David W. Ballard: Professional Writer specializing in Web content writing, copywriting, feature writing, fiction writing, and poetry.

Children’s Emergency Department

If it’s on in their rooms, the TV sometimes takes them away
when I ask them what they have to say
about their hospital stay.
Their eyes just wander to the colorful lights
on the screen,
and I think I’d just as soon leave
but linger still
thinking I can alter their will
and get their thoughts on paper.
They’re a lot like chasing my Muse,
the wispy whims
that I chase in light and dim—
only I can see the children—their bright,
sometimes dirty faces
sometimes eager with a light
that invites
me to linger and see what I can capture.
The nurses are in rapture
as they see the children’s thoughts
and who they are really taking care of—
what they really love
about their jobs, why they take care of children,
that they are not a burden.
The children aren’t when I see them once a week,
taking a peek
into their lives.
Their many faces and looks
are enough to fill voluminous books.
They have dropping eyes, cheeky grins,
mumbling mouths, and smiles that say let’s be friends.
No day is the same.
No poem has the same refrain.
There is much to—yet they do not—grieve.
I hope these Muses will never leave.

A Must-Read Sports Story

This inspiring story, featured in the Cary News, highlights Chris Patterson, a two-time cancer survivor, who used triathlons as a means of overcoming his illness.

More and more, people are using triathlons and marathons to prove to themselves they can achieve what previously seemed impossible.

Tony Biller, one busy athlete who balances work, family, and sports, writes inspiring pieces about all things triathlon.

As always, enjoy!

Zoey Betts

Some comprehend pain and rise above the arduous struggle necessary to succeed. In this article, Zoey Betts shows the grit to achieve goals many professionals said she could not realize. Who says the human soul can be chained rather than changed?

Purpose

I felt the heat,
And fanned the flame;
My burning mind
Coursed with pain.

I courted mischief,
And drank the fiery rain:
My heinous heart
Angered with Cain.

Overwhelmed, I fell:
Could not rise without aid.
He, then I made the choice,
And the Lord saved.

Now I feel the heat,
And fan the flame.
My renewed mind
Stays the pain.

I fight the thief.
And my flesh: tame.
Now, my heart burns
For His Holy Name.