Violins and Candles and Roses

I've been playing with Photoshop.
Violins and candles and roses,
Pictures of my beautiful daughter.
I love the way they interlay and blend,
If those would be the correct terms
To use. Fishing memories to cherish
And store them with others.
Five days off my meds.
I think about how I once wrote in my journal
That I don't think I'd ever experienced a
Moment of pure joy in this life,
That all I remember is this sadness.
It's not true. Five days off meds
And I can see colors again. I can feel.
The zombie is buried.
The mania is a little hard to deal with,
The overwhelming hungry-raw desire
To do something creative. But that's
Why I'm playing with Photoshop
And juxtaposing images of my child
With violins and candles and roses,
And remembering the day she cried
As she was lifted like a book
From my stomach. And I say,
Yes. I have known a moment
Of pure joy.