I stand starstruck
Inhaling the unknown
Surrendering all that is logical
To Luna’s light
You pinpoint planets
That I’ll never know
That I’ll never remember
And never want to
Category Archives: Relationships
Beyond the Fog
“Like Air, I Rise” – Nancy Smith
She was tied and tethered to the words at her back
Like daggers, chiseling holes into her heart
One foot forward
The other melded in familiar ground
She settled for the grey of days passed
Pining for the glorious “at last” that never came
Time capsuled, she waited for someone,
Some thing to brush off the dirt of yesteryears
Jaded
She faded
Into the darkness of candles never burned
Under the bellies of stones never turned
She lost her light
She lost her fight
Rise up, beckoned her soul
Rise up
This day as new as dawn’s embrace
Unleash the anchor that you have built
Link by link….. before
you
sink
With strength, with courage, with grace
She faced the fear that bound her fate
In one moment chosen to change
Throwing her briny tears to the rain
She stood poised and prepared
With feathered weight and opened arms
One leap
Into the unknown
Image credit: nancysmithfineart.com
It’s Open Link Night over at dVerse Poets Pub!
Post one poem of your choice. I am your host. Hope you can join us.
It was an honour to participate in “Women Speak”, a unique project by Nancy Smith. This was a poem that I submitted in response to her gorgeous piece, “Like Air, I Rise”.
Cannikin
Come closer
Lay your head on my chest
Hear the echo of my phantom heart?
Stone-cold and crumbling
Like the rust of my skin
Don’t come in
Come closer
Will you taste my hollowed kiss?
This abyss is my gift…to you
Love letters unwritten
Roses ripe of tarnished tin
Don’t come in
For Poetics at dVerse, we are writing from the perspective of three characters from The Wizard of Oz. Follow the yellow brick road with us!
Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Stuck
She spoke in scars
Bitterness of broken heart
Sailing with the undertows
Salty sting of ocean tears
Refreshing her pain
There was safety there
Reeling to the beat of
“It’s- not- my- fault”
Making peace with the fog
So she didn’t have to see
Sunlight beckoned but
She reveled in the rain clouds
Trading rainbows for permafrost
Frozen, hard fast in the loss
In time, she’d rewind in the wind
Dust off the grudge and wrath
Wipe the mist from the mirror
To see more than lines on her face
More than the misery of this place
Cue the music
And dance wildly to the light
I am hosting Poetics at dVerse Poets Pub. We are writing to “Life Lessons”. “What is one thing (or more) that you have learned that you feel could change another life? Well at least improve it.” Please share with us in a poem. There is still time to join in.
Minor Disturbance
You speak in cloudbursts
Torrential tongue
Twisting words to suit your weather
I have news for you
The forecast isn’t bleak
The sky isn’t falling though you
May be chicken and I, little
Your drizzle will fizzle
And I can play in the rain
For Kim’s quadrille prompt over at dVerse Poets Pub.
44 words of fun using the word “rain”.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Self Combustion
I’ve dabbled in darkness
the match, centimeters
from singeing
my fingers, my soul
A symphony of sirens
felt like a lullaby
why?
you’d have to look deeper
I’d have to share more
than embers greyed, tired
I’d have to breathe life
into the fire
Written for d’verse Poets Pub. De is our host for this week’s Quadrille prompt. A quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words, not including the title. De has chosen the word ” fire” which must be incorporated into the poem.
Image credit: pixabay.com
You Go First
I feel you tugging on the mask
Your grip equals my resistance
To concealing my existence
Don’t listen to my eyes
They lie
I feel you dredging up the past
Sifting fallacies from honesty
My blunders are your pleasure
Troubles I do treasure
Don’t look into my soul
It’s old
I feel your tiny shovel words
Digging deeply and discreetly
I see your mask is custom fit
Perhaps you truly will outwit
Take it off, go ahead
You go first
Come join us for Poetics at dVerse Poets Pub 3 p.m. EST.
We are exploring the idea of masks, psychological or metaphorical.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Seasoned
I follow you
Flashlight in hand
Still dimmer than our hearts
Lake of infinity
Lapping to the rhythm of
Silence
Sandy-toed, sips of merlot
You whisper of satellites
Geosynchronous orbits
And how much you love me
Spicing my world
Peppering my skies
With stars
Join us as I host one of our favourite prompts, the Quadrille at dVerse Poets Pub. 44 words including the word “spice” or any form of it. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST. C’mon….get a little spicy!
