©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

photos by Valentin Balan on Unsplash

The years sit heavy on my back,
this face well-mapped by trails of pain.
These eyes, two tunneled railroad tracks,
are loath to bear the coming train.

2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Danie Franco on Unsplash

Renew in me a righteous spirit, Lord,
a valiant spirit with a willing sword.
Make of me more than I alone can be,
a living oak with strong limbs raised to thee.

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Karl Hedin from Unsplash

A mother’s love is bedrock and quicksilver.
It anchors her whole heart, then sets it free.
Forever bound, adorned in golden soul-strings,
she shimmers with eternal destiny.

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

image by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

hearts together, secrets shared
disagreements, gently aired
private jokes and public smirks
comfort with each other’s quirks

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

Unsplash – Image by Tasi Zoltan

We come to life with dreams and possibilities.
Life comes at us with loss and liabilities.
The twain shall meet, must meet in lows and highs—
their interplay, the price of growing wise.

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

O Jerusalem, Art by Greg Olsen

At times, we scale a mountain, and
another one appears.
More than a few of us climb countless
ranges, through the years.

©2023 Susan Noyes Anderson

Artwork by KmBerggen, used by permission

You fell to our arms
from star-filled skies,
the dream in our hearts,
the light in our eyes.
So softly you landed,
so sweetly you lay,
and we claimed you forever
that very first day.