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Dark Night © by Ross W. B. Putnam
Dark soul in the night
Not sleeping again
I rattle through the hallways of
Where I’ve been,
What I knew
What I used to do, 
Where I dreamed of going
In the pitch of night
Stalking corridors known a while ago
Now filled with
Sinister shadows
Foreboding symbols
Ominous signs
Mystifying memories
In the midst of this night
Robbing me of sleep
I grasp for a knowing
That will not haunt me
That will guide me
That will comfort me
That will shield me
A poem from Ross’s book “Who I AM AS I AM : The Many Moods of Dis-Ease”
I offer this book of poems, viewed through my observation as I live with a neurologically degenerative disease. The poems are an invitation to partake in the experiences of this journey through the disclosure of the many moods and emotions encountered.
They are written for those living with all neurologically degenerative disorders like Parkinson’s Disease, ALS, MS, Care Partners and society as a whole. The more one delves into the poems, and the paths traversed, the more one becomes awakened to the journey of adversity, acceptance, sorrow and hope.
A Cree First Nation saying offers this thought: “A river doesn’t think about where it originated or fear where it will go. It merely flows where it is now.”
The hope is that these poems speak to where you are now, and by lessening anxiety about tomorrow, give you courageous determination to live fully in the present. Now. Today.
Ross W. Putnam
Masters in Divinity, Earlham School of Religion; Masters of Art, Counseling, 91ε
For Poetry book: Outskirts Press @
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