Image credit: pixabay.com
Fusion
I am of you and you of me
Mingled blues upon the sea
Gentle sway of burnished brine
We fall and rise in tide, in time
We fall and rise in tide, in time
Gentle sway of burnished brine
Mingled blues upon the sea
I am of you and you of me
Windbag
From your lips
Word balloons drift
A speech bubble blitz
Of braggadocio
Oh Pinocchio
Clouds do not part
For your presence
You are marshmallowed
Hollowed
A fairy tale twaddle
Floating on folly
And horse feathers
Oh Romeo
Thy swelled head
Will soften your landing
For De’s quadrille prompt over at dVerse.
Write a 44 word poem including the word “balloon”.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Glass Fish
You didn’t know
That on riverbanks I sat
Sinking in words unspoken
As waves sparkled and spat
Saying more than you could
And I ever would
I back-stroked in sea storms
Dreamed of days blue
While you fought the ebb tides
And this little memento
Means more than an ocean
To me
I am hosting Poetics at dVerse Poets Pub today. Today I am asking you to write a poem about one memento. You may use a souvenir from your travels, a photo, a keepsake from a special moment or event, perhaps a small token that is dear to your heart.
Serpentize
She honeyed her way
Through like the drizzle
On a warm sopapilla
Dimple-cheeked a path
Of pink, made them think
She was true-blue
But she didn’t “you”
She spewed
Of what they thought she was
And what she wasn’t
It’s Lillian’s turn at Poetics! She has provided much fun and creativity with “verbification”, changing nouns, adjectives or other words into verbs. Can you verbify? There is still time to join in!
Image credit: pixabay.com
Dinner for Four
Pins patter across the floor
To the beat of stifled hearts
The scrape of metal on plates
Over a pea soup haze
Of perishing pipe dreams
Plates are full
Starving souls grumble
As sun stretches in vain
To reach darkened table
Four sets of blue eyes
Pale and gazing elsewhere
Wandering minds waiting
For something
Anything
To speak
These walls know
The pain of silence
We have all heard the phrase, “If these walls could talk”. Today, I would like you to do just that by giving walls a voice through your poetry. Join in with us over at dVerse where I will be your host for today’s Poetics. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Collaboration for Peace – 35
Photo: Mish
Uncommon Friend
some say you
don’t belong
don’t fit in
a nonconformist –
trouble
and so they
don’t
give you a chance
but you are bright and
sparkling
adding zing to my
dull life
zest to my ordinary days
balance to my humble story
and I am better for
knowing you
Disposition
Used with Permission: Emily Blincoe
You
cannot fix me.
My voids are custom
made, specially designed
for comfort. Don’t arrange my
faults like feathers in a row,
plucked and sucked dry so
you can take credit
for my flight.
It isn’t
r
i
g
h
t
.
Written for dVerse – “Poetics: Arrangements by Emily Blincoe”
Short Version of a Long Love Story
We fell in love. Then we met. Yes. That is how it works when sparks fly in cyber space. It all began in a divorce support chat room where the last thing I was looking for was love. After six months of emails, instant messaging, and daily detailed phone conversations, we ran out of questions and the answers were consistent. Seeing each other face to face was just an inevitable step in an already established relationship. Finally a flight was booked. A dear friend drove me to the airport…”dear” because she didn’t question my sanity, at least not openly. I remember my hands trembling as I held my hot tea before boarding a plane to see him for the first time. I wasn’t nervous about traveling 1500 miles to meet this man of my dreams or worried that instead I would be captured by a disturbed internet troll, never to be seen again (though it may have crossed my friend’s mind). No. He was not the unknown. It was the unfamiliarity of flying, airport procedures like gates, security and layovers that scared the living crap out of me.
A long distance relationship ensued and we became frequent flyers. I could sleep through take offs, knew which airport restaurants to avoid and was quick on the draw to trade my seat for future free flights. Our love was challenged by distance and immigration procedures but the time spent together was like a hundred honeymoons. This was our life for six years. Elated hellos. Tearful goodbyes. On one sunny day we were riding bikes along a woodland trail in Collingwood, Ontario. We stopped for a moment and he pretended to crouch down to retrieve a water bottle. Instead he looked up at me with a ring.
It’s nine years later and this morning, just like any other morning, I sleepily tap the outside of the electric tea kettle. Yes, it’s hot. He times it well. As I take my favourite orange mug off the shelf, he knows my silence is not for lack of gratitude. He knows I don’t converse until I’ve had at least a half a cup of caffeine…and I know that isn’t easy for him. I know he needs his 15 kilometer bike ride after sitting in an office all day. He knows I need to put my feet up. A tall glass of water waits for me because he knows I probably didn’t drink any all day. He knows me well. It is in this “knowing” that our love keeps growing.
Tiny warbler charmed
Beckoned by the westerlies
Warmed by desert sun
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Toni asked us to pen a romantic haibun, reminding us also that a haibun is true, not fiction. This is my response. I think the prose is a work in progress, much like love itself.
