Category: relationships

Temporary Temporals

How fleeting life can be. A string of moments, all connected with something called a lifespan. I recently got news about a friend who is fighting cancer. It hit harder than I ever could have expected any news to hit. She is younger than me. And it feels damned unfair. Now mind you, as usual, she has it under control. She has always had it under control.

It seems like it is easy to react from outside of a situation with righteous indignation, and fear. Those two emotions cause us to fail to see the weight we put on the one inside with each question. Sometimes, it would be kinder to just be an ear.

It’s hard to be just an ear when we want to scream frustration. It will pass but what damage do you do to those around you as you fight to calm yourself down?

That is the stage I am in. I am fighting to remind myself that this too shall pass. It is not about me, and I have to learn how to be there for her. I have to not let my own fears come between me and supporting her. It is Damned Unfair, but life is not about what is fair. It is about learning, loving, and creating. So I wish for all of you…

May you love deeply,

May you learn happily,

And may you always

be able to create beauty!

Monday poet spotlight : J. Reese

So I really want to introduce you to the most amazing author. Poetry is admittedly not her primary vehicle. She writes lovely stories, and makes awesome clay art. She is way more organized than I will ever be… And I had to pester her to be here(nah actually not much…. She was just shy). So let’s show her some love!

Jess Reece was practically born with a pen in her hand. As a teenager and young adult, she won various local writing awards for her poetry and short fiction. Jessica’s goal is to draw her readers into worlds that are as real to them as they are to her, and have them fall in love with her words. She also writes nonfiction, using her skills to mentor adult survivors of childhood abuse and trauma – healing that pain, sometimes decades old, through creative writing and storytelling.

You can find Jess on the interwebs at these places :

http://www.jessreece.com/

Facebook : http://bit.ly/2LSNQtL

Twitter : https://twitter.com/justjessblog

And last, but not least her Instagram is : https://www.instagram.com/jessreece_authorartist/

Go show her some love!

Friday poetry prompts

1.) Write a Haiku about a shoe.

2.) Use two of these words in one poem:

Religion, Angel, Dust, sanity, sin, knife, bleed

3.) Freestyle prompts

Dreary, educate, joy, spark, flame, ball, coffee, book, vape, cloud

Send me your poetry here! For a chance to be featured on my Monday poetry.

Ciúnas

Words have power… Sometimes more than we realize. Take the title of this post for an example. It is a Gaelic word for silence. Yet, when spoken silence is broken.

Too many times we speak with no regard for those who hear. We react to our own version of things. It is a flaw in how human beings are made. We are tender underneath. We react when we are in pain, and we are not always nice. I, myself, have been guilty of this. If I were honest, the only regrets I have in life were just that. Speaking from a place of my own pain, without consideration for who I may have hurt in the process.

This quote has been popping up in my life a lot lately. Though I don’t know who said it. It has made me think. Yes, I am crazy. The muddled mind of a half mad poet and all…. But I don’t try to be cruel. I make mistakes. I apologize. But I also try to learn. I am trying to practice ciunas. The silence. The pause.

Some days I need to practice it so I don’t hurt me. Your inner voice is just as easily able to harm as your outer voice can. Only there it just adds to the bleeding. I think that is the hard part… Silencing that damn inner voice.

I struggle with mine. I know that my friends see me as better than I see myself. I asked for a gift for my birthday this year. It will be in two weeks on the thirteenth. I asked for my friends and family to tell me what they liked about me and what irked them. I got five comments. One was a joke (I think, with the guy in question it may have been serious) about more “nekkid pics.” Two couldn’t think of an irksome quality. The other two… Well both of them said the only thing that irked them about me was my self doubt. Self doubt is one of any artist’s sharpest blades.

I think that I am going to try to pack mine in the back of the drawer. It is time to be the artist who I was meant to be. I will today tell the inner voice “Ciúnas! ” and I suggest that you do the same.

Poet spotlight

Hi! This is another spotlight on my amazing poet friends. Today I want to introduce Kim D. Bailey.

When I asked her for a poem to use to introduce her to you all she sent me this powerful piece, which she told me had been published in a blog. I was so tickled that she agreed to be introduced to you all. Her work is often powerful and has a strong voice  throughout it.

How To Help

by Kim D. Bailey


When momma cooked supper I washed
the dishes, while my sister dried, caressing


them like a crystal ball, and we saw
our unmapped futures. Unrequited.


