culture – Page 4 – One Woman's Quest

No Idea!

Girls are lucky:
just need to find the right man –
looked after for life.
Advice from a teenaged brother.

Right! I yell back,
fifty years later.
It was all a vacation –
raising the children on my own
looking for God in the midst of chaos
partners with wandering eyes
or absent…always absent…
still waiting for that “looking after”

And how did you make out, Dear Brother?
Oh, that’s right…married…
woman with a good job
willing to let you putter in the background

Guess we were both misled.

(No Idea! first appeared here November 2020. Image my own.)

Superstition

The stare isn’t vacant;
it’s absorbed; attentive –
the being on high alert

I’ve seen cats like this before
crossed the road to avoid
their supernatural curse

But this creature is different,
dares me to make a move…
Why do I feel I’ve already lost?

(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter. Image mine.)

Possessed

Does resolution follow inquisition?
History suggests otherwise…

Yet, here we are
seeking enlightenment,
counting on understanding
to amend the unresolved

Wrestling with denial
praying that research
will unravel falsities,
berate the inappropriate

Good and evil vying
for omnipotence
each of us personally engaged

Righteousness
such a vile possession.

(Image my own)

These Times

The divide between
emotional stagnation
and old structures
now crumbling,
is fraught with peril

We are called to rebuild;
re-solidify our foundations
and regenerate a flow
that sustains and harbours
growth through peace.

(Poem first appeared on One Woman’s Quest II, September 2018. Image my own)

Political

Words have lost clarity
definitions slipping
societal fog

One cries freedom
while another gasps
for breath…

Is destiny a one-manned
sailboat navigating
ambiguous waters?

Or have we fallen,
poked the beast
of destruction?

(Image my own)

Imagine Bridges

Connections, like bridges
run between us,
no matter how subtle,
nations and individuals
there is no divide

Imagine if we acted
in this knowledge –
mindful and kind –
not so subtle the outcome
I should think.

(Imagine Bridges first appeared here Sept, 2019. Image my own)

Stuff We’re Made Of

Rainbows and wishes
wings we give daughters

Little girl dreams destined
to hit walls – shortsighted

these laws of oppression –
for sweetness of youth
does not equate with folly

Women are warriors,
our rage underestimated.

(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own)

In My Defence

The Great Blue heron declares me an annoyance
to which the Blue Jays rasp accordance –
I know I am akin to predator
but I come here with need
to this bug-infested
weed-ridden
riverbed

To be

Torn
as I am
by an undefinable
rustle, an inner bleed
that craves patterns, or signs
naturally occurring rhythms to define
my place within this current worldly disorder

(Image my own)

Not Taking It

We climbed so high
this mountain of man
made obstacles –

I remember the rage,
no more than 9 –
how helpless it felt

a girl in a man’s world
but I climbed anyway,
we climbed anyway

and, instead of a hand up
we get this? Patriarchy
be damned! Your days are
numbered. Mark my words.

(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter. Image mine)

Turn away but stay informed…

Yesterday I had to tell a young woman that the charity who were offering free flights out of Poland has discontinued the program. She shared that the countries around the Ukraine have also withdrawing help.

What could I say?

Many of us have stopped watching the news as the devastation is overwhelming. Television outlets now minimize reporting.

History repeats itself because humanity lacks the stamina to for the long haul. As many as 15 million Ukrainians will be displaced because of this war joining the 100 million displaced due to other world conflict.

I don’t have the answer to this dilemma; I’m just stating what I observe. Our collective priorities do not offer solutions. We fear losing our own status quo.

Understood. Turn away, but please, stay informed.

(Image mine)