Old Friends

Old Friends

Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy

 

When I think back, it was during my study abroad travels that I first started writing poetry. I always traveled with my sketchbook, a lesson my professor instilled in me, which at this point was filled with sketches of buildings, until the last week when I finally took a moment to slow down. Wanting to remember everything, I took a moment to open myself up to the sounds of the world and just listen and watch. 

____

Sipping my coffee, I watch as it sinks, lower, lower
People come in and out
Old friends
I feel the worn spine of my book, turning pages, passing time
A bit of foam lingers on my lips
Fingers warmed by their tight embrace
Conversations flow freely
A babies cry, newspapers crumple, mugs clink, laughter erupts
A Tuesday morning
Old friends
I linger in the corner, peering over my book
Language that I do not understand, people I do not know
Unfamiliar, yet I feel peace
I do not want to leave, I linger
My coffee mug turns cold, my book closes
It is time to leave my old friends

Settle

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Paris, France

Sink to the depths of the ocean
Age a thousand lifetimes floating like a leaf
Wait by the flames and become ash
Search for these moments

And settle

Hold tight this quiet that settles your mind
Releasing the voices of turmoil
Finding your rescue within

Shouting to the howling wind will defeat you
Dulling your embrace of this world
A deafening companion of uncertainty
Seek out your core, steadying your foundation
And build amidst the darkest depths of silence
Finding your armor against this world

Breathe in your peace and release
Your heartbeat a steady reminder
Rest a focused thought
Bring it in but hold on to nothing
In and out till it’s slow and steady

Find your answer
You are the deep ocean
A floating leaf and the dying embers
Find your calm

And settle

My Painted Sky

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Orvieto, Italy

Why are there tears
When I look up into the sky
What do I see

I see everything.

Your love, your beauty, your soul
Your everything

My everything.

Painted living wonders
Dancing in the wind
I am carried in your arms

Where am I?

I have forgotten this world
Entering the one above
Free of my sorrows, pains
I am bound no more

For I have you always with me
Because you show me
In this world and in the next

Strength, courage, compassion, love, forgiveness, kindness…

Because of you
i am

_____

I see God in colors. He is there in the bright yellow and oranges of the sun rises, in the ethereal blues, purples, and pinks of the nightly sun sets and in the incredible blues of the sky and the deep greens of grass. In the seconds that my eyes fall upon these wonders I am at peace, immediately thanking Him because I can see His work.

And it is beautiful.   

Where do you see God?

I Am A Thinker

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Sedona, Arizona

 

My troubles set my already troubled mind down a dim road.
They pile on, unforgiving in their weight.
One by one I hold a box before me, revealing its contents with the pleasure a girl might have opening her closet to check for monsters.
I try to make sense of them, because I am a thinker.
Sorting out the why’s, the because.
Searching for an answer, a semblance of a reason this box is here.
I am too slow in my goings, the progress I make seems but a single page from a book, where there is little hope in understanding the entire story.
But I must make sense of it, because I am a thinker.
Oh how I wish things were easier done than said, than thought.
If they were maybe I would burn my troubles to the ground.
Would I be free of the weight then or would I remain trapped to the ashes left
in its wake?
The humor of it seems I am both wary of action and inaction.
I fight for the sanity of my rationality knowing my mind is both lock and key, with the power to free and the power to cripple.
A balance of both, a lesson in each, I surrender to the acceptance of the weight.
I carry them now in the hopes that someday I will have the strength to light the match, scattering the ashes with a lasting breath of air.
My mind settles and I am free.
Because I am a thinker.

________

I have always been told: “You’re a thinker.”
I always thought it was a good thing, but I’ve come to realize sometimes you just need to act.

I write this after having lost an opportunity because of my lack of action. Have you ever lost something because you did nothing, were waiting for a better moment? Could you see the opportunities laid out before you but didn’t act because you were afraid of failure?

Most of us struggle with this. It’s a fight we must win against our own mind telling us to hide. We do not realize it in that moment of uncertainty, but there is nothing to hide from. Sometimes we need to release ourselves from the pressure of overthinking things, from searching for every possibility. Break through that barrier because it’s holding you back from life and unimaginable experiences.

Our mind can be our cripple but it can also be our greatest strength.

Conquer it and you will conquer fear!

 

One Belief

Hawaii

Oahu, Hawaii

We had arrived an hour early to church through the confusion of time change. There was no one but us three in the church. I was a bit fidgety but there they were, right and left of me, both stoic…

_____

We gather at church a little early
Sitting in the quiet
Somber, peaceful, silent
My dad with his head hung low
Mom with her eyes to the Gospel

I sit and I watch
Each deep in thought
For a moment the world is stilled
My mother clings to her religion through books, truth
Words that fill, satisfy
She accepts all and gives everything
Walking in search of Father who will heal her sins

I sit and I watch
With his head hung low, eyes closed shut, my father prays
An exhaustion so pure his body gives in
He has worn a different path
Searching not in books but in his heart
Solitude and meditation are his links

It is beautiful witnessing two beliefs
Both strong and powerful
Pure and genuine
A love rooted deep through living
Having known dark and light

I sit, I watch, I wonder
How can a belief be questioned
How can there be uncertainties
When your two constants have surrendered so completely
Where they go I will follow
It is not a blind following to be shamed
But rather a belief in of itself
To follow with all your heart
To love, to trust, to faithfully leap

I sit, I watch, I follow

Who We Are

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San Antonio, Texas

Defined by our past
Our great loves and epic tragedies
Our triumphs and failures
The company we keep
And those who’ve fallen

The surface so easily legible
We are labeled and defined
Friend or Foe
Worthy or Unworthy
What then remains

We are all that can be seen
Yet so much more

Dreaming creatures, we are passion
Longful leaders, wild believers
Beautiful lovers, hopeful visionaries
Ever-changing, always and forever
Dreaming, believing, seeking

Who we are

The Descent

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Sedona, Arizona

Thanksgiving 2017 found my family in the midst of the Sedona Mountains. In search of its famous vortexes we found instead a man who carried hearts made from the earth. One each he gave us and in turn we offered him curious glances. Upon climbing further we found him perched atop the highest peak playing music for all to hear. He sang out for peace, joy, healing, and compassion. When he came down to greet us once more we were sure we had met an angel and had found our long awaited vortex.

_

When the world seems too big Mother Earth offers comfort
All we need is look
When the world’s flying by Father Sky offers respite
All we need is ask
Find a seat next to Her and look up to Him

Praying for peace of light in this darkened world
It’s shadow will never reach this spot
Quiet stillness accompanies this vast landscape
Nary a footfall reaches my ears

Atop a mountain sits an angel summoning musical notes of beauty
He calls to the land, to the souls, calling forth our eyes, ears and mind
As we rise, as we soar, we abandon our bodies
For in this light we see clearly
Arms outstretched as we ride the notes in the sky
For peace, joy, healing and compassion

Feet settling on the ground our journey ends
In the beginning we climbed searching
In the end we descend having been found

Transient

 

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Corpus Christi, Texas

Beautiful in life, we live amidst the trees
Swaying with the winds, glowing in the hues
But a moment we balance
When in time we fall, it is not in finality
Caught in open arms or among the shores of creation
Carried away, a beautiful goodnight

To all those who have closed their eyes to this world
Who will truly see when they open them again

<a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/drifter/”>Transient</a&gt;