Extraordinary
how efficiently
I wield the knife
Slay the very hopes
that keep me afloat
Slash potential
disembowel a future
Opportunity presents –
so many ports and
I unprepared, freeze
None of it meant for me
surely…I am sentenced
to an institutional life
Murderess that I am.
(Submitted for Eugi’s Weekly Challenge: extraordinary. Image my own)
Tether me
to the riverbank
I will resist
There are currents
to follow, contours
to memorize
Let me soar
these wings capable
imagination intact.
(Image mine)
Life’s mountain
a rough climb
body fails to adjust
focused as we are
on destination
Sights a sepia blur
here approaching summit
scree presents new danger
I vote we pause awhile
appreciate our labour
breathe in colour for once.
(Art mine)
Could talk for lengths
about manifolds,
hydraulics – hands
stained with grease
And when I offered
carefully manicured
heart, spoke words
of togetherness
Silence engulfed him
ducking beneath hood
wrench twisting –
relationship vanished
(Image mine)
Snow drifts in blanketing waves
I’ve forgotten the colour of grass
We plow out paths, add salt
pretend it’s all manageable
Do not speak of risks
how slippery the route ahead
Soon, the thaw will come
temperatures rising, rain
We’ll slosh through the mud
disgruntled and weighed down
Projecting hope in the first sprouts
Spring bearing the promise of renewal.
(Linking up to my weekly challenge: waves. Image my own.)
I’ve been remiss
in expressing appreciation
all the years you’ve carried me –
stride confident, pace swift,
head turning grace –
We wobble now, you and I,
strength questionable
stilted soldiers forging against
a tide of contrary currents
Remember endless laps in the pool
prepping for provincial meets,
then dancing till the wee hours
getting down with disco?
We were champions, you and I
beauties taking on the world
leap-frogging in a race against
a undefinable foe, determined
that destiny held no limitation
I may not have expressed it
but each step is precious to me
and every time you hold me
upright, my gratitude’s sincere
There’s life yet to discover
and dreams still burn
Can you hear the drumming
will you join me in the dance?
(Dear Legs first appeared here in October 2017. I submit this edited version for Eugi’s Weekly prompt: champion. Image my own.)
Calm belies the storm
dis-ease spawning a flurry
fractured ideas
peppered with glints of hope –
with focus, I too sparkle.
(There have been many instances this week that have tested my grit.
I am learning to harness the good moments and hang on.
Linking up to my weekly challenge: I’m learning... Image my own.)
Postcard happiness –
not a thing –
life is fluid
textured
mystery
Revel in each breath
each pain
the strength
of Spirit guiding.
(Tuesdays, I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)
Remember youth?
Life an adventure
heart full of dreams
Responsibility made us quartz
working machines, focus
on destination – life as goal
In the gloaming, time blurs
nostalgia and regret dance with
perspective – the irony of it all.
(Tuesdays I borrow from Twitter @Vjknutson. Image my own.)
For every child
vowed to be the calyx
to cradle each budding soul
with a tender heart
But I am imperfect
ideals devolving
in the face of loss
cross unbearable
Tend my own garden now
recognizing the power
of example overriding
oppression of control.
(Image my own)
One Woman's Quest 