he was too busy stumbling, or dragging himself through the dim light until he collapsed on an old sofa a few feet away. He blinked slowly a couple of times and his eyes gradually came closed as he escaped into the comfort of sleep, away from the world of duties and responsibilities and into something much different… release. 

The games no longer amused him. The problem was, there was very little that amused him anymore. He was now the manager of the whole store, which didn't translate into a lot of income, but he got by. His workers came and went, but they were all the same. Teenagers without much interest in the job, collecting a paycheck and then moving on to something else. He didn't blame them. After all, this was Nickeltown. Not exactly a beacon of hope and opportunity. 

He walked home to save money. He had found a room in a deadbeat place not far from the corner of cleveland and 291. He always made sure to stop by the liquor store in the bilo shopping center. Sometimes he would go to bilo, but he always went to the liquor store. 

When he got home the first thing he did was pull whatever liquor was still in the freezer out and put the new liquor in. He never stopped to check his messages, though the light was always blinking. He had plenty of friends, he could get a quick lay if he needed one. He rarely heard from most of his family, but his mother called nearly every day. He wasn't sure why, because he only called back about once a week. 

        He knew something had to change. But where to start?

©️ 2024, Accountec, LLC

Here's Looking at You!

I found them easily enough. In the years after I left home, I spent my time exploring the world. I had been far too sheltered for too long. I wanted to know for myself how the world worked. I know they thought they were helping me by keeping hidden away and presenting a false facade to the world. In the end they could maintain the illusion without my ever being there at all. I made the choice to be real. I made the choice to leave.

Was it easier to play along? Definitely. But if you ask me if it was a mistake to leave, I’ll tell you the truth: the mistake was not leaving sooner.

So I traveled (by foot) and observed the world. I took a series of odd jobs. It was amazing to truly experience life rather then be instructed on what life was like. I had heard the word “freedom” many times before but never truly knew what it felt like. 

I was on my way back one day when I came upon them.

It was in the old historic district, a place I sometimes visited when I was homesick. The proud old mansions reminded me of my family.

In a field by the through road, a lizard was standing on a rock gesturing to a tall blonde woman sitting cross legged in the grass. 

“We need more help.” Said the blonde

“We don’t have more help.”

“What about the pickpocket? What was his name?”

“Kenneth. Unreliable.”

“And the kid that helped us with tracking the ferret?”

“Too green.”

“Can you be a little more flexible?”

“We agreed risk management was my area.”

“It’s not risk management if you eliminate all the options.”

I moved closer as the breeze rustled the grass and cars passed on the road. The blonde girl looked up, alarmed, then a slight smile crossed her face. The lizard didn’t move.

“You might as well come out.” The girl called, looking through Jess to the bushes behind her. Jess smiled.

The lizard was sniffing the air. “Interesting… earthy, human… almost… floral.”

She hesitated just a beat, then walked nervously over to them and sat facing the girl, mirroring her pose with the lizard directly between them. The girl’s smile broadened as she observed the grass compressing beneath Jess’s weight, and she focused her eyes roughly on Jess’s. The lizard faced her, still sniffing the air. It was the girl that spoke.

“Welcome, stranger. My given name is Sarah, but most know me as Diamond. This is Jenn.”

Diamond seemed utterly at ease and was almost glowing in the fading afternoon light. She was dressed simply, in an off white short sleeve, jean shorts, and sandals. A string around her neck bore a cross. Crisp, welcoming, and uncomplicated. 

Jenn observed the grass compress, glanced at Sarah, and cleared her throat.

“What brings you to our neck of the field, stranger?”

Diamond laughed. “Tell us your name and be a stranger no more.”

Jess breathed a sigh of relief and the words just came spilling out. It had been too long, far too long since she had spoken a single word, much less had a friend or even an acquaintance. Young as she was, she longed to belong somewhere and to know someone.

“My name’s Jessica, but my friends call me Jess, at least they did when I had friends. The rest… well, if they mention me at all, they call me ‘that girl’ or ‘invisible girl’ or sometimes “Jess Solo”, even though I’ve never seen Star Wars… should I call you Sarah or Diamond? Or Sarah Diamond? And Jenn, like Jess except with N’s. Easy to remember.”

Jess realized they were both staring at her, Diamond’s eyes twinkling and Jenn’s mouth slightly ajar.

“Anyways, I uh… It’s nice to me you.” She thrust a hand towards Diamond, but hit the lizard, knocking her off the rock into the grass. Jess recoiled in horror. “Oh. Sorry! I was - I thought I should shake your hand - her hand! Not that I don’t want to shake your… I should be quiet now.” She lowered her eyes in resignation, bracing for the inevitable blow off. 

