Abundance Independence

23 January 2019

I feel fulfilled and good,

Keeping promises of my childhood.

Someday, maybe someday; 

I'd dream and say

"Things'll happen one day."

Over time circumstances have changed

And my life's been rearranged.

Now I have the time and means

To give life to my dreams.

I no longer have to live in scarcity,

Lacking resources to overcome adversity. 

Pulled up by my own bootstraps,

I'm the one setting improvement caps.

Shifting paradigms have lead to abundance,

Empowerment, choice and independence.

I don't have to do as others will.

I get to choose my own nectar or swill.

In choosing I evaluate the odds,

Is it nectar of swine or swill of the gods?

Dnieper Rapids

I'm in the middle of writing a historical fiction short story. The plot is about a British teen who is enslaved by Viking raiders, then taken to Kievan Rus'. Along the way a skald sings about rapids on the Dnieper River. The place names I've only seen in print and never heard pronounced. I hope they rhyme.

From the Valdai Hills, the Dnieper River flows.

Mostly south to the Black Sea it goes.

There are rapids all along with twists and turns.

The count is nine rapids where the water churns.

Most are quite a fall. Only two are navigable

And the rest of them only spell trouble.

"Don't sleep!" at the first named Kodatsky. 

"Island Waterfall" is the second at Sursky.

After that Lohansk's quite a zinger.

Dzvonesky's a real bell ringer.

Nenasytec's very naughty and violent.

At Vovnyzky the waves are turbulent.

At Budylo be sure to rouse

Or waves'll splash over the prows.

The term "rapid" is superfluous at Lyshny.

Finally, you're free at Vil'ny.

Cry Awry

Cry Awry

21 Sept 2018

You're losing sleep.

Cancer's the reason why.

The hurt runs deep,

So go ahead and cry.

Your life's been sideswiped

And it's direction has altered.

As you've been stereotyped,

Perhaps your step has faltered.

There's a new normal starting now.

You're not sure of what will be.

You'll manage to get by somehow

In spite of all the ache and misery.

Unexpectedly life's different.

You're mourning the way it was.

Living has a new battlefront.

You don't care about dramas.

People around you voice opinions.

Regardless of what splatters,

You stick to your guns

And focus on what matters.

The pain and hurt run deep.

For some relief, go ahead and cry.

You're losing way too much sleep

And cancer's the reason why.

Detracts And Facts

Detracts And Facts

13 Sept 2018

From the way some people declare

Frank unsupported statements,

There's no way to say they err

And point out how to make adjustments.

Frequently underlying conditions aren't stated

And little proof is asserted

So nothing can be debated

And counter arguments can't be inserted.

That's the way people communicate

About politics and religion.

There's no effort to educate,

Not even a smidgen.

The expounders come across as propagandists,

Not open to a different point of view.

In the end they become sadists,

Bleating my eardrums in two.

Convictions are intense opinions.

Their energetic claim detracts

From logic, and the companions

Of faith and belief aren't facts.

Overdue #metoo

#metoo

Overdue #metoo

21 May 2018

It used to be you could

Blame the victim.

Male privilege would

Hand out the dictum.

Now we're claiming

Our worthiness by naming

The perps and reframing

The situation by proclaiming

An end to blaming and shaming.

Giving credit where it's due

And shining light on the issue

With the hashtag #metoo.

It's a topic that's long overdue

And talking about it's not taboo.

As victims we felt all alone.

Today we're setting a new tone.

Old ways are being overthrown.

Patriarchy isn't carved in stone.

We're showing some backbone.

Nostalgia doesn't cut it anymore.

No going back to the way it was before.

Our movement is too big to ignore.

We're fighting with words; and more

We're voting to make our voices roar.

Ring The Bell

Ring The Bell

16 March 2018

At the end of chemo or radiation

They call it graduation.

All staff and caregivers congregate

With the patients to celebrate.

The young Mademoiselle,

With more meaning than she could tell,

Cried as she rang the bell.

No polite decorum for me.

It's not about dignity,

Nor preserving serenity.

I'm making the most of this opportunity.

After weeks of nausea hell,

With a rebel yell,

He grabbed the rope and rang the bell.

