Bold

Last week, Pamela Hodges wrote about the word bold.  I think that we should all embrace our uniqueness.  That is what makes that world so fascinating.  As humans, we can choose to be as different as we want to be.

I have terrific friends who are so creative and humorous in their own way.  That is what makes them so special to me.  The individuality of these friends makes our times together much more interesting and never boring.

A few years ago, I grew out my short hair, because people suggested it for a long time.  I was the person who had short hair when everyone else had theirs long. I decided to follow the crowd. For a year I put up with longer hair.  Then, I told a friend that I was ready to cut it.  She asked me if she could be honest with me, and I told her of course.  She said that she hated the longer hair.  I was relieved, because I hated it too.  I cut it the next day.  Then people would come up to me and tell me that they preferred the shorter hair.  I wish they had said something sooner. 

I love that I am different.  I will continue to choose to follow my own beat and dance my own special dance.

Faith and Contentment

This year I have two words: faith and contentment. 2012 brought many trials and tribulations as well as some celebratory moments.  Everything that happens to us shapes who we are. We can let them crush us or make us stronger. I want to have faith that my life will continue in a positive path. I also want to feel content with whatever life gives me. I always try to be positive, but sometimes life throws me a curve that I wasn't expecting. “The greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.” - Martha Washington.

Tears

It is difficult to express my feelings after the events of Friday.  We were all touched by what happened. I spent the weekend glued to my television trying to comprehend. On Monday, I walked into my school and wanted to hug every single child. We will never be the same again.

Work

Most of the time, writing is cathartic.  However, as any writer knows, writer's block is frustrating.  This poem is about that feeling.

Before me, scarlet canvas,

Darkened with agony,

Dripping from this brow.

Blurred consequences compound.

No remark in place.

Voices mute in distant thoughts,

Echoed from obscurity.

My pounding heart

Lying impotent on this slab,

Drowning tender quill.

Butterflies

Butterflies wake up

And flutter through the day,

In and out of lives,

In and out of dreams.

The world’s burdens

Hang on their wings

And fall far away.

Words of a thousand poets

Drift along on the butterfly.

Its wings allow imaginations to soar.

They let us live forever.

Bayou Morning

Where the trees
Drape over the murky waters,
The winds caress the moss.
The cicada chorus grows
Louder, louder, louder,
Then silence and begin again.
Along the bank,
The blue heron stands majestically,
Peering across the rippling water.
The early morning reflects the light
On the teardrop dew,
Opening its eyes to the day.

Don't Give In

Recently, teen suicide has been an unfortunate conversation in my home.  It is scary that it can happen without parents being aware.  Even a teenager's friend doesn't realize the finality of it.  Sometimes kids cry out for help in such dangerous and destructive ways.  Keeping an open dialogue between parents and teens is so important.  This poem is to all of those teens who feel that there is no hope.

Don’t give up.

Your youth has so much to give.

The future knows,

What the present does not.

Shadows that now loom,

Will disappear as you grow

And find your place in this world.

So don’t give up,

Don’t give in

To the darkness that calls you now,

Because ahead is brightness.