Tinted
There was that one time
When roses did not seem so
Clichéd
She opened the guitar case
Lo and behold a dozen
Long stem intentions spoke
To her in petals and posies
Laughing at every thorn
And jagged edge
Nurturing her delusions
Of love
Written for our last Quadrille Monday before we take a brief summer break over at dVerse Poets Pub. Bjorn has given us the word “rose” to be used in a 44 word poem, excluding the title. Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
Image credit: pixabay.com
Unruffled
B r e e z e on by me
Take your tail spin
For a whirlwind
I am marsh mellowed
Sun ripened
Rooted with the reeds
You are dragon winged
Mud flinging
Bumbling with the bees
I’m a water lily lulled
Cattail nap
You got that?
I am breezy
It’s our 10th Quadrille Monday over at dVerse. Get in on the 44 word fun! Bjorn chose the word “breeze”.
A Daughter’s Farewell
I set sail without you
Into seas of rebellion
Waving white flags
At pilfering pirates
On quests for
Golden hearts
There was no good-bye
It was assumed that
You were you and
I was I
The sea swelled and took you
And I cursed not the wind
But your timing as I was
Left pining for words
Tossed and turned
Lost and churned
Into the brine
There was no good-bye
It was assumed that
You were you and
I was I
Sharing this with Open Link Night at dVerse Poets Pub, in response to Abhra’s poetic prompt, “Unintended Farewells”.
Begrudged
I remember the green
That took you to lowlands
Con-caved and shallow
Where pools of jealousy
Sat stagnant brooding, breeding
You were like a life-size mosquito
Feeding frantically on bad blood
Spitting out spite, always right
Green grew on you
I didn’t envy you
A Quadrille consisting of 44 words and Grace has asked us to incorporate the word, “green”. That is what we are up to at dVerse. You can join in too. Please do! Doors open at 3 p.m. EST.
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years…#28
“Jealousy and bitterness will hold you back from truly living your life.
Let it go.”
I’m sure the Frozen song is playing in your head right now, whether you like it or not. Sorry for that.
Oh jealousy and bitterness…such powerful emotions that have absolutely no use.
When I think of times that I felt jealous of someone or something that someone had, I have no memories of ambition or accomplishment from those situations. No one came around with a magic wand and gave me what I envied and I certainly didn’t end up being just like them. So…what was the point of all the misery?
I remember bitterness…serious, intense bitterness. I remember it becoming an entity of its own. I lost myself in it so deeply that I didn’t find myself again for 15 years. Was the bitterness justified? Well hell yes! I didn’t deserve this treatment and this bitterness was my weapon. I owned it. Oh yeah. The problem was that this weapon was aimed at me. It took me a long time to see the end of the barrel, but I did. I hope you don’t take as long.
Let it go! Let it go!
Oh c’mon. Sing it.
Set yourself free.
Video credit: Youtube
Collaboration for Peace – 9
Candy and I are happy to bring you another collaboration.
Photo: Candace Kubinec
Universal
We may not see
Scars and bruises
Heartaches hidden deep
Or know the twisted roots
Of troubled minds
Understanding takes time
But we can feel the rain
Of a thousand fears
Streaming down faces
In faraway places
We have never been
We can start here because
Tears are universal
Expectations
Words echo through
Ear piercing silence as
Secrets hide under
Blankets of truth
Moments ignite, rise
Only to fall like wasted air
Dancing on deaf ears
Jabbing at hearts
For various reasons
Known and unknown
But we fill our stomachs
And cordially consume
All that is placed in front of us
Still craving for all that is not
Chasing Sunsets
We barely finish dinner of cauliflower and chickpea coconut curry, when you suggest we dash to the beach. The sky, like a southwestern painting of burnt orange and turquoise is obstructed by the stately maple tree in our back yard. Donning my fall jacket for the first time this year, I welcome the brisk, blustery air. My flip flops fight the downhill slope as I clutch our camera in one hand and my hair in the other. Somehow, I am surprised to see the lake lashing on tawny shores, oblivious to the solace of the setting sun. The clouds remind me of pieces of cauliflower we have just consumed, but these are now inked with the inevitable gloaming of day’s end. Still amazed by the infinity of the Great Lakes, you take to the camera, capturing all possible angles. I reminisce of similar spontaneous races to canyons in your enchanted land. Was it just for me? I think not, as I watch you take one last photo of gleaming sands soaking in orange.
Summer embraces fall
Celestial glow unfading
Reflections of love
Written for Haibun Monday, a new addition to the schedule over at dVerse Poet’s Pub. This is my first attempt at writing a haibun, a combination of prose and haiku.
