Whisper of Sorrow
By Neil Howard

Whisper of sorrow in azure sky
Gently bids the clouds to die
Billows crashing staunch and cruel
Imply the sand is just a fool

Sudden squalls of callous clatter
Vex my mind until it scatters
Misty drops cascading down
Revealing but a hapless clown

Rocky granite’s erupting fury
Inflames my mind annealed with worry
Mutant motions bending ground
Shift my space and twist my sound

Sweltry ozone fierce as fire
Condemns my busy bones to tire
Rush of hail from heaven’s vent
Destroys the calm from where it’s sent

Powder gems of average note
Crack the lips and parch the throat
Temperate ramblings sad and droll
Indulge the mind and ease the soul

As Winter’s chill subsides for Spring
The robin greets its cue to sing
A knot secures my battered rope
My heart yet anchored deep in hope

Renewed
By Neil Howard

My eroded ego creates
A murky consciousness;
Voices stab the brain
Robbing me of inner peace;
Writing is my salvation;
My words and music
Denote my creativity
Is alive;
Years of slumber
My face in a pillow
Unable to move;
I now rise with the sun
And not in moonlight;
I do now 
What was once impossible;
It torments when side effects
Take their toll;
Perseverance is the armor
Of the survivor;
It’s never perfect;
Doom can creep in again
And bed not the world
Becomes my domain;
A song, a friend, my pet
Can help rebuild my mood
And I resume life;
It’s a cycle of ups and downs
And little gains each day;
My life is renewed
As sure as buds blossom into fruit
And flowers exult in Spring