With words we defy impermanence

Nov 2016

Ahmad Cox

Excited

The world has gone crazy
There is turmoil every where
Divisions all around
It seems like people
Are going backwards
Falling darker into the night
Falling deeper into the void
Living with hate in their hearts
Living at the brink of nothing
Living with depression
Living with despair
Without an ounce of grace
Moving further away from the light
Every thing goes these days
Without any sense of control
Or consequences
People have lost their minds
And it seems to get worst every day
But even through all the craziness
Even through all of the chaos
Even through all of the darkness
There is a part of me that is excited
Excited to see what is to come
We live on the brink
There is a chasm before us
We are just about to jump
And we are about to cross
Even as crazy as life might seem
There is still hope, love, grace, and mercy
And there are still miracles hiding in the dark
We just have to know where to look
To see the goodness and the light
That is waiting for us to accept it
To acknowledge that its there
Once you do life takes on a different tone
It takes on a whole new beauty and purpose
You start to see just how wonderful and crazy times
We are living in and you can become excited to
Living with light and grace and hope
And learning how to spread that sense of excitement
To everyone you meet

Nov 2016

Valsa George

A Sealed Letter

It was on a bleak afternoon
That Cancer came and abruptly announced
"I am going to be with you for ever
Follow me wherever I lead you
Fight back if you can, rather if you dare
But indomitable I am, you know"

Never had John been punched so hard
Shocked beyond even a sigh or silent moan
Dumb he stood so petrified
He saw his dreams fall apart
The sky high edifices crumbling down
The soil under his feet giving way
With a lovely family and an aspiring career

With life, he was passionately in love!

The remaining days were a Marathon race
From hospitals to labs and from oncologists to specialists
While passing through the ordeal of radiation and chemo
Bravely he fought back the pain and nausea
For hope had reigned supreme
And for his family, he must live!

"I will don my armor and brandish my steel
I will not yield! Oh! Never shall I give in
I shall make it through and come out victorious"

But soon he realized it to be a tough battle
And saw the chances of winning too bleak
The villain had almost taken his sway
And day by day his body grew frail
But his unconquerable spirit stood unperturbed
With grace he decided to accept his fate
After thirteen months of incessant struggle
His invincible life came to a peaceful halt!

At the end of his funeral rites, his best friend
Showed himself up before the congregation
In halting voice he said he was on a task
To read out a letter John had prepared
Long before his death but had kept sealed until then
Opening an envelope, with wavering hands
Like an envoy divinely ordained on a sacred mission
He took out the carefully folded sheets of paper

The subdued murmur inside the spacious hall
Gave way to silent breathless anticipation
“My dearest family and friends” the words ran
“Long at last, I am at peace, absolutely at peace
With no emails to check, no bills to pay
No more deadlines to be worried over!
But unfortunately no charming females in sight’’

The words breathed his flamboyant humor
With his trade mark grace and copious dignity
He led the audience through his life under death sentence
He was thankful for the love and concern
His friends and family had so profusely lavished on
In his ailing days of agony and dejection
That exceeded far more than what an ordinary man
In the whole of his life time could accumulate!
The last part was a pronouncement of love
On his beloved wife and his wonderful child
Who stood by him in silent suffering by proxy
With a plea to all to keep peace with one’s soul
Despite life’s sham, drudgery and shattered dreams!

The congregation silently dispersed, walking away
Into a day of sunshine, greatly consoled and inspired!

This is the impressive story of a man who faced death in a nonchalant way which I heard from an oncologist.... ! Inspired by that account I wrote this poem which I fondly dedicate to Chris G Valliancourt.... who yielded to cancer in a similar way...! I feel sorry I didn’t read enough of his poems while he was alive... As I read many of the poems he wrote, especially towards the end, my appreciation for him grows more and more and I identify him with the character in this poem.

Nov 2016

Polar

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann

This is the poem I will always wish I had written

Nov 2016

Joel M Frye

What Max Ehrmann taught me

What truths I know
are neither quiet
nor clear.
I listen to
the dull and ignorant
when I too
tell my story.
Vain and bitter, yes;
for I have
a lifetime of
comparisons.
Late in life
my body calls me
to wholesome discipline
and gentility.
The universe unfolds
with and without
the full consent
of this particular child.
Peace with Spirit
will keep peace
with my soul.
In spite of
and because of
my best efforts...
it is still
a beautiful world.
I can choose
to be cheerful
and careful.
Strive to be
human;
happiness follows.

"Desiderata" has been a guiding light for me for many years. The times I've fumbled in the dark have been when shunning its light.