Earthly and Heavenly Conversations
“Hey! I can make my own waves in the water!”
“Where are your shoes? I told you no.”
“But look…”
“I told you NO.”
“Ok, I’m getting my shoes…oh I have to stop to get all this sand off my feet.”
“Where is your towel? I told you to bring your towel.”
“I forgot it.”
“Don’t pick that up. It’s dirty.”
“It’s just a straw, for my flagpole on my sand castle.”
“Put it down. Now!”
“But I want it. I need it. The flag is the best part.”
“So, by the way…I made my own waves in this world.”
“How did you do that? I told you no.”
“Just look.”
“You didn’t listen. That is good.”
“ I always listened to you….always did what you said until I was tired of wiping the sand off my feet. I needed to feel it.”
“You threw in the towel? I dreamt of your success, your master’s degree in…something. “
“Oh I know…I have never forgotten your dreams.”
“I was afraid of failure…mine, yours…yours being mine.”
“I remember one time when I was little and we were at the beach… I couldn’t build my sand castle because I needed a straw and you said it was dirty. The straw was part of my…”
“I know….part of your creation, your idea. Are you still making sand castles?”
“Yes, Dad. Every day that I can. I want them. I need them…and my ideas are the best part.”
~
When Victoria C. Slotto at dVerse challenged us to incorporate dialogue into our poetry, I was surprised and overwhelmed when this prompt took me on a very personal journey.
Retrospect
Piles of intentions
All that mattered, scattered
Smiles prompted and posed
Say cheese, be happy
Be what I need you to be
Wish I knew then
What I still do not know
But I’m fighting for the light
Prying open the universe
With energy I don’t have
Looking for the answers
To questions I never asked
Until now
And my reflections are yours
My heart, your weakness
My weakness, your heart
Is that where we start?
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years…#27
“Even though we are all different, we are all the same. We all want to be loved and accepted for who we are.”
One of the greatest challenges in life is cooperative interaction with others. We hit walls we don’t want to climb and cross bridges we don’t want to meet…half…way. We guard our personalities and beliefs with our life.
Why? It took a long time to figure out who we are and no one is going to mess with that…right?
However, sometimes we have to step out of our deep rooted convictions and venture into neutral territories. It is in this place that we will find one thing in common. When we look underneath egos and actions, we will find the vulnerability that makes all of us human….the need to be validated and loved.
This is where hearts will align.. in spite of ourselves.
The Dis connect
Who broke the link? Who broke the link?
I think it could have been me
I stretched myself too far this time
I forgot where I should be
How does one fill the gaping void
Where fragments flake to rust?
Does time slow down to heal the wound
Does space turn hope to dust?
Does space turn hope to dust?
Does time slow down to heal the wound
Where fragments flake to rust?
How does one fill the gaping void?
I forgot where I should be
I stretched myself too far this time
I think it could have been me
Who broke the link , who broke the link
My first attempt at a Palindrome poem in response to Mary’s prompt for Meeting the Bar. Mary explains that in Palindrome poetry or Mirror Poetry “the poet uses the same sentences (or almost!) forward and backward. “
Busting Pandora’s Chops
Let’s throw our hearts in the ring
Because I am standing here at the
End of my pedestal
While you put your crocodile tears
All in one basket
Save some for a crazy day
Sprinkle them into the kool-aid
You so politely asked me to drink
As I choke down my last high horse
Let’s circle back
Nip this bad apple in a nutshell
Cold shoulders are pieces of cake
We can wear spices of life on our sleeves
Build more walls to write on
There are too many elephants
And not enough rooms
We are using, abusing and recycling cliche metaphors, idioms and corporate jargon over at dVerse. I interpreted Bjorn’s challenge of “cathachresis” a little differently and kept this simple and light.
Image credit: Wikipedia
M’Lady
She was not impressed
With knights in armor
Shining or otherwise
Thirteenth century flair
Was lost on her
Yet there he stood
Encapsulated in iron
Pinache of red feathers
Her heart on his sleeve
Jousting for the prize
“I would rather drown in the moat
than watch this barbarian mockery”
She had her own codes
For chivalry and courtly love
~
Much medieval mayhem in the dVerse Poet’s Pub this week…we are celebrating!
Pink
Image credit: Danny Gregory, Flickr
Pink, so stereotypical
Redundantly feminine
Behind rosy lips
Lies the real venom
Like peonies placed
Gently on worn tables
Dripping on doilies
Twisting on fables
Out of the doghouse
With petals of penitence
Tied in a bow
With ribbons of arrogance
He didn’t mean it
This bouquet will speak
Softly in fuchsia
An offering to the weak
~
Today at dVerse, Gabriella introduced us to Danny Gregory, who kindly allowed us to use his artwork as a prompt for poetry.
