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576 · Jun 2017
What Survival Means to Me
Dorothy A Jun 2017
When you've felt like there is nothing left of you
You're spent - flat out on the ground
The craziness of life has mowed you over
Well, you get up and stand
That is what survival means to me

If you cannot stand
And you have to crawl awhile
Then that's how you make it
To get yourself moving

If you can rise up
But your legs feel broken
Then you use a crutch
But you get moving

If you are utterly helpless
And someone else
Has to lift you up
Well, then reach out your hand
For it's up to you to start moving

The world is full of survivors
574 · Jun 2017
Mouthpiece
Dorothy A Jun 2017
We are writers
And we are all artists
We are a mouthpiece
To add to the voices of the world
We express pain
We express love
We express life
We express disappointment
We express despair
We express hope
It is just that the pen
Is our choice of expression

Violins make their point
When the bow crosses their strings
And the ear is filled with music

We are the collective melodies
That share kinship to their song

Trumpets blare their sounds
As the breath of the player
Makes contact with the instrument

We add our own kind of breeze to the world
573 · Aug 2012
Good Conception
Dorothy A Aug 2012
Sired by the Pen
When its Ink flowed out
The Paper contained it well
Bringing the Words to life
And it grew tall and strong

For it was a good conception
561 · Jul 2011
Spring
Dorothy A Jul 2011
Between the extreme realm
of bitter cold
and sweltering heat
lies within my soul
a wellspring
of minute beginnings

Like a newborn babe,
out from the earth
come tiny sprouts,
the innocent infancy
of Spring's bounty

On this big, round ball,
this aged, weathered world
that we live upon,
comes the newness
of rebirth
of renaissance
of resurrection

So I dare not take for granted
any of this life.
crazy or not

Witnessing the heat parching the ground
But the snow caressing it with white jewels
And the Spring showering it with liquid love
I am in awe
Wisely soaking all of this into my being
So I can view
the reaping of Heaven
555 · Feb 2014
Shame
Dorothy A Feb 2014
I am a thinking person, a logical person. Yes, that is true, but with that said, I am also a feeling person, with emotions intact, yet I am well able to reason and come to solid conclusions when emotions need that counterbalance. Sometimes, I succumb to the emotional side, but I always try to keep that in check with my logic based thoughts.

That said, deep inside somewhere, apart from my intellect and ability to think properly, is an insidious, dark hole that I don't want anyone to penetrate. For if it is penetrated, it takes shape and form to reveal a monster in its lair, like a fire breathing dragon, one that cannot be reasoned with. I know well of its dangerous effects.

That monster is shame. It has been tapped into before. It has been pervasive. It roars its wounded, angry bellow and wishes to take over everything that is about who I am.  It overpowers logic and tells me that I am no good, that I am a failure, that I should just hide away from everyone.  Shame tells me that I am hopeless, helpless and of no value whatsoever.  It doesn't want anyone to come in and cleanse those wounds, for it knows no trust, knows no compassion. So it licks its own sores, soothing its own pain, has opted for self-preservation.

I want to slay that wounded dragon within, to bring it out of that dark, stinking den that it lurks in. I want to seal up the hole and cleanse away the infection, hopefully for good. I want to overcome that battle, to destroy the fierce fire breathing animal that took root early in life, from an ugly childhood, from school bullying, from life experiences that were ungodly.

But I am tired, and feel almost completely defeated. Yet I just exposed that secret to you, and ugly secrets revealed and exposed to the light can and do set us free.

So the battle continues, because I want to win and won't give up until I have.
554 · Sep 2011
A Work of Art, Not Complete
Dorothy A Sep 2011
I am just a fragment
of the whole vision

I am a canvas, not fully painted
I am a story, not quite scribbled down
I am piece of music, yet to be ended
I am a sculpture, with carvings here and there
I am a song, not yet copyrighted
I am a stage production, assembling a cast

Yes, I am
Ready to come to life
548 · Mar 2015
Pain
Dorothy A Mar 2015
When we grow deeper with others down the path of our lives, we are bound to run smack right into pain. It's an inevitable experience of the human condition.