Babies are made this way, we clench
our teeth hold our breath hope for more, sometimes


less. We got what we prayed for, more
than we expected. Nonrefundable.


Momma can’t wash the dishes anymore.
We wring our hands, howl at windmills, feel


the earth fall upon our skin; it clings like
molasses until we are face down. Asphyxiated.


I try to help. My words are sucked
away, my breaths are shallow. A


mountain has formed in the curve of
my spine. My chest is gravel. Scatter


me on fields of
cotton, clothe the world.

 

 


Kim D. Bailey is a 2016 Pushcart Nominee for nonfiction, and a 2018 Best of the Net Nominee for poetry. She is published in several online and print journals and in audio, including but not limited to Firefly Magazine, Tuck Magazine, The Scarlet Leaf Review, Writer’s Digest, Anti Heroine Chic, The Song Is, The 52 Men Podcast, and Tupelo Press. Kim was a columnist for Five 2 One Literary Magazine from June 2016 to October 2017, writing to Breaking the Legacy of Silence. She has also held editorial positions with Firefly Magazine and Sick Lit Magazine. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two dogs.

Poetry Monday

Remember when I saw that I know many talented poets? Here is a wonderful poet, D. Gabrielle Jensen.

D. Gabrielle Jensen is an artist of many mediums but words are a life-long passion. A traditional Bachelor’s degree education in English and Creative Writing from Colorado State University-Pueblo led to more than a decade as a freelance web content creator, music reviewer, author, and poet. When she is not writing, she is bringing art to the world through cosmetology, jewelry design, and photography. She loves things that begin with the letter “C” – coffee, cats, conversation, cities, concerts, crowds, chaos – and things that don’t – airports, traveling, other humans, macro photography, urban decay, macro photography of urban decay, the beauty of flaw.

Check her out on her website!

Thursday thud.

I have nothing to offer you today or tomorrow. I am sorry. This week has wiped me out. I have been under the weather for nearly two weeks. Nothing serious… Just generally sick. Then Monday Joe had to get an scope from both sides to see what is going on with his health. My angel has a weird mass in the bone of her left jaw and she was sick last week with the stomach bug that I have been dealing with. She had surgery yesterday to biopsy that mass. All told I am wiped. Add in my grandson being sick and me unable to go see him… And this writer has no words. So please forgive me. Blog will be back Monday, I have another poet spotlight planned.

Monday Poetry

So I have many poet friends. Today I thought I would introduce you to another poet.

Deedra Nichole is an indie author, artist, and illustrator that has built a career out of publishing her own dark and mysterious works, as well as mentoring and supporting other upcoming indie authors through her website, blog, and Facebook writing group. Dedicated to expanding her own repertoire of novels and poetry collections, she explores themes of the tenebrous and enigmatic, the mystifying and hidden. Join her today on this journey into the unknown!

Deedra Nichole
https://deedranichole.wixsite.com/website

Thursday review: Into the Small World Lucky in Love by Deedra Mosley

I was lucky enough to have won this copy in a giveaway done by the author. It is a really cute young adult story. This is a well written story that continues to delight all of the way through.

I find that the characters are solid. They feel like actual people as you get caught up in their adventure.

She has changed the cover, so you will get a nicer cover. Here is where you get the Kindle edition and the Paperback!

Wednesday wisdom

Today is a bit of a recovery day. I had a birthday girl, she just turned fifteen, on Monday. Which we spent in the ER because she caught a stomach bug. So I am worn out.

I find myself glad that I have less responsibility right now than usual. I was not chosen to create for the spring issue of Creatives Rising. And the editor apologized because she wanted to include everyone, but so many applied… So she was forced to choose. I think that I will let you in on a secret. I was relieved. The topics offered did not truly speak to me. This time of year is harder for me to create. I end up wanting to hibernate. I force the creation but it is a struggle. So I was grateful to not have been chosen. I applied because I love the E-zine. I will be letting you guys know when it is coming out, I asked the editors to include me in the cover announcement so I could share with you. I have a reserved spot in the summer issue. It works wonderfully for me.

This week Thursday will be a review of my friend Deedra’s young adult novel. I do hope that you will check back here to see that. Next Tuesday I have another guest scheduled.

This week I have to settle down and focus on Serena’s second zombie novel. It is at 13k. Goal is to get it to 60k and to the editor by my birthday (march 13).

Friday, this week, is going to be me posting a dozen poetry prompts. I hope that you will be willing to share your poetry with me.