Hold Fast

 Hold Fast

Exhaustion reigned, and my whole body ached,
The rumble in my stomach echoed out,
the small voice in my brain demanded food,
but with every grumble and mental shout,
I reached deep into myself for resolve
from such depths I never knew existed,
and when my weakness tried to show itself,
by the Gods, I can say  I resisted!
Yet, while relieved at the end of my fast,
with a simple and pure plate before me,
I was exalted by my discipline,
and gripped with a new sense of clarity:
Weakness can be conquered, now I know it,
And where it rules me, I’ll overthrow it!

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.

Greed

Greed

The landlord wants more,
so he can milk uncle Sam
for those who don’t work. 

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.

A Father's Day Lesson

A Father’s Day lesson.

All the times I forgot,

 to call, to mail, to text…

 It weighs on me today.

 Fathers day.

 

Grandad and Dad both gone,

 I can’t mail, call or text,

 I can’t visit, or video chat,

 and the silence

 -though deafening-

 allows all the missed opportunities

 to scream out in the back of my mind

 in a disheveled chorus of regret and sorrow.

Words unsaid, deeds not done…

 weigh heavy on my mind, and my soul.

 I smile, though, with my wife and kids,

 that they don’t see the hurt, or the regret…

 to spare them the burden I alone must bear.

A lesson learned, though.

 Painfully learned.

 I will now be as generous as I can…

 Calls. Texts. Emails. Video Chats. Visits.

 The time it takes for one of these

 will never be as long as the time consumed by

regret and sorrow.  

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.

기대 (Expectation)

 

기대

안녕하세요
아, 노력해볼게요.
하지만 실패

Annyeonghaseyo
a, nolyeoghaebolgeyo
hajiman silpae

The English rendering of this Haiku, of course, does not meet the 5,7,5 but here it is anyway:

Expectation:

Hello,
Ah, I'll Try.
But failure.

Also, note, I am not a Korean Speaker, merely a learner, and this poem is very much about my attempt at the language. I applaud those who are able to grasp so readily at Hangul and the differences in pronunciations depending on where it falls in the word. Truly, this poem is autobiographical in my attempts at Korean. 

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.

Clarification

 

Clarification: 

Reversed King of Swords,
and the reversed Three of Swords,
Clarity breaks through.

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.

Aeon Ascendant

 Aeon Ascendant

Chaos tears the veil,
law and order a charade-
lies falling away

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.

A warning

A Warning:

After careful thought, 
I slide a card from the deck:
The Empress reversed. 

© Jeremy L. Heath, 2025. All rights reserved.