Unblemished
Let me swim again
In pools of innocence
I will not surface for air
Until it is safe and pure
I will not speak with forked tongue
But sing only sweetly of stars
And cars and the buzzing of bees
Let me lay down again
In fields of pink moss
Where seeds of treason and trickery
Are not sown
I will feel joy
As eagles, not egos
Soar overhead
Let me be young again
Eyes wide with wonder
Waiting for the next miracle to unfold
I will not know of lies
No alibi, candy coated
Only love given graciously
Untainted and true
At dVerse, Mary introduced us to a talented photographer and poet named Totomai Martinez. Among thousands of amazing photos, this one spoke to me immediately.
Image credit: Yoshi by Totomai Martinez
Breaking Bread Habits
You sprinkle the flour
Careless chaos across my counter
I want to even it out, but I resist
This is your life now
You knead it
~
Watching you with motherly eyes
I finally see
That everything you are
Did not originate from this kitchen
And I thank God for that
You’ve moved on from
These minds, crumbled and torn
This table set robotically
With knives scraping on Corelle
Just to break the silence
~
You twist and turn this art
Into your own
Scoring precisely as planned
Filling the old loaf pan
With new hope, rustic and pure
This bread will leaven
And my heart will rise
~
Written for dVerse and inspired by Gail’s nurturing poetic prompt using the subject of bread.
Coexistence
I will find peace here
You will find peace here
Together
We will find peace
~
Empty Nesting
Curried carrot soup in the crock pot
Peach berry crisp bubbling in the oven
This is my morning
Its sixty four degrees and perfect weather
To watch the geese come in
For a spectacular landing over the pond
But that is not where my heart is
I am blind as autumn guides me through
The rituals of raking and baking
Buying squash at the market
Pinching off the mums that are wilting
Because I don’t have enough sun in my yard
I don’t have enough sun in my life
It is all a facade when there are no
Mouths to feed and no laughter kicking
Up the leaves
That was my yesterday
Little jean jackets, mischievous smiles
I brace myself for the cold
That never fails to surprise me
Half way through October
Even though it’s never left
Since you did
~
It’s Open Link Night at dVerse , an opportunity to share anything, but when Marina Sofia mentioned Fall, this one evolved quickly.
My Lighthouse
You are my lighthouse
Directing me to shore
When I drift carelessly
In my own waves
Signalling me to safety
My lantern, my love
Wrapping me in safe harbors
To sift through sands
For ancient shells
Emptied of lost moments
Until I find the one
Perfectly pierced
Waiting for a chain
And a reason to be worn
You are my lighthouse
Illuminating my destiny
Through fog and faint heart
Shining on me
Like I am important
My lantern, my love
And there is not a gale
Or storm that could take me
When I have your light
Your beacons of hope
Guiding me back
To shores of solace
Dreams and castles
Still yet to be built
Karin Gustafson at dVerse Poet’s Pub, challenged us to follow through on metaphors.
Rainbows and Reveries
The blues and greens
The mist in between
The moments of yellow
Fade into the pink, I think
It’s more than a show
Colours of life do not fade
For they’re made of
You and me
Forts in the trees
Grass tickling toes
And sun burnt noses
Our hopes, our dreams
And all that seems
As possible as the rain
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years…#23
“If you constantly blame others, you will never see your own mistakes.”
Pretty self explanatory. You’re not perfect. You never will be perfect. You can be 99.9 percent right, but never 100 percent. If you are, then you may have landed here from some unknown planet because this planet, my friends, is full of humans. Humans falter on a regular basis.
Breathe…falter….breathe…falter.
Catch those breaths in between.
Look in the mirror. Reflect on your actions.
It might not be pretty, but you will discover something amazing…an enlightenment, so to speak…a realization of your own flaws and blunders.
This can change your life.
In every interaction or relationship, we have strengths and weaknesses that come into play. Even if we are “right”, we can present it the wrong way. Presentations are like a land mine of misunderstandings waiting to happen…and in our quest to be heard and understood, we make mistakes. And that isn’t all of it. Sometimes, we really are wrong. We forget or refuse to take the time to look into that crystal clear stream of reality and see our own imperfections.
Enough said.
A Good Mother
I built a wall around you
Believing that was right
Pushing away the darkness
To hold you in the light
Brick upon brick
Arms wrapped around you
Leaving you nowhere
To fall or hold on to
Except for me
But I don’t count
Because a good mother
Would have let you out
A good mother
Would have sewed you a cloud
To sail to the sun
And sing out loud
To swell up with tears
That rain on parades
To play with the lightning
And not be afraid
A good mother
Would have loved you from afar
Forgot where you came from
And learned who you are
She would have braved her own demons
And dried her own tears
Harbored your anger
And welcomed your fears
A good mother would love you
And that I have done
But you broke the wall
You found the sun
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years…#22
“Friends do not always reveal themselves.”
