Mind Games

What harbinger is this
and why am I not convinced?

Cynicism wants concretes,
feeds complaints,
exaggerates,
retreats

Need to confront
this wall-building,
fight to retain
Spirit’s message –
deescalate fear’s grip.

(For Reena’s Exploration challenge#119.  Image from personal collection.)

 

How Does the Heart Choose?

Set me on a lonely road
and I will shine –
solitude a strength

And yet, I have an inner pull,
a need for connection,
a longing for depths of love.

But what of these dreams –
do relationships deter direction,
and must I always wait on another?

Intimacy is complicated,
the route undefined,
I am chilled, fatigued

How does the heart decide
when love challenges
arrogance, and fear takes hold?

(Connecting to Eugi’s Weekly prompt: complicated, and Reena’s Exploration Challenge – featured image.)

 

 

 

Window Cleaning

Married addiction
adopted denial
settled for basics

Espoused spirituality
ignored infidelity,
pulled down the blinds.

Believed compassion
could compensate
for indifference.

Limited my outlook
to windows, too insecure
to de-smudge the pane.

Missed the gaping doorways,
the blatant rudeness
of belligerent disrespect

Till withdrawal prompted
accountability, commanded
ownership, changed the lock.

(Image from personal collection.)

Is This Still Me?

Was that really me
fought for feminine rights,
eleven-years-old
persistent to the win?

And was that me
lied about her age
strapped on work clothes
bore responsibility?

And did you know her
that obstinate teen
who defied tradition
and chased an education?

Where did she go,
a faint memory now,
how life tamed her,
taught her subservience

to bury her light
in the shadow of men’s
dreams, that toil should be
selfless, and love for other.

Listen, and you will hear
her echo, faint but growing,
the sound of a mind burning,
the laughter of a soul on fire.

(For Reena’s Exploration challenge: Was that really me?, and Eugi’s Weekly prompt: laughter.  Image from personal collection.)

 

 

Let’s Play

“Let’s play!” honked the goose
to the duck, duck, duck,
“I’ll hide and you come find me.”

“Let’s dance!” sang the tree
to the icy river flow,
as sun smiled broadly.

Tree reflection on icy river copy

“Come find joy! Nature whispers
bright skies parting winter blues,
white radiance leading the way.

Tree with cradle copy(Poem and photos for Cee’s On The Hunt for Joy challenge and Nancy Merrill’s A Photo a Week challenge: at play.)