The alternative? It's just you stuck in a shallow abyss.
548 · Nov 2010
The Sun (haiku)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
The sun, day's diamond
Chasing away the dark void
Lighthouse for the earth
546 · Feb 2017
Limmerick
Dorothy A Feb 2017
I wsih to write a limerick that's fine
But I'm gettin nowhere, line by line
In fact, it *****
I want to rip it up
But maybe more will come to mind :-(
540 · Dec 2014
Popular
Dorothy A Dec 2014
That one word. I never was--no, not me. Not popular in school--was just trying to survive, trying to dodge the bullies and *******.

I was never the life of the party, the friend everyone wanted. I was too shy, had too little confidence--much too nerdy. No, not popular, and I'm too old to care like I once did. Yet it isn't just kids and teens who crave to fit in.

I just observed the popular button on this website. I like to check it for notations and updates. I've plenty to say, and sometimes I hit the jackpot on my writing. Sometimes, I don't.

But I''ll say this: If you write only to get the accolades you write for the wrong reason. Whether your stuff is popular or not, write because it is a passion that you must do. If just for the sake of the art--write. Even if one or two enjoy it, you have accomplished something well-- if you gave it your all.

You write because you have something to offer.
You write because your words and thoughts matter.

That's my two cents, for what it's worth.
535 · Jul 2017
Place in the Sun
Dorothy A Jul 2017
Sea of faces
All different races
Going all different places

I was at the mall
A solo mission
People were passing me by
A throng of beings
Going about their way
How I longed to connect with them
Any of them
For I had no smile
And the smiles I witnessed
Were not for me

My heart
Wanted to have a part
Lonely from the start

Loneliness has been my
Old, yet unwelcome companion
Since I was a girl
And it still reminds me
That it lurks in the shadows
In my shadow
As it follows me everywhere
In which the light cannot shine in

No matter your plight
Keep searching for that light
For every dawn banishes every night

That was my hope talking
Just now, that is
Indeed, it is a God given gift
Along with a faith
That refuses to give in
That says that I am *beautiful

That says that I am loved
That says that I am wanted

So now those sea of faces
In that tide of loneliness
Haven't swallowed me whole
As I, at first, feared that they would
For in those myriad of faces
I believe that theirs and mine
Are not so different after all
We are merely kindred spirits
Simply on that indomitable quest
Each one somehow searching for the light
And longing for that
Place in the sun
534 · Nov 2010
Hungry Soul (senryu)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Who can calm the beast?
Cravings of the hungry soul
Born into famine
532 · Feb 2017
Age of Innocence
Dorothy A Feb 2017
I miss the age of innocence
No, I'm not an angel
As none of us are
The terrible twos and those tantrums...
But that tiny child
Who didn't have a cynical
Or snarky bone
In her whole body
.............................That was once me

For quite some time, we Americans
Loved to pretend we were so naive
When Lucy and Desi slept in twin beds
When Leave It To ****** produced perfect parents
When the world seemed less disturbing
As we wore those rose colored glasses
  
In my parents' generation
Nothing seemed meaningless
We were victorious and invincible
In the midst of World War II
There was great glamour and pride
The news wasn't 24/7- craziness

This was all before my time
I am a product of the sixties
When the Vietnam War surely made war seem like Hell
When fighters for civil rights showed us the ugliness of racism
When what it meant to be female was quickly shedding its old skin
Far from the role my mother represented to me

I wish I could be that believing again
That trusting and forgiving
I miss being so unaware
So fresh in imagination
Where I could shield myself from it all
And I'm now sad that I never will be that way again
Dorothy A Jan 2017
I know what it is like to be a survivor. I know what means to be redeemed. I have fallen down with a hard crash, but I can walk, today.   I've experienced hate, but also love. Indifference has gained plenty of territory in this age, and fatigue is no stranger. I've grown weary of the daily grind and sometimes feel like a pretender. Nevertheless, I have found much to be passionate about, and I'm glad to be a part of the Beating Heart Association-also known as "alive".

We are warriors in a battlefield, because there is a war going on out there. I've wanted to shake hands and call a truce, for I've needed the peace and quiet. I needed to take hold of my thinking, for I think my punches were landing back onto me. I'm often guilty of self-deprecation, so don't look for lemonade from me. I'd just as well hand out lemons.