I am still hanging on to the theory that we were put on this earth to share with others. Whether it be our time, our possessions, our abilities, our talents, our compassion, our stories…whatever we have to give, I think we are supposed to give. When doing so, sometimes we are blessed with interactions that lead to friendships.
Friendships are gifts. The problem is that sometimes they are hard to identify. If only they came in neat little packages tied up with a bow…with a little tag that says, “Really, I’m your friend..for real.” Between reading social cues, dealing with your own personal insecurities and the fear of forming assumptions, it can become complicated…at least it has been for me. Maybe I’m just a freak so unique that I have trouble with this. I am a very open person. This could hinder the process of some potential friendships. I probably scare the hell out of people. Would I change this about me? Absolutely not.
So what have I learned about friendships?
I’ve learned that often I am afraid to call them that.
I know what I think a friendship should be.
My eclectic personality requires a wide variety of friends.
I’ve learned that the more time someone gives me, the more I feel they are truly my friend.
Although I do not fear rejection (because I am secure with who I am), I get frustrated when I can’t determine the intentions of others. I am not sure if this is a problem on my part or theirs.
For the most part, I think I am a good friend.
I treasure the friendships I have.
A friend can come in any size, race, age, occupation, social background, education, etc.
Openness is key to me.
Your spouse can be your best friend.
Anything pretentious, materialistic or superficial does not interest me. My relationships need to be deeper.
I have learned that even at my age, I still have lots to learn about establishing friendships.
In my opinion…
A good friend truly cares about you, would do almost anything in the world for you, listens to you, advises you, confides in you, laughs with you and cries with you.
A good friend is someone who doesn’t care what you look like, accepts all of your faults, your mistakes and never gives up on you.
A good friend has no ulterior motives for being your friend.
A good friend considers the reasons you have become who you are.
A good friend sees your positive traits and enjoys them in the moment.
A good friend has time for you.
A good friend would sincerely miss you if you were gone.
Birds of a feather sticking together at San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Weekly Photo Challenge: Abandoned
When the storm rolls in
We flee
Deserting places and people
We love
Wary of winded truths
That fill the sky
Knocking down layers
Of little white lies
When lightening strikes
We run
Eyes and ears covered
In disbelief
Forfeiting our dreams
In the overcast
Denial is our fortress
‘Til the rain has passed
Truth
It is what it is
Unobscured , sunlit
A guiltless glow of certainty
Barbed and bristly
Thoughtlessly exposed
Nettles rooted and ready
Unwittingly aimed
At pricking me
Autopilot
All systems go
Buzzing, fuzzy
My legs are walking
My mouth is talking
But I am on autopilot
Numbed and knocked out
By something bigger
Than what we had
Maybe I’ll go
Dazed and drowning
My eyes are burning
My heart is yearning
But I am on autopilot
Snowed and sloughed off
By something bigger
Than what I thought we had
Hollowed
On the surface
Embellishments adorn you
Reflecting on your own reflection
Bouncing rays of admiration
Throwing out shiny lures
To feed the braggadocio
But I see through you, my friend
You are pitted
Character is simulated
Substance has been excavated
All that matters, taken
All that remains, meaningless
You are hollow
Weekly Photo Challenge: Horizon
I will meet you there
Where the earth meets the sky
With a giddy heart
And silly stars in my eyes
We can mambo the meridian
In a sunset masquerade
Poke our fingers in the clouds
Dip our toes in the waves
We will tango in the twilight
On the skyline, we will glide
I’ll meet you there, my love
Until the day I die
Choked Up
The words are ringing in my ears today
Blinding my eyes with tears
Taking me down to that place
Where the back of my throat is all I can feel
Razor-sharp annunciation
Cryptic though in clarification
Boxing my brain again
Revealing my pain again
Time has no bearing on this burden
Riddles, reasons overlap seasons
Oblivious to wasted time
Moments lost, never to find
Hope dangles on a thread
Frayed and frazzled in my head
Precious moments terminate
As stubborn hearts still beat
Strange
Sometimes you travel down a path
Before knowing you are on it
Time ticks and toys with your intentions
Space grows large enough to swallow you whole
Highways, byways lead to nowhere
Signs are non existent, lights are out
You surrender to the map of fate
Blindly hoping it will bring you back
To the warm, familiar place
You took for granted
To the smiles, the love, the laughter
Away from the “strange”
Dawning Hope
You are with me in the fog
Drifting silently on your own
Though you hide within the darkness
You will never be alone
Waves of anger turn to ripples
As the faithful sun will rise
Murky minds catch rays of hope
To see the light inside
~
You are with me in the fog
Relentless it may be
I am hiding in the darkness
Words are lost and swept away
We are floating without current
We are discord in a daze
But there is promise in the sunrise
There is love beneath the haze
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years…#19.
