Where’s their courage
It seems it’s lost
In those we’ve elected
To count the cost
Where’s their courage
It seems it’s gone
It’s apparent in their choosing
To abandon right for wrong
Where’s their courage
To boldly fight
Their strength to stand
For what is right
Where’s their courage
To speak the truth
Shine light on the lies
So much evidence their proof
Where’s their courage
When all good appears lost
When explanations are expected
It’s over the truth they gloss
Where’s their courage
What happened to this
Compassion and morals
That’s what I miss
Where’s their courage
To steadfastly abase
Those who’d discriminate
Simply due to one’s race
Where’s their courage
In the face of evil
To stand the ground
For “We the People”
By: T.J. Christoff ©
7/1/2025
1934 hrs.
Image:
I surrender
Here’s my heart
Wide open
Coming apart
I surrender
Years of pain
As all my tears
Fall like rain
I surrender
Hope for love
Here in form
But not above
I surrender
Desire for touch
The comfort of hugs
I’ve longed for much
I surrender
Wanting to hear
The words, “I love you”
From someone dear
I surrender
My heartache
I feel every morning
When I awake
By: T.J. Christoff ©
6/25/2025
1005 hrs.
Image:
I’m letting you go now
I’m turning within
I guess I’ve always known
Your love I’d never win
I’m letting you go now
I’m turning away
My heart’s filled with emptiness
My feelings all in disarray
I’m letting you go now
I’m shutting down
The hope that I’d held out so long
Someday you’d come around
I’m letting you go now
I’m giving up
The desire for more
The longing for love
I’m letting you go now
I’m building my walls
Creating distance between us
Posting my sentries tall
I’m letting you go now
I’m trying to accept this shift
Like being lost out at sea
I feel all alone and adrift
I’m letting you go now
I’m sure that’s what you want
Now we can both carry on
Without putting up a front
I’m letting you go now
I’m feeling broken inside
As I retreat deep within
My heart’s the cave where I’ll hide
I’m letting you go now
I’m refusing to fear
Abandoning all hope
While collecting each tear
I’m letting you go now
I’m counting the cost
I no longer feel your energy
Our soul connection’s been lost
I’m letting you go now…
By: T.J. Christoff ©
6/24/2025
2205 hrs.
Image:
https://www.rawpixel.com/search/letting%20go?page=1&path=1522&sort=curated
Hard knocks show me
Who I am
How to lose
How to win
Hard knocks show me
How I’ve fought
Battles I’ve won
Battles I’ve lost
Hard knocks show me
Wrong from right
When to walk
When to fight
Hard knocks show me
Life is grand
On my own
How to stand
Hard knocks show me
Life is tough
That I’m strong
And I’m enough
Hard knocks show me
I’ll be okay
Even when facing
My hardest day
By: T.J. Christoff ©
6/22/2025
2123 hrs.
Image:
My bags get packed
As I drift asleep
For astral travel
Where our souls will meet
Our space so vast
No end in sight
We travel together
Through dark of night
Shooting across
Our Galaxy
Miracles of space
For us to see
Traveling hither
To and fro
We allow our souls
To boldly go
Shooting stars
The occasional black hole
To the Milky Way
And on we roll
Our energy as one
We are entwined
No longer by
Physical form confined
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/19/2025
0738 hrs.
Image:
https://easy-peasy.ai/ai-image-generator/images/soul-connection-ethereal-harmony-cosmos
Flying
Soaring
Ever high
Beautiful
Fragile
Butterfly
Colorful
Velvety
In the sky
Flitting
Gliding
Butterfly
Delicate
Graceful
When you fly
Pollinating
Captivating
Butterfly
Fascinating
Migrating
By-and-by
Living
Dying
Butterfly
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: Brielle (Meaning: "God is my strength"), the Butterfly
6/18/2025
2007 hrs.
R.I.P - 6/18/2025
Image:
Personal Collection
You didn’t die
On the side of the road
I saw what happened to you
I backed up quickly
Held you close
Before your life was through
You found comfort
Within my hands
Safety within my home
I did my best
To ease your stress
Letting you know you weren’t alone
Though your life was brief
This time around
May your beauty live in me
I’ll think of you
In days anew
Knowing your spirit now soars free
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: Brielle (Meaning: "God is my strength"), the Butterfly
6/18/2025
R.I.P - 6/18/2025
Image:
Personal Collection
I can only imagine
How touching you would feel
The power of our energy together
Our intensity as we draw near
I can only imagine
Resting in each other’s arms
The feeling of safety awaiting us there
A lack of fear of being harmed
I can only imagine
The passion within our kiss
To experience the softness of your lips
In this lifetime I don’t want to miss
I can only imagine
All the joy and laughter we’d share
Being ever mindful of each other’s needs
Always embracing each other with care
I can only imagine
Waking up next to you
Feeling you as you gently stretch
Experiencing how you move
I can only imagine
Spending the rest of my life with you
More than anything else in this world
That is what my heart and soul long to do
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/16/2025
0606 hrs.