Let the bell of hope ring loud and long

As we celebrate becoming strong;

Strong enough to face cancer as beginners

And come out the other side as winners.

Hoping all would be well,

For quite a spell

The child rang the bell.

Shoes Blues

Shoes Blues

11 March 2018

Holes in the soles of my shoes

Has me singing the blues.

After looking at the selection

Of shoes in the store's collection,

Each with its own appeal,

I chose a pair close to my ideal.

At first I liked the look and feel,

Then the flaws started to reveal.

Holes in the soles of my shoes

Has me singing the blues.

Cracks appeared where the uppers flexed.

I didn't see what happened next.

The tops seemed to go unchanged,

But the bottoms were becoming deranged.

That went unnoticed until it rained

And the wetness I felt was unexplained. 

Holes in the soles of my shoes

Has me singing the blues.

Much to my dismay, at home I looked at

My shoe bottoms and could see that

The soles had a crack across the ball.

That's why my socks were wet and all.

I'll have to buy some replacements,

Adding to my money disbursements. 

Holes in the soles of my shoes

Has me singing the blues.

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Personal note: There's been a lapse in my postings. In December 2017 I got a sore spot on my tongue that made it hard to talk and chew, so I went in to see the doctor. On the 2nd January 2018 the doctor called to say I had medium squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue. On January 21st I went to the hospital and fell among the surgeons. They knocked me out, yanked a tooth, cut out my tongue and slit my throat. The doctors were having such a good time they slit my throat twice, in front and down the side. After a week in Medical Intensive Care and 3 weeks in a skilled nursing facility, I came home. In the SNF I recovered enough to start talking again. On March 12th I started chemotherapy and radiation that will go on for six weeks. I get most of my nutrition thru a feeding tube. I can't wait until this is all over and I can come up with a funny way to tell my dramatic story.

Heart-warming And Charming

Heart-warming And Charming

28 November 2017

Your beauty welcomes me.

Your visual appeal touches me

And goosebumps manifest

To make me feel blessed.

Good looks come from symmetry, 

Proportion and repetition,

Like in the marble parquetry.

All three are done to perfection.

Everywhere, underfoot and overhead,

Is elegance and loveliness.

Prettiness and grandeur are wed

Into luxury and courtliness.

The paucity of my treasury

Prevents me from staying long.

My enjoyment must be momentary,

Short, like I don't belong.

The fleeting moments are stowed,

In my memory where they won't corrode,

To warm my heart with grandness

From the sparks of beauty's flame.

In times of poverty and blandness,

I reflect back on your lovely acclaim.

‘I Want To Write’ Rewrite

‘I Want To Write’ Rewrite

27 October 2017

Original by Margaret Walker

I want to write, not just anything.

I wanna write the songs of my folks.

I want to hear them singing melodies in the evening.

I wanna record the strains rising from their throats

As they form their dreams into words; their souls into notes.

I wanna catch their sunshine laughter in a bowl

As they fling dark hands to a darker sky and some

Reach to fill their hands full of stars.

Then they crush and mix such lights until they become

A mirrored pool of brilliance in Mason jars.

I Want To Write

by Margaret Walker

I want to write

I want to write the songs of my people.

I want to hear them singing melodies in the dark.

I want to catch the last floating strains from their sob-torn throats.

I want to frame their dreams in to words; their souls into notes.

I want to catch their sunshine laughter in a bowl;

fling dark hands to a darker sky

and fill them full of stars

then crush and mix such lights till they become

a mirrored pool of brilliance in the dawn.

Guidelines Road Signs

Guidelines Road Signs

27 October 2017

While traveling on vacation,

Anywhere across the nation,

Look for signs high and low

So you know where to go.

Hoping that by using GPS

You’ll avoid getting lost,

And steer clear of any mess

That would add to the cost.

In an unfamiliar location

It’s easy to misinterpret

The guidepost’s indication

And decide the right gambit.

In cities with multiple lanes

Sometimes it’s hard to see

Which way is right and pertains

Or leads to missed opportunity.

One wrong turn and suddenly

You have to get back on track.

The map app helps certainly

When you’re out of whack.

Still it’s a traffic matter 

Of being in the right place

So you don’t go splatter

From being in the wrong space.