#19. Parenting is lifelong.
When your children are small, you think this is the most difficult time of your life. Diapers, fevers, tantrums, oh my!! It has to be easier when they are grown.
“Grown”?
What does that mean? Do they ever stop growing? I haven’t stopped growing!
We are always waiting for the next stage in their development whether it’s walking, talking or starting school. There is always a step, as though we are accompanying them up the stairway to ADULTHOOD…some magical place where we are no longer responsible, no longer needed, no longer of service.
This is so far from the truth.
Parenting is not a job that simply ends at 18 or 21 or 55. They continue to grow and change every day and you are part of that. You never stop worrying about them, caring for them and loving them. Everything they do has some effect on you. There are feelings of pride, guilt, concern, sadness, relief, excitement and fear that run through you as they continue on their journey of life.
The hardest part of being a parent is when you no longer have the right to be involved. Your involvement becomes a privilege. Your knowledge of what is happening in their life crosses lines of confidentiality policies and ventures into new territories of friendship, mentor-ship and consultation…if you’re lucky. Suddenly, the flashbacks of boo boos, band aids and kissing it “all better” are sweet memories. It was so simple then. As your children get bigger, so can their problems. When you no longer have the ability to protect them the way you used to, it can be the most unsettling and frustrating feeling you have ever felt. Your colicky baby that kept you up night after night was still SAFE in your arms. As they get older, it is much more of a challenge to let go and simply pray for their safety and well-being.
Parenting doesn’t end when your children are not children. As long as you are worried, you are still a parent.
They are part of you forever.
Void
Space without substance
Time without tolerance
Minds apart
Stabs in the heart
Form without motion
Endless erosion
Words unheard
Intentions deferred
Reach without touching
Nudge without crushing
Anger intact
Missing the facts
Love without action
Emotions in traction
Nothing but air
Hope and a prayer
The End
Every moment we are still together
Mother and daughter, so sacred
I have the unfortunate knowledge
It will not last
Because I have been there
Facing the impossible
Denying the unthinkable
I have been there
When the bottom falls out
Making you wonder why
You invested your soul, your heart, your mind
If only for a short time
Why do we love so much
Knowing it will cause so much pain?
Why are we given these precious moments
Leaving us vulnerable and needing more?
I have been there
Devastated by the loss
Frozen in my tracks
Wondering where my next breath will come from
Kicking at pieces of my heart
Laying on the floor
Because life was over as I knew it
So today I look at you, aging with grace
I hang on to your every word,
Every beloved gesture
Until the end.
Particles of the Past
The past can resurface
Creep into your disbelieving mind
Because now you see it differently
The validity of discontent
How much you truly suffered
And how far you have come
Now you see
The pain as a separate entity
An unwelcome foe from long ago
Knocking on your mind
Rattling your fortress of serenity
Trying to find a way in
The past can return
Play with your peace of mind
Because it never really goes away
It is yours to subdue and restrain
Yours to push back into the darkness
Far from your precious light
Now you see
Under the light that you have kindled
With broken sticks and broken dreams
How easily walls can fall down
Leaving you vulnerable once more
Exposing your scars
The past can sweep you away
Determined to turn you to dust
Shoving you back in the pile
Of degraded debris and dismay
Now you see
How easy it was to crumble
Because words alone can crush you to pieces
And it’s hard to get up
When you are a tiny particle
Of the past
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years….#17
#17. “If you think about where a person is coming from, what they’ve been through in their life, how they’ve been raised, you will find it easier to forgive, understand and accept that they don’t and may never look at things the same way that you do.”
This one is golden.
Do you want to be empowered? Free yourself from the frustration? Save some time and energy?
Ok, now I sound like an advertisement.
The truth is…
When this little light bulb of enlightenment switched on in my brain, it changed my life.
Click.
Not everyone was blessed with a loving beginning. They are what they came from. They may not be able to see or feel more than that. Not everyone has sailed a calm sea without drowning in pain or suffering…and some are still drowning. Some have a point to make, an axe to grind or a need to be heard. Some people can only feel better by making others feel worse.
Some people will not change. Some people don’t need to change…not for you.
Sometimes you have to rearrange your thoughts, open your mind and accept.
Let them be who they are. Let it be what it is.
A huge burden can be lifted when you do.