Nov 2016

Ma Cherie

"In Order To Heal From Death"

In order to heal from death
my child,
you must mourn,
and to do so properly,
in order to deal with the pain,
you must plunge a knife,
relieving the deepest ache of loss,
death is not in vain,

Cutting the **** deeper into your chest,

As I'm still breathing,
wise one,
I say alright,

Looking down at my lungs,
taking in some necessary air,
letting go of all my useless despair,

I'm amazed to still be alive,
& hoping to just simply survive,
with such life threatening wounds,

I take one last deep breath,

I remove the beating heart,
look at it pulsing in my palm,
dripping in cardinal red blood,
staining my skin,

I pull away a hand,
& I examine the sticky fingertips,
smear it on my face,
it's my war paint
mixed in with white clay,
right along with your ashes,

I am prepared to go into battle,

I am a warrior,
I would remove my fingertips
for such an important death,
as I make distinctive markings,
on your body,
so that I can find you again,
and lie with you,
your most,
beloved,

I prepare
many,
special,
& important things,
to take with you on the long journey,

You will reach the end,
at the long fork in the Milky Way,
3 days to get there,

And as you lie out in the sweet grass hills,
to talk to the children,
or become a medicine rock,
to heal the deeply wounded,

While I sing an endless mournful song,
& cut off my beautiful hair,
bleed again,
as I cut my thighs,
with a sharp rock,

I am stomping the prairie grass flat,
dancing in circles,
to the pounding drums,
yipping into the night,

I am chasing the dead,

I attach a rope to my wounds,
swing from them,
embracing the pain,
visions given
in the implications,
as music is drumming,

I close my eyes to see the flames
shaking my hands to the dancing licks,
my feet keep moving
find the beat,
the rhythm of life,

Extract the broken parts of my mind,
as some of your essence sinks,
back into your beautiful bones,

As I travel to the edge of loneliness,
as I try to find the end of it,

All souls eventually travel East,
to this paradise,

A lonely spirit tells me,
get on your knees
ask into the deep
wail into the pain,
lean in,
feel it,
retrieve it,
begin to even believe it,

Then pound an angry drum,
dear child
relieve it,

You must,
rail against time,
as you trust,
as you fly into the night sky,
in a blinded rage
write it all down
then gently turn again,
a page,
it's alright to cry,
& no,
this is not goodbye
just break down,
get hysterical,
scream at the night,
let it out child,
howl at that moon,
ask again & again of why,
run through the house,
with no where to go,
go crazy,

& then,
once your heart is healed,
you just come back.

Cherie Nolan © 2016

I'm having some sad life stuff, a couple deaths. I'm OK,just can't be here as much. Thanks everyone.
This is all metaphorical Native American beliefs ❤

#poetry #death #healing #final #breathing #keep

Nov 2016

Robert Levandowski

11/6

Sitting at this train park realizing it's one of the only places I remember down here.
There's new paint on everything, and it doesn't look the same.
It was all wore down the last time I was here.
But that's whats beautiful when something gets ruined, it can come back as something better.
You just have to put in the work.

Nov 2016

Pax

~ I hate sadness

It makes me look weak,
                        My tears leaks…
                My eyes are sore
        My heart is a bore
  and My body repeats a painful encore.

                  I dust away the sad memories,
but it comes along like it’s my adversaries.

I hate sadness
It shakes my reality, a piercing faithfulness
                towards my soulful unhappiness.

I don’t need help,
    but in truth I am lying to myself.

You’ll never know, what comes and goes
    yet I am stuck between my toes.

I hunger for that light
    but all that comes is my arresting night.

Perhaps I am doom with my own gloominess.
Starvation and Weariness
                  is a consolation of my messiness
~ a choice with laziness,
         to ponder and wonder
                    to the world’s unending sadness.

*© Pax  September, 2013

~ I am musing with the world's sadness, a reflections of my own as well...

i always say this: emotions are very complex and as deep as the vast ocean. A fragment of my soul... so i am thankful to all who have read me and my journey...

#love #life #hate #sadness #lost #darkness #lonesome #laziness #pax

Nov 2016

Pax

an affair

i didn't know i wasn't enough for you
i tried my best to filled the spaces between us
worked hard to keep something alive
yet i wasn't enough to make your bed happy
and my spark was never enough for you to stay
grounded, even our seedling was taken for-granted.

i should fight, and work hard
to keep the walls from crumbling apart.
though i exhaust all my energy
still it wasn't enough
because despite all
you've lost your
love
for
me
.

i was move by a tv series about an affair of his wife. i knew i need to write something so this feeling would go away... oh, i didn't know when your so attach to a character in a film/tv you'll feel all the emotions and make you go weak... oh, well decided to share this.. thanks for reading.

#sad #life #happy #cheating #affair #enough #walls #spaces

Nov 2016

raine cooper

bones

some churches have bones,
and a graveyard for all the prayers
god didn't answer

#god #bones #prayers #church #rainecooper #poeticsighs

Oct 2016

Mel Little

Smoke Screen

In between drags from a cigarette I can barely taste around the metallic punch of anger, I glare at you.
This fight, that fight, words we don't really mean thrown into the pile with other words like "blame," and "fault" and "whatever." Repetitive jabs meant to engulf and inflame sore scorch marks from past spats.
Between me and you is this smoke, fanned across my line of sight in a way that almost blurs you. Sometimes I wish I could blur you, sand down your harsh edges and pull you back into this calm reality in which I live.
But drag after drag, night after night, the same old fights and the same old cigarettes,
I guess it's the only reality I've ever known.

#love #depression #marriage #cigarettes #fights

Oct 2016

Dhaye Margaux

Third Party

Why I always have this feeling when I enter this room
I smell the scent of cologne which is not from yours or mine
How about the color of curtains, it's not my favorite
And there's an extra empty glass beside your glass of wine

I feel like I am no longer welcome when I enter your room
I don't see the smile on your face like what I saw before
The music that you play is no longer my favorite one
Everything I see and feel reminds me that you care no more

Inspired by the title of a movie about an unusual love triangle (a man, a gay and a woman).

#love #party #triangle #third