Gray gloom
meets mid-winter mourn:
these deaddark days
demand
light-cresting waves,
flickering within lit heart,
reflecting dawn
as she breaks
earth's choking gloom.
Breath and blood thaw
cold's icy doom.
On Finding the Right Words
When I work on a poem with this kind of weight, it feels like I am chiseling stone instead of molding clay. Believe me, I am much more comfortable molding clay. Still, the fun is in the play. I try out words, toss them aside, pick them back up again, and realize how one small change, from “grounded” to “lit” or from “melt” to “thaw,” can shift everything. The weight may be real, but the process is joyfully messy.
Published by TheOtherKLM
I really hate talking about myself, but if I have to...
I’m K.L. McDaniel, the person behind TheOtherKLM. I’m an introvert with extrovert moments, a fitness-minded person fighting later-age fat, and someone trying to keep life somewhat organized without pretending it isn’t a mess.
Here, I write about the things I keep coming back to: movement, mental health, learning, self-awareness, and the strange little contradictions that make people interesting. I’m not here to act like I have everything figured out. I’m here to think through it, laugh when possible, and maybe find a little balance in the middle of the clutter.
So, that’s me. More or less.
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