Author: VJ

Permission to write, paint, and imagine are the gifts I gave myself when chronic illness hit - a fair exchange: being for doing. Relevance is an attitude. Humour essential.

Colouring Lessons

Favourite colour?
Black, says she
without hesitation

I falter, stumble,
mind reaching –
who likes black?

Is that a colour?
It’s all colours!
She’s nonchalant

intent on task –
carefully keeping
within the lines

Of course it is...
ill equipped am I
to disagree, images

of dark somber
corners, sorrow
and death crows –

Why black? ask I,
composure forced –
had anticipated pink

equate childhood
with primary shades,
splotches of yellow

and rainbow skies,
candy red apples
on lollipop trees

But black? No –
black obliterates,
negates, destroys

It holds the colour
inside, she explains.
It’s the outline.

Not annihilation –
order; her mind
conceives of order

So much to learn
from innocence,
have long forgotten

the art of staying
within lines, finding
good in all things.

(Colouring Lessons first appeared here June, 2017. Image my own)


Emboldened

Wolves no longer hide in the woods
spurred on by the scent of bloodlust,
whiteness of their fangs sharpened
on the righteousness of iconic fear

No, they find no need for subterfuge
emboldened by this weakened state
society’s heartbeat erratic, signalling
a collective rot…the wolves circle.

(Image my own)

Undeserving

Guide me to source
offer all that I ask, but  
I have no voice…

Desire cut off in formative years
a product of dysfunctional loyalty
I am tethered to other
submissive by conditioning

Have forgotten my primal roots
my lupine instinct numbed
by domestication

Lead me to riches
and I will balk at the door
wander off distracted

It is not indifference
but an inability to relate

the concept of deserving
beyond my reach.

(Image my creation)

Fabricated

The loom on which
I weave
these threads
is more foreboding
than machinery

These fibres,
neither silken
nor wool,
cottoned
from misadventures,
miscommunication,
and inner unraveling

The mind,
an unpredictable
seamstress,
fabricates a flawed tale –
silver threads of wisdom
sewn between precarious lines –
consumer be wary.

(Image created by AI. This is an edited version of the original.)

Lessons From a Newborn

Rest. Nap as often as you need;
life can be exhausting – store up.

Cry. Let your feelings be known –
your voice is your saving grace.

Joy is a whole body experience;
immerse yourself in total delight.

Hold on to those who love you;
your survival depends on them.

See the world through new ideas;
you never know what thrills await.

Listen intently when others speak;
they will be your captive audience.

Imitate other. Practice until you
have found your own expression.

(Image mine)

Trust the process, living fully
in each moment. Be present.

Honour the miracle of existence;
embrace the blessing that is you!

(Lessons from a Newborn first appeared here June, 2016. Image my own)