Diamond was grinning at her as Jenn pulled herself up and starting dusting herself off.

Then Diamond burst out laughing. Jess was speechless. Jenn looked annoyed. 

Inbetween laughs, Diamond managed to reply.

“Jenn, I think we found a third.”

Jenn’s head shot up in shock and she buried her face in her claws.

Diamond kept laughing. “Try to see the upside. You certainly can’t see her!”

©️ 2024, Accountec, LLC

Shame

You knew… Didn’t you?

You… KNEW.

Long ago…

Though no one knows…

Buried, ancient memories

Details lost, but who paid that cost?

In their place, I have your face

I trusted you, you knew it too

if only I had known

when you were the only one I could turn to

You left me in the dark alone.

In my darkest hour,

you shamed me into silence

All the days… No words to say…

But you knew what you were doing.

Broken tears… so many years

Lost and thrown away… 

The darkest days…

No voice to say

I couldn’t find the words

You broke me down…

In shame no sound…

Lost and thrown away

They speak your name

Were they to know?

The truth will flow

Your lies they’ll know

Your titles won’t protect you

You broke me down

YOU BROKE ME DOWN

Regardless what you say

The games you play

Will fade away

And in the end they’ll see

Monsters cannot hide in light

Soon the truth will be in sight

The doctor and his degrees…

You broke me down.

YOU BROKE ME DOWN.

The pain you wrought… for fees

They know your name

Do you know shame???

Will anyone come for you???

They know your name…

YOU’LL GET THE SAME…

If anything is true.

©️ 2022, Accountec, LLC

Flow

Water down the mountain

Dripping from the snow
And as the droplets gather
A Stream begins to grow

Slowly Ripples join each other
And down and down they flow
In that moment beautiful
Like that crystal snow

As the stream grows larger
and speeds up as it goes
It descends down the rapid slope
And the beauty begins to show

First, it takes some time to pool
Gathering poise as it slows
With grace it lifts from clifftop heights
seeking new life down below

And so it comes to freefall
From those distant heights
Creating its own show of hope
In that early light.

And now what can be seen for miles
And in morning sunlight glows
Is a flight of color in the air
That only the heavens could truly know.

©️ 2023, Accountec, LLC

River Dweller

 After it bit me, I dropped the gun and started running. I hadn’t run but maybe 20 yards when I had to stop, bending over to welcome back the contents of my stomach.

There I was, all sweaty and huffing and trying to stop heaving. My hands shook, and I felt weak in the knees. I looked back. The house was farther then I thought. No sign of the dog or the thing that bit me… or my buddies. I thought maybe I could hear them calling for me, but my heart was pounding so loud that I couldn’t be sure. Then there was the wind and the darkness that obscured so much. I looked up as I panted, to see the moon coming out from behind the clouds. In the distance came a howling. 

Suddenly, to my surprise, I joined in. It was a shaky but throaty howl there in the sight of the full moon. I looked down at my paws and did a double take. My knees bent under my weight as I realized that what were once hands were that no longer. I hunched over on my forelegs and ran off into the forest, never looking back…

Jenn was poised on a branch in the middle of the creek like flow that the locals called a river, eying the water suspiciously. This river had been cleaned and restored, but Jenn remembered the history of it too well to trust the water. Legend had it that the river was once so polluted by chemicals that it had been known as the rainbow river. The only time it resembled an actual river by her standards is when the storm waters rose. The small ravine would fill with a torrent of water, as if the time of the Ark was upon us once again.

Above the whisper of the flowing water she could hear little. The forest was almost too quiet. There was an odd scent on the wind, however, that she almost didn’t know how to describe. It was an unpleasant odor, almost that of decay or refuse.

A bird call from the NW. Sarah was in position off the trail where it looped back around to return to the entrance. A shriek of girlish laughter from the other end near the lake was Jess’s response. Jenn was still reviewing her logic. If she was right, the stranger would attempt to evade detection. Otherwise Jess had now become the bait. She was hard to track, being invisible and quiet, except for one thing: Jess had a distinctive aroma… not quite sugar and spice, but like a spring breeze… all pollens, flowers, and earthy scents. Diamond was harder to track, slipping from one spot to the next so quietly that at times she was harder to find then an invisible girl. 

Jenn twitched nervously and sniffed the breeze again, reassured by Ashes’ smoky and crisp presence. For all of his bravado and aloofness, he had the qualities of a good noose: reliable, hardy, vigilant, and on a hair trigger. He rarely needed and almost never heeded instruction whereas Sarah had such strong instincts and awareness that she could perform almost any task with only a hint of direction.

Jenn liked to play her cards close. Her arrangement with Sarah had taken on a new quality when Jess found them. She remembered how it all began…

©️ 2024, Accountec, LLC