Image:
I truly do enjoy you
The times we spend together
The joy that fills my heart
Our connection knows great pleasure
I think of all the many ways
I’ve tried to let you know
All the ways that you amaze me
As I feel my love for you grow
Through words of rhyme I weave together
All the emotions for you I feel
Not knowing if you feel them too
Or trust my love for you is real
I truly do enjoy you
I enjoy the time and space we share
The depth and range of all we explore
For it only enhances how much I care
Sometimes it feels we speak in code
Those intimate things we wish to say
While holding back the truly priceless thoughts
We keep our deepest emotions at bay
My desire for you is strong
This burning inside reflects your light
If enjoying you this much is wrong
Then I don’t want to be right!
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/15/2025
2217 hrs.
Image:
https://en.tabirai-japan.com/s/activity/hokkaido/detail/?plan_id=13368&lang=en
This violence in my head
When will it stop
With each pull of the trigger
A loud, Pop! Pop! Pop!
Night after night
Dream after dream
I’ve visions of violence
Countless voices loudly scream
Though the scenes each are different
The outcome’s the same
Some form of violence
The message great pain
I know not where they come from
Nor why they are here
Whether scenes from past lifetimes
Or an attempt to create fear
Whether I awake in the morning
Or at my dreams endless shock
I search out the meaning
While noting the time on the clock
This violence in my head
When will it stop
With each pull of the trigger
A loud, Pop! Pop! Pop!
By: T.J. Christoff ©
6/13/2025
0837 hrs.
Image:
You say you can feel me
You say you feel my energy
You say I’m becoming expansive
That I reach you from far away
There are times I’m more intentional
About what type of energy I send you
With specific thoughts and feelings
I’ve wondered if they’ve gotten through
My energy is not at all my own
Expansion is why I’m here
My soul continues to grow and evolve
The ever more it feels you near
Often I focus my energy on you
Though there are times I have withdrawn
Mindful of your right to resist
Not wanting you to feel put upon
I used to feel your energy strong
As deeply as you feel mine
But lately something’s been amiss
It feels your “signal” is often “offline”
There are moments when we’re together
If even only in virtual form
And yet the energy we create together
Could keep the largest of igloos toasty warm
You say you think of me a lot
And in moments that truly matter
Like when seeing a turtle make a dash for its life
You know our energy would be stronger together
The magnitude of our energy together
What a powerful force it is
Compassion, resilience, acceptance and more
With love for others our binding source exists
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/8/2025
0927 hrs.
Image:
Loving through the hurt
Hurts
Like the feeling of stepping with bare feet on broken glass
Yet rather than cry, you choose to laugh
Loving through the hurt
Hurts
Like the feeling of pouring salt
Into an open wound to help it heal
Loving through the hurt
Hurts
Like the feeling of pealing flesh after a harsh sunburn
Letting you know regeneration of cells has begun
Loving through the hurt
Hurts
Like the feeling of stiff, aching muscles
After an intense workout designed to make you stronger
Loving through the hurt
Hurts
Like the feeling of hitting your thumb with a hammer
While trying to put furniture together for another
Loving through the hurt
Hurts
When you’d wanted so much for things to work out
And in letting go, you realize they finally have
By: T.J. Christoff ©
6/7/2025
2148 hrs.
Image:
I’m in love
I’m in love deep
Try as I might
I find it so hard to sleep
I wake at all hours
My first thoughts are of you
It’s a connection of twin flames
I believe over lifetimes that grew
I feel your energy
Close my eyes I see your face
Though in this lifetime
We’ve yet to share physical space
Your energy is alluring
It’s magnetically strong
Like a lullaby sung in a whisper
Your energy to me feels like home
Soft, strong, and gentle
Yet comforting and safe
I feel at peace in your presence
Not at all out of place
I don’t know how our story will end
If ever there will be more
But I do know I’m passionately in love with you
And you’re someone I greatly adore!
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/6/2025
0932 hrs.
