She peeled her oranges today,
actually for years,
but this isn’t about oranges.

She holds things together,
piece by piece, peel by peel,
grown used to her hands
and the strength they reveal,
but this isn’t about oranges.

It feels strange when another
reaches out, offers to peel,
to see past the layers,
the parts that are real,
but this isn’t about oranges.

She learns self-reliance,
but maybe it’s true,
that letting someone help
doesn’t make her less, but new,
and again, this isn’t about oranges.

So here’s to the balance,
to peeling her own,
yet knowing it’s okay
not to do it alone.

Because, in the end,
this isn’t just about oranges.

Focus harder!
If I could I-
Try harder!
If I could I-
Start talking to people more!
If I could I-
Stop crying!
If I could I-
Stop doing that!
If I could I-
Be more productive!
If I could I-
Stop picking your skin
I really wish I could but-

If he loses, he promises war
If he wins, it’s total destruction
There is no safe pathway
Out of this dark woods of terror.

Can we balance a marble
On the tip of a dagger
And keep it from rolling off
And taking us down with it.

Can we dig a deep hole
That’s big enough to bury
All the laws that we need to preserve
So we can retrieve them one day.

If he loses he promises chaos
If he wins democracy dies
We must find a way to balance that marble
And manage to salvage our country.
ljm

you’re smarter than me.
stronger than me.
and a bit more scared than me.

ignorance is bliss.
weakness is strength.
fear is excitement.

FALLING

I suppose it may have been a message
When that picture just fell off the wall
Maybe it was never really appreciated
Or perhaps, by at least one, not at all

They have a sort of instinct, you know
About what every passer-by may think
And whether loved, dismissed or hated
Brings their self-awareness to the brink

But it’s such an act of self deprecation
It’s almost committing suicide, in fact
In art, imagery is everything of course
Whether style is traditional or abstract

Some paintings can appear overblown
But this canvas was so modestly sized
It is an unusual act of self-deprecation
Being sensitive, when cruelly criticised

But this curator held a different view
Sympathetic, with a wide perspective
Modern art, a form of free expression
Demands that all should be reflective

Just five inches square, it was re-hung
The fall incident reported as appalling
Quite the ironic twist in the coverage
When its title was revealed as ‘Falling’

In a quiet room
where muses play,  
words weave together,
throughout the day.  
With ink as a river,
thoughts flow and engage,  
each stanza a spark
igniting the page.  
Rhythms and rhymes
dance freely in the mind,  
as a canvas of feelings
creatively applied.  

©️Lizzie Bevis