Author: toridreamer

Will we be here again?
Someday
Down the road

Will we share a meal,
A bottle,
A laugh or two?

Will we be here again?
Someday
Down the road

Will we have stories to tell,
Memories to make,
Adventures to go on?

Will we be here again?
Someday
Down the road

Will we feel the other’s calm,
Delight in the other’s joy,
Hurt with the other’s pain?

Will we be here again?
Someday

Tori Burris Inkley
6/21/21

She is my daughter
Yes she is my mother too
Took years to find her

Tori Burris Inkley
6/19/21

So you’ll just sit there, then?

At the edge of injustice?

On the brink of choosing right over wrong?

Tell me…
Are those the best seats?
With the best view of the world around you?

Are they comfortable?
And removed just enough from reality,
That the truth is easy to overlook?

Are they expensive, those seats?
Do they all come with blinders and a bible?
Or do you pay extra for that?

When someone gets lost and ends up in your row,
Are you quick to call security?
Pointing out the reasons why he or she or they don’t belong…

Do you stay quiet when you see the abuse or the inequality?
Because it doesn’t directly impact you…
Or maybe take a bite of your burger or a sip of your beer and pretend you didn’t see?

Do the colors make you nervous?
All the red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black…
Or is it the clothes?
Skirts too short or on the wrong person.
Bra straps or braless.
Hoodies or hats.
Too tight, too loose, too not you…

Tell me what it is that causes you to remain in your seat.
Your nice comfy seat surrounded by like-minded beings…

Do you truly not see, hear, or feel the cries, the hurt, the fear… the love?

Leaving that seat won’t end you, my friend…
It might actually make you human

Tori Burris Inkley
6-15-21

It just comes and goes
Creeps into my soul announced
Forcing me to feel

Tori Burris Inkley
6/11/21

The time is fleeting
Must stretch these days long and wide
Goodbye will come soon

Tori Burris Inkley
6/3/21

The lights twinkle as the rain falls, and I breathe.

The unknown circles my head like a cyclone
Only feeding me glimpses of “what ifs”

I take another sip
And as the warmth runs from my lips to my toes,
I do my best to let go

As much as I try
I cannot control it all
The joy
The sadness
The right
The wrong

So I sit
And I breathe
And I say a silent prayer to the universe

“Fix it,” I pray.
Make it all right.
Take away the pain and the sorrow and the wrong at every corner.

Fix it, dammit!

Another sip and I laugh.
Amused at my foolish hope of some grand being,
Some power that magically makes wrong right,
That makes bad good,
That heals the broken-hearted,
Or brings back to life the living, breathing dead among us.

The rain stops
And a ray of sunlight surges through the window
Unexpected
Uninvited
And possibly… unwanted

If I believed in signs, then maybe…

But today… I don’t

Today, I’ve sunk to that place that I don’t often visit.

That place where my face remains neutral,
While my soul is a tangled mess.
Where my heart remains hopeful,
But my head knows better.

Fix it, dammit!!

And the sun taunts me.
It dances now around the room,
And has the nerve to touch my face.

I miss the rain.
Today… I miss the rain.

Fix it, dammit!

Tori Burris Inkley
5/8/21

As I breathe
And as I sigh
And as I wish it all away…
It whispers, “Not yet. Not yet.”

As I mourn
And as I cry
And as I curse the powers that be…
It whispers, “One day. One day.”

As I yell
And as I scream
And as I question the whos and whys…
It whispers, “Let go. Let go.”

And as I run
And as I search
And as I feel alone and lost…
It whispers, “You can. You can.”

“You can. You can.”

Tori Burris Inkley
1/25/21

Gather ’round dear ones

Today we sing

Lift your voices high to the heavens
And sing out your souls for all to hear

Sing of hope and bright summer days
Fill the skies with the sounds of sunflowers yellow
Lending your joy and your spirit to those in pain

Sing of truth and justice for all humankind
Infuse the air with a persian blue gravity
So deep, so clear, that all must see

Sing of pain and fear upon fear
Until red rain falls from the skies
And the privileged are forced to bathe in it

Sing of abundance and beauty and dreams
Painting a world with fields of emerald green
Where there is more than enough for all

Sing of silence and sadness and death
Words hanging in the pitch black of despair
Reminding us of the suffering of many

Come dear ones

Today we sing

Tori Burris Inkley
4/4/21

Before you speak, look in my eyes
Look in my eyes before you speak
Gather your thoughts, take a breath
Then look in my eyes before you speak

Before you curse, remember my words
Remember my words before you curse
Picture that day, when we first met
Then remember my words before you curse

Before you quit, listen to them
Listen to them before you quit
Feel the love, in voices small
Yes, listen to them before you quit

Before you hide, relive the joy
Relive the joy before you hide
Close your eyes, smell the breeze
Then relive the joy before you hide

And when these things you’ve done
If your mind remains unswayed…

Before you go, pass me the bottle
Pass me the bottle before you go
Hold my hand, say your goodbye
Then pass me the bottle before you go

Tori Burris Inkley
4/3/21

Come blow me away
To the land of hopes and dreams
Where I can be me

Tori Burris Inkley
3/29/21