Image:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/10-passionate-love-quotes-for-the-one-you-adore--84301824262683135/
If I say your name
With the respect that it’s due
I’m immediately reminded
Of why now I can’t be with you
If I say your name
The way I truly want to
The depth of my love for you is felt
Keenly abundant and true
If I say your name
Whispered to myself
While imagining the possibilities
I feel my heart start to melt
If I say your name
While speaking to others
They would no doubt sense my energy
My desire for us to become lovers
If I say your name
I find I get lost in my desires
To hold hands with you
While gazing at stars by campfires
If I say your name
The way that I want to
Then I’ll know in that moment
My most passionate dreams have come true
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/5/2025
1944 hrs.
Image:
I haven’t been the same
Since the day we first met
Bound by a spiritual connection
That’s refused to relent
I haven’t been the same
Since the day you arrived
I felt a soulful bond with you
When I first gazed into your eyes
I haven’t been the same
Since I first heard you speak
The gentleness of your voice
Filled my spirit with peace
I haven’t been the same
Since I first experienced your laughter
And how it lingers in my mind
In our space even in the silence long after
I haven’t been the same
Since you first shared your smile with me
Now when I close my eyes
It’s your smile I long to see
I haven’t been the same
Nor shall I ever be
For meeting you once again
Has changed the core essence of me
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
6/5/2025
1732 hrs.
Image:
I’m battling a monster
It resides deep within me
It hides in places
Even an X-ray can’t see
One might think this monster
Must be tiny to fit
Within the contours of my form
It must be squashed up quite a bit
Perhaps that explains it
That rage at times that it fires
Seemingly unprovoked
Yet beholden to painful desires
I’m battling a monster
It’s a monster I don’t recognize
Though we met in person once before
I saw the monster within my own eyes
The monster shows up unexpected
In a flash from what feels like thin air
With rage from pain it’s driving force
No longer wanting to care
This battle between the monster and me
Has existed countless many years
It’s a battle between both good and evil
A battle of hidden and unknown fears
I’m battling a monster
A monster that lives deep within
Many mornings I wake up exhausted
Yet I fight lest the monster should win
The reality is that I get to choose
Whether to fight or just let things be
And every time I choose to fight
I feed the monster within me
By: T. J. Christoff ©
6/2/2025
1540 hrs.
Image:
A human hourglass of time
That’s what I am
Lifetimes pass in seconds
Emotions expressed in rhyme
The courage I possess
Derived from silent battles
Both won and lost
Leaving me weary and wanting rest
In moments when quietly lost in thought
As I reflect upon what I have
And what I have not
I sigh and give thanks for what I’ve got
Time stands still
Yet rushes by so fast
Flashes of joyful images I recall
Mixed with those that left me frozen aghast
Tick-tock
Tick-tock
There’s little sound to be found
Within the grains of this sand clock
Yet so much to be said
So much to be heard
Within this human hourglass of time
Each grain of sand in a way its own unique word
So many lifetimes come and gone
With lessons to learn and carry me along
I’m just a human hourglass of time
Expressing my thoughts and emotions in rhyme
By: T.J. Christoff ©
5/30/2025
1453 hrs.
Image:
I’m unraveling my soul
One experience at a time
The struggles of this life
In their own way each divine
Open to the lessons
My soul came here to learn
Each life like a promotion
I’d not set out to earn
I’m unraveling my soul
As each day passes by
Learning to let go of resistance
Barring an effort to try
I grimace as I witness
The pained human in me
In those moments when I fail
So miserably
I’m unraveling my soul
As I move forward a bit
Finding peace near a pond
While among some geese I quietly sit
Taking in the beauty
It’s always surrounding me
If only I remain willing
With love in my heart to clearly see
By: T.J. Christoff ©
5/27/2025
1450 hrs.
Image:
Personal Collection
If I don’t wake up tomorrow
This is what I’d want you to know
My heart knew love because of you
And I wasn’t afraid to go
If I don’t make it home tonight
This is what I’d want you to know
The joy I found in knowing you
Enabled my soul to grow
Even if we’d been at odds
This is what I’d want you to feel
My presence in the wind’s gentle breeze
I’d want you to know I’ll always be near
When you think I’d told you all my thoughts
This is what I’d want you to believe
I’d always shared everything that I could
Without ever an intent to deceive
If you don’t wake up tomorrow
This is what I’d want to know
Were you able to leave without sadness or fear
Allowing only love to fill your soul
If you don’t make it home tonight
Before leaving what I’d want you to share
Is if you plan to keep coming back
Won’t you tell me, “Truth or Dare”?
If you don’t make it home tonight
If after today you are no longer here
Even if we’d been at odds
I’d want to know you’ll always be near
When I think you’d told me all your thoughts
This is what I’d want to believe
You’d always shared everything that you could
Without ever an intent to deceive
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
5/26/20254
1753 hrs.
