Collaboration for Peace – 44

 

 

Reach Up, Reach Out

 

I reach up
Spread my arms
To embrace the sky
 
The sky that looks
Down on every person –
Like and unlike me
 
Every person receives
Equal share of the day
And the night
 
The sun and stars
The moon lights the
Corners of darkness
 
Regardless of color or shape
Weeping or joyful
We’re all the same
 
I reach out
To embrace the world
That the sky looks
Down upon in peace
 

 

© Candace Kubinec

 

We’re back! Candy and I bring you a few more weeks of uniting photography with poetry, all in the name of PEACE.

An Elegy

I.

That morning
When part of me
Died with you
I was forced to fathom words
So free of logic
They made no impact
“Gone where?”
The entity spread slowly
Like black ink
Across my heart, saturating me
Into dark pools of nothingness
Liquefying my legs so
I crawled and pounded
At the floor for another world
To open up because this one
Was no longer real

II.

I have your boots
Engraved leather, western
I know they danced up storms
Tears of laughter raining
With friends that could barely fit
Into the funeral home
I have your smile
Tucked into mine
I use it for all that
You forgot to smile at
And all that you did

III.

I recycle your dreams
Tarnished and tattered
They still matter
To me
I see you in the clouds
Emblazoned in
Fiery silhouettes
Did you know that
Seagulls float by
With sun speckles of
You on their wings?

In memory of my brother

~

An elegy is “a poem written to lament the loss of someone or something special to you”, as Gayle Walters Rose explains this week at dVerse: Meeting the Bar. Three stages of grief are included – sorrow, admiration and acceptance.

Writing 201 – Day 4

 

 

No ideal life can be attained

The sun will shine above the rain

Let’s not be critical

Flaws are mystical

Perfection can be mundane

 

 

Imperfection is our prompt for this assignment that involved writing a limerick.It also gave me the opportunity to use this photo I took at a beautiful park in Ontario.

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.

Plasmic

 

 

 

God didn’t put walls in the forest

Where eagles rise with the tailwinds

And chlorophyll canopies shadow dance

Over moss carpet floors

 

Morning glory knows no barriers

Roots of the gnarled oak

Venture out in every direction

Baring their bones to the sun

 

Willows welcome the lark’s sweet song

Arms reach out without thought

Embracing those that walk peaceful paths

Embracing those that do not

 

~

 

  Written for dVerse Poet’s Pub – Open Link Night

Because

Every change leaves a mark

And some are beautiful

~

Fusion

Colours were meant to be blended.

People are destined to live in harmony.

Don’t they know?

That’s what hearts are for.

~

50 Things I’ve Learned in 50 Years….#20

“I am guilty of prejudging people.

It’s a good thing I can change my mind.”

Let’s start with chihuahuas.  I have called them rats and swore they were one of the ugliest looking dogs on the planet. Then I met my mother in law’s dog. She likes to knit and while she does, her dog likes to sit on her lap with an afghan over her head. She doesn’t move. She guards her from anything bigger than her, which would be everything. She is completely loyal. She doesn’t like me…even though I consider myself a bit of an animal whisperer, she just doesn’t like me. I think she knows that I have judged her. Now she’s judging me.

On the human side of things (shhh, don’t tell her she’s not human)…

It is our nature to judge. We obviously need to use this handy skill for other aspects of our lives.  Heck, if we didn’t, we’d be back floating in the middle of a lake eating ho ho’s (o…kay, maybe just me).

We assess situations. We criticize and analyze. We judge ourselves.

So it is only natural that we would judge others.

I don’t think there is any magical learning experience here. I think when it comes to scrutinizing those we meet, we have to force ourselves to change. It is just a button we need to turn off. We need to tell ourselves DON’T DO IT! Be objective. Ask yourself why would I judge when I do not know. When it comes down to it, we do NOT know.

We generalize.

We stereotype.

We assume.

Now scroll back up. Look at that face and remember……

“You……know……nothing”.

Proceed

Sometimes

You must walk on

Through reeds

That sway sweetly

In silence

Because silence is the word

Telling you to move forward

Speaking to your mind

Comforting your soul

Picking up your feet

Along the trail of truce

Even if it only leads

Back to your own heart

for dVerse Poet’s Pub, Open Link Night

http://dversepoets.com/2013/10/22/open-link-night-119/

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.

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.