Thursday, December 30, 2021

May this be the day - Amanda Gorman

 We come together.

Mourning, we come to mend,
Withered, we come to weather,
Torn, we come to tend,
Battered, we come to better.
Tethered by this year of yearning,
We are learning
That though we weren't ready for this,
We have been readied by it.
We steadily vow that no matter
How we are weighed down,
We must always pave a way forward.
*
This hope is our door, our portal.
Even if we never get back to normal,
Someday we can venture beyond it,
To leave the known and take the first steps.
So let us not return to what was normal,
But reach toward what is next.
*
What was cursed, we will cure.
What was plagued, we will prove pure.
Where we tend to argue, we will try to agree,
Those fortunes we forswore, now the future we foresee,
Where we weren't aware, we're now awake;
Those moments we missed
Are now these moments we make,
The moments we meet,
And our hearts, once all together beaten,
Now all together beat.
*
Come, look up with kindness yet,
For even solace can be sourced from sorrow.
We remember, not just for the sake of yesterday,
But to take on tomorrow.
*
We heed this old spirit,
In a new day's lyric,
In our hearts, we hear it:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
Be bold, sang Time this year,
Be bold, sang Time,
For when you honor yesterday,
Tomorrow ye will find.
Know what we've fought
Need not be forgot nor for none.
It defines us, binds us as one,
Come over, join this day just begun.
For wherever we come together,
We will forever overcome.

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Fighting My Way Back

You tried to destroy me
To undermine me
My work
My strength
My safety
My very identity

You took who I am
The things that make me unique
Special
The things that make me proud of who I am
And what I can do and be and become
You took them all away
And left me with nothing

You nearly succeeded
You almost won
You held me down for so long
For a time I lost my will to fight back

But I am stronger than you know
I have endured more
Than most see in a series of lifetimes
And I have not only survived
I have thrived
Grown
Changed
Used the pain and the struggle and the heartache to make me stronger
Better
Wiser

You cannot destroy me
You cannot control me
You cannot overcome me
My will, my strength, my power

I am the freaking fire!

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Salve

So many months
Of criticism
Faultfinding
Belittling
Malicious lies

Nothing is good enough
Unrealistic expectations
Double standards

Autocracy
Dictatorship
Tyranny

Mentally exhausting
Emotionally draining
Spiritually shattering

The simple statement
You have a very impressive resume

Healing

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Hope

Possibilities
New opportunities
Fear
Excitement

I forget what it feels like
To be recognized
For what I can do
Instead of for a mistake

"I wonder what we did wrong this week"
Is no way to live

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

My Name is Woman

My name is Woman

 I am strong
 I make my own choices
 I follow my own path
 I pursue my dreams
 I reach for the stars
 I have power
 I have purpose
 I love
 I hope
 I cherish the present
 I anticipate the future


My name is Victim
 I am helpless
 I have no dreams
 I can’t see the stars
 I am weak
 I am defeated
 I have no choices
 I have only pain
 I am numb
 I am without hope
 I cry
 I ache
 I hurt for the present
 I see no future


My name is Sorrow

 I have pain
 I live in darkness
 I walk alone
 I fear all things
 I am timid
 I am ugly
 I am repulsed by my memories
 I am paralyzed by my thoughts
 I pray for relief
 I receive no reply


My name is Burden

 I keep my secret
 I have no one who will share it
 I walk alone
 I must not tell
 I bear it unaided
 I have no choice
 I bow beneath it
 I fall
 I break
 I long for relief
 I have forgotten where to look


My name is Impostor

 I smile
 I laugh
 I lift others up
 I care for my family
 I am cheerful
 I make others laugh
 I answer “I’m fine”
 I am dying inside
 I cry
 I mourn
 I think wicked things
 I hesitate to pray
 I can’t trust others
 I don’t trust myself


My name is Emptiness

 I have no love
 I have no hate
 I have no feelings, no dreams, no desires
 I am numb
 I never smile
 I seldom cry
 I wake each day to nothingness
 I rest each night in the barrenness of my soul


My name is Heartache

 I cry for the aloneness
 I ache from the void
 I grieve for the stolen memories
 I mourn the loss of my joy
 I long to be happy
 I feel only sadness, emptiness, pain
 I reach for the things that were taken
 I cannot touch them
 I stumble over the ruins of my life


My name is Survivor

 I take control of my life
 I fight to overcome
 I reclaim my power
 I see progress, change, growth
 I honor the process
 I am not a victim
 I laugh and smile
 I cry and weep
 I welcome the return of my feelings
 I begin to trust myself again
 I reach out timidly to others
 I work and learn and mourn and rejoice


My name is Lori

 I am strong
 I have choices
 I follow a different path
 I pursue new dreams
 I have power
 I have purpose
 I grieve the past
 I work through it and move on
 I still feel pain
 I use it to help others
 I use it to help myself
 I learn to love again
 I welcome the return of the little girl inside
 I believe in God
 I believe in ME!!

Thursday, April 7, 2016

The First Sign of Spring


I hide, silent and still,
closed within myself
the years of my life covering me,
layer upon layer,
oppressing, confining, controlling;
pushing me downward,
holding me back.
The pain and sorrow
are the sticks and stones
in the soil of my life;
blocking my path, deciding my direction, slowing my growth.
Fear encircles me, engulfs me,
paralyzes me
like a bitter cold in the winter of my life.
I lie dormant in the earth,
helplessly watching the death within;
burrowing deeper,
lost, forgotten,
hoping against sorrow,
waiting for something,
expecting nothing.


But into the familiarity of the darkness
there comes one day something new,
startling, inviting,
like the warmth of spring
pierces the deadness of winter,
touching that forgotten part of me
buried so deep within my pain;
stirring my very soul,
awakening the inner self,
the uniqueness within
that is nearly extinguished
by the oppression of the years.


I feel it calling me, drawing me out,
urging me to trust, promising me strength.
I reach upward,
slowly, timidly, awkwardly,
frightened,
unsure of myself,
of others;
afraid to leave the comfortableness of the pain; unable to resist the
hope emerging within.
The work is exhausting,
painful, lonely,
yet exhilarating.
Each step forward gives me
the courage to take the next.
I grow, inch by hard-won inch,
upward,
leaving the emptiness and pain behind
as the darkness within is illumined
by the brightness of the promise.


I remember a time long ago,
before the pain;
a time of innocence, of dreams.
And as I slowly emerge
from the seclusion of the fear,
as hope replaces surrender,
as warmth erases coldness,
as light pierces darkness.
Although I don't know the outcome,
I must trust in the process,
and I can begin to see
the return of those dreams,
and I can once again recognize
the long forgotten beauty
that is me!

May this be the day - Amanda Gorman

  We come together. Mourning, we come to mend, Withered, we come to weather, Torn, we come to tend, Battered, we come to better. Tethered by...