Image:
I have three siblings
All older than me
They each have a name
Sibling One, Two, and Three
Sibling One is the oldest
Sibling Two came next
Sibling Three’s nearest my age
That would make me, sibling “X”
We grew up together
My siblings and me
And when age would permit
We all joined the military
We each flew the coup
As young birds when they fledge
Making our way in this world
Living life on the edge
Never very close
We did our own thing
One liked to hunt, and one to cook
And we all loved to sing
We’re all adults now
Our parents long gone
And with each day that passes
In our own way we carry on
Living our lives
The best we know how
An occasional glimpse at the past
While making the most of the “NOW”
It’s odd when I think
Of siblings One, Two, and Three
For it feels like they’re strangers
Not at all related to me
By: T.J. Christoff ©
5/25/2025
1040 hrs.
Image:
Life
But just a flash
A fleeting moment
Within a countless birthing of lifetimes
Experiences
Each a lifetime of their own
Some holding us back
Some guiding us home
Pain
Tears us down a little or a lot
Then builds us back up
Through pain we discover the courage we’ve got
Humor
Picks us up when we’re feeling down
Sharing joy from the heart
Can turn the most difficult day around
Smiles
Sometimes one is all you need share
To quietly speak encouragement to another
Letting them know someone still cares
Love
You take it with you when you go
The purest kind of love
Is held eternally safe within your soul
Life
But just a flash and then it’s gone
A fleeting moment
Within a countless birthing of lifetimes that go on
Each of these experiences past
In their own way for all eternity will last
Impacting souls along their spiritual travels
As each discovers as their purpose unravels
By: T.J. Christoff ©
5/22/2025
2327 hrs.
Image:
If I stopped writing
Would you stop coming back
Or would you keep coming back
To see if I’d really stopped writing
If I stopped writing
Do you think you’d be able to resist
Allowing yourself to doubt
The love I’ve expressed for you exists
If I stopped writing
Would you miss my thoughts and musings
Those that found their form in rhyme
Or the ones that left your heart, more intentionally marking time
If I stopped writing
How would you feel
Would it impact you at all
Or would it just be, no big deal
If I stopped writing
Would you experience the cost
Of reflection filled emotion
Abruptly seeming lost
If I stopped writing
What difference would it make
Or would it make any difference at all
To make a difference in you, what would it take
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
5/21/2025
2309 hrs.
Image:
https://www.writerswrite.co.za/artistic-choices/
I’m just reaching out to you
This is how I do it
Through pulling words together
I guess I’m kinda like a poet
I search my emotions
Going deep inside
Sometimes it’s hard
For the feelings often try to hide
Sometimes there’s laughter
At times tears will fall
I want to come forward
While feeling my back’s against a wall
I grin alone in silence
As I imagine you
Having similar thoughts
Perhaps you’re grinning while struggling some too
Truth be told
What to do I don’t know
It’s just my intuition
Feelings deep within my soul
They whisper to me gently
Those feelings within my soul
They tell me it’s okay to love you
These are feelings I don’t have to let go
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
5/18/2025
2314 hrs.
Image:
I’m sending you hugs
I wonder can you feel it
I’m sending you love
Without any regret
I’m sending you peace
To still your day
To remove any discomfort
For joy to make way
I’m sending warm thoughts
And humor a plenty
That you may laugh and smile often
May your tears of joy be many
I’m sending you empathy
For those moments when you struggle
Your heart and soul are magical
You could have never been a Muggle
I’m sending you hope
That on the picnic blanket you lay
You will find plenty of goodness
With few ants or acorns gone astray
I’m sending you my heart
With light from deep within my soul
To honor and protect you
That’s my desire, it’s what I know
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
5/17/2025
0959 hrs.
Image:
I want to share my light with you
Won’t you come and walk with me
I want to share my light with you
I want you to feel free
I want to share my light with you
I want to lift you up
I want to share my light with you
I want you to feel loved
I want to share my light with you
I want to remind you your heart’s good
Let you know you can surmount anything
Just like the Little Engine That Could
I want to share my light with you
On both your brightest and darkest of day
I want to share my light with you
Assuring that you will always be okay
I want to share my light with you
I want you to feel safe
I want to share my light with you
Not leave you feeling abandoned, as if a waif
I want to share my light with you
With every chance I get
I want to share my light with you
Cradle you in a warmth you’ll not soon forget
By: T.J. Christoff ©
For: You
5/16/2025
2309 hrs.
Image: