Good Afternoon

September 25, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Dawn breathes an invitation and Rumi’s words taunt me: Do not go back to sleep. I am loathe to greet the day – not that I despise its arrival, rather that waking has become laborious since the onset of chronic illness. Daughter of a military man, I am conditioned to rise before the sun, have […]

Dis-Figured

July 13, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Trapped inside two-dimensional torusbackward spinning Not even my pulseemits an echo – would needa third dimension for that Am geometrically disfigured,an illusion, I fear, for humansubstance seldom adds up. (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own,)

Even Ghosts Yearn

July 3, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Natural light preferable to artificial – not the harshfullness of noonday sunbut softly filtered rays –luxurious…inviting Love too, should be subdued,gentle as a zephyr –not mythical, but yielding…mindfulnot worshipful nor boastfulbut comforting…warm I am waning lightthe mistral wind waftingno longer a force of naturebut smoke, spirallingvanishing into non-existence And yet, even as shadows spreadI yearn […]

Pain

June 12, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Pain. I push against itchallenge it A warrior intent on provingI am… indestructibleunwillingto flinch Convincedthat denialequals power Except, it gnawsat my edgestears me downbit by bit Just as I prepareto succumb…clarity …this is invitation …surrender is a gift …pain is passage I let goabsolve myselfof the need…. (Pain first appeared on One Woman’s Quest II […]

Need A Verb

June 3, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Movement abandonsI grasp for something…concrete……air to breathe… am fast becoming…sedimentary…an object Need a verb –transitive –to drive me – The wind lifted herThe sun inspired herThe day healed her… (Image my own)

Attitude Wins

June 1, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

If I measure progressby “used-to’s”illness and age win I used to play tennisspeed and muscleease of ambition This place, the nexus of how life has changed,teaches me appreciation Frost in my veinspermanent, warmthof memories aglow. (Image my own.Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson)

Unrestricted

April 6, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Chronic this painfinite the energyfuels each day Ability to wonder,marvel at nature –without limits Thoughts, like leavesbreak away, swirlfloat on the wind – I am at onewith possibilityfree to create (Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own)

Not Thursday

March 21, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Today is ThursdayI’m certain of itThursdays Mom callsafter her hair appointment But she hasn’t calledand I can’t find that showI watch on Thursday nightsDid they change the programming? And then I rememberthat garbage goes outThursday nightand so I scramble, but everyone else has forgottenhow can this be?Today is Thursdayand nothing is going right. (For Reena’s […]

Rain

March 9, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Rain has returnedWinter’s fickle natureoverturning hope I cower beneath bedsheets, bodyon fire – await an impulse greaterthan this pain –creativity the antidote. (Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.

Untethered

March 6, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Tether me to the riverbankI will resist There are currents to follow, contoursto memorize Let me soarthese wings capableimagination intact. (Image mine)

One Woman's Quest

Category: disability