The Black Hills, June 2019. Photo by Rob Salem. Copyright 2019-2021 Rob Salem/The Stormworks There's a saying in the firefighting community that I think has broader applications to life, and especially pursuit of goals and dreams. "Risk a lot to save a lot; risk little to save little." For firefighters, it basically means, "We'll risk... Continue Reading →
I refuse to let death be my life, for it is the only one that I have; I'll not worry about the end of my path, it will come soon enough, and getting there is the fun part.
Here where the only shadows cast are those we create, with only the weight of the world upon our shoulders, heaven still seems so far away, lost against the backdrop of yesterday's dreams as they're held hostage by tomorrow's tragedies; I'm reminded that the war between the heart and soul is nothing more than the... Continue Reading →
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!” - Hunter S. Thompson A year ago I wrote... Continue Reading →
Time gives way to the timeless Life gives way to death Form gives way to the formless Motion gives way to rest Weep not for me at my passing Mourn not that I finally sleep For death is no more than a passage From time to eternity
He pulled skin and muscle aside, his fingers finding the bone beneath as they tore their way through flesh. Working his fingers between the tight spaces, tendons and cartilage popped and snapped as it released from the ribs, which in turn creaked and groaned before finally breaking. He could feel the bone bend and fracture,... Continue Reading →
barefoot on blades that bend and wave the comfort of earth and her embrace cool the green fades to grey 'neath indigo cloak that shrouds the day and laughing breezes carry evening from miles away peace, their whispers, strung across a gossamer sky, where dreams unfolding are set alight, as a world awakens and comes... Continue Reading →
It is in those quiet, passing moments, when life is its most sudden and fleeting, awash in the afterglow of what has been and what is yet to be, when silent anticipation collides with memory that I lose myself to you, thankful for all that we are not, if only because it is yet to... Continue Reading →
I long for the peace that comes with dying: to fade into the afterglow of a life no longer wanted, to settle into the stillness and comfort of oblivion, drifting aimlessly and endlessly in the comfort of not being, unaware of my awareness, and blissful in the nothingness; but twilight holds me captive, and I... Continue Reading →
And when the silence takes me all that will remain will be the empty echo of what never was straining in the background of a world that never noticed, a resonant dissonance lost in the decay of itself.
The Sanctuary of the Storm 