Clemency
Stone heart, you never knew
Faultless you were in realization
Clarification, inspiration
It’s how you grew
Bleak start, without the love
Basics were all they thought you needed
Stimulation, validation
Only words heard of
Fall apart, is all you do
Methodical daze of disintegration
Inflammations, resignations
That’s what you knew
Beaten by your own recall
Pictures lie in presentation
Allegations, provocations
I believe it all
Repeat, rewind, reverse the reel
Trapped in a time of condemnation
Deprivation, hibernation
Unable to feel.
YOU ARE FORGIVEN
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years….#9
#9. “Happiness and contentment in your life only happens because you are happy and content with yourself.”
Throughout my twenties and thirties, I had a vision of what would make me happy. It was a perfect world and time. It was just outside the box of reality I lived in, but completely achievable….or so I thought. It was more than just career goals or personal milestones. It was this imaginary idea of what my life should be like. I constantly pined for it . I was always waiting for it. I like to think that I had some kind of epiphany about this but maybe it was just a few hard knocks that forced me to finally free myself of these ridiculous and unnecessary expectations.
As I approached 4O, I found myself again…under the rubble of wishes and good intenti0ns. Wow, I was M.I.A. and didn’t even know it!
Why is it that different things make different people happy? Maybe it’s because it is our own particular state of mind that reacts. Happy things make happy people happy. They don’t work as well with unhappy people. People in my life have suffered similar challenges and losses. Although they all found themselves drowning in despair and self pity, some have not come back up for air. They are still swimming around in the aftermath, hanging on to what happened to them, their only strength is their pain. It’s really easy to be unhappy. It requires no work on our part. Acceptance requires action but believe me, it is worth it in the end. Our own contentment welcomes the laughter, the warmth, and the beautiful stillness.
California breathin’
Feeling inspired to write a poem today…….
SEARCH FOR SERENITY
Taking, needing, wanting
All the while believing it is the goal
To find, to get, to hold
A dream deserved
Only to realize
The illusion of plans
And the truth of fate.
Giving, accepting, feeling
As each moment ignites only briefly
Feeding the soul for only now
Is there anything
Not conjured up
Or wished upon
Only within is there light
To find, to get, to hold.
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years….#5
#5. “Everyone you meet in your life will teach you something…..if you’re willing to learn.”
If you think about how much you have learned over your life time so far, it is probably at the very least, mind blowing. By asking simple questions of those you meet, you can multiply this amount of information over and over.
There came a time in my life (probably around 40, since I have evolved slowly), when I realized that every unique being on this earth has something to offer me. I have always found human behaviour to be quite fascinating but within this hobby of observation, it is easy to analyze and judge. When I tried to curb this a bit, I began to see more, learn more and feel more.
Besides the obvious factual information so easily obtained, there is always a story, an undertone that whispers softly , if you listen….I mean, REALLY listen and imagine where it is coming from.
Do you think you can learn something from the homeless man begging for change on the street?
Absolutely! He has a story. You can learn from his pain, his misfortune and the small acts of kindness that give him joy. You can learn from your own fear of him, as he approaches you. Ask yourself why it is so hard to look at his face, even when you hand him your spare coins. Is he not worthy of eye contact or is his lesson to you lying dormant within yourself? Everyone has a story. Your story may not be any more interesting. It is just different. Your story is not worn on your sleeve every day, like his.
There are no limits to what you can learn, only doors for you to open or leave shut.
50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years…#1
A little over a year ago, I found myself undeniably approaching the big five oh (no!). I was determined to make it significant, at least to me, so I decided to share some things I’ve learned over the years…… the good times, the bad times, the crazy times and all those enlightening moments in between.
Some lessons take a moment, others a life time. Maybe you can relate to a few.
Hope you find a moment to join me on a regular basis as I reflect on this roller coaster ride we call “LIFE”, starting with…..
#1. If you’re holding a grudge, you’re letting someone continue to hurt you.
Think about it.
Someone causes you pain. They ruin your day….or maybe your life?
Wait a minute! Are you going to let them ruin your life? Do they deserve that? Do YOU deserve that?
Carrying a grudge is heavy work but only you can lighten the load.
Are you waiting for an apology or someone to have a life changing enlightenment? You could be waiting a long time.
You may be the only one capable of moving forward. Harboring the anger, resentment and pain is your choice.
Simple as that.
Stay tuned for #2 !
Hearts of gold
Are fewer still it seems
This world, so wired for techno garb
Dulling minds with faceless friends
Leaving us searching for souls
On tangled webs that weave
Between truth and trickery 
Hearts of gold
Are all around us
Rebooting dreams of reality
Reaching out blindly
For other fingers too busy texting tales
That never would leave lips
mishunderstood 