Matsuo Basho

Autumn darkness
              descends
on this road I travel      alone

Iris

[A] flower or person

Wondering when time will tell

My true love to you

Matsuo Basho

Fire levitating ashes:

my companion's shadow

animates the wall...

Kobayashi Issa

Peonies blossom;

the world is full of blooming liars.

Michael Windsor McClintock

when you opened

my letter

were you surprised

my heart

fell out?

next door 

the lovemaking

subsides

stars fall

from other worlds

an old photo 

of my parent

young and happy -- 

of all things I own

that is the saddest

Ralph Waldo Emerson

When it's dark enough, you can see the stars.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.

Uejima Onitsura

Useless dreams, alas!

Over desolate fields

winds whisper as they pass.

Sappho

Eros harrows my heart:

a wind on desolate mountains

uprooting oaks.

Even on carpet

You walk step-by-step breathing

towards Shambala

Masaoka Shiki

As thunder recedes

a lone tree stands illuminated in sunlight:

applauded by cicadas

Daniell Koepke

Not all toxic people are cruel and uncaring. Some fo them love us dearly. Many of them have good intentions. Most are toxic to our being simply because their needs and way of existing in the world force us to compromise ourselves and our happiness. They aren't inherently bad people, but they aren't the right people for us. And as hard as it is, we have to let them go. Life is hard enough without being around people who bring you down, and as much as you care, you can't destroy yourself for the sake of someone else. You have to make your well being a priority. Whether that means breaking up with someone you care about, loving a family member from a distance, letting go of a friend, or removing yourself from a situation that feels painful.