Sure, I love happy endings, for it is a distraction from many harsh realities.  This planet surely contains conundrums.  There are many amazing things in the world as well as there are many things that are far too perplexing. I have had plenty of doubts in God, others and myself, but still manage to maintain a flicker of faith. How it gets rekindled is what makes it divine. Everything else in this world will end up old, useless and discarded, but such intangibles have staying power.

Visions of hope make this world possible.  An existence without flux is an existence most stagnant. To conclude, throwing in the towel just cannot be an option. So take note: You can still see me walking down that Yellow Brick Road, experiencing the journey that is full of bumps, twists, turns and surprises.
Dorothy A Jan 2012
I am a poem that does not wish to be mediocre
I want to penetrate to your core
Past your presumptions
And violate your routine thoughts

Swift as a sword
I want the stroke of my pen to
Make you bleed
Any tears of indifference

But I fear I fall short
For Shakespeare sonnet
I am not
And I yearn for a cutting edge
529 · Feb 2014
Valentine's Day Poem
Dorothy A Feb 2014
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Happy Hallmark Holiday
It's all nothing new
Just a bit of snarky humor to add to the day :)
528 · Oct 2013
Halloween Haiku
Dorothy A Oct 2013
Wise children, beware!
Mutilated pumpkins grin
Wandering, masked souls
526 · Nov 2009
If I Told You
Dorothy A Nov 2009
If I told you how dead
I often feel inside
would you want to run
the other way?

If I told you how scared
I am over the same old things
would you tell me
not to be such a baby?

If I told you that my words
could inspire you
to write words of your own
would you laugh?

If I told you all these things
and many more
in the depths of my soul
would you call me friend?

Would you?
524 · Nov 2009
Seek Your Face
Dorothy A Nov 2009
I will seek Your face
I will run the race
Weary and tired,
but awe inspired,
I will seek Your face
524 · Jul 2010
Hope
Dorothy A Jul 2010
Hope is not a material object,
not like a shoe
that shines with sophisitcation,
that soon is old and worn,
its leather ragged
and its sole full of holes

Hope, unlike that shoe
cannot be discarded,
thrown away in the trash

Therefore, it is with you always
to tuck away in your heart
for safekeeping,
and to bring out for use
whenever life seems
to have given up on you
on your dreams,
on your desires,
on your vision
for a better tomorrow
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Your life for a friend
Putting everything at stake
Reflecting God's love
Dorothy A Feb 2016
What can I say in ten words?

Well...

In spite of the pain, life is surely worth living
                          ______
Make a noteworthy difference - look past your own front door
                         ______
You, the author, can reach my soul with your words
521 · Aug 2010
Your Holy Being
Dorothy A Aug 2010
Shadow of Your face,
upon all Your loving grace,
inspires me to sing
a melody upon dove's wings

To my Lord I see
You through all my vision can reach
and believing through faith's eye is seeing
the presence of Your Holy Being
Dorothy A Mar 2012
When are you going to lay it all down?
When are you going to give up the fight?
When are you going to take those boulders out of your backpack?
Don't you know that you can't wait til you get it right?

I'm trying, God, I really am

When are you going to know that I love you?
When are you going to stop being on the run?
How come you still see Me as the enemy?
Why do you still hold up your guns?

I'm trying, God, really.... I am

You really need Me
And I really want to be on your side
One minute you are praying to Me
The next minute, you hide*

You are right, God.....

I need to stop trying
And give up the fight
Your path is one to life, divine
And Your love holds me tight
515 · Dec 2015
Life Isn't Playing It Safe
Dorothy A Dec 2015
Though life is not a game
I've often conducted mine
Like the King on a chessboard

Shielded
Protected
Cautious

Yes, I've made daring moves
But was more often on the guard
And I don't want to finish this venture

Known for playing it safe
514 · Nov 2010
Into the Old West (a haiku)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Tumbleweeds tumble
Once alive, they've turned to ghosts
Into the Old West
514 · Oct 2010
If I Could Not Write
Dorothy A Oct 2010
If I could not write
My days would turn to night

If there was no such thing as art
I would die from a broken heart

If I could not dream
Deafening throughout the skies would be my screams

If I could not hope
I would never have learned to cope

If I did not feel
Life would be unreal

If love did not exist
Death would be my wish

So I continue
To write
To create art
To dream
To hope
To feel
And to love
514 · Mar 2015
Copyrighted
Dorothy A Mar 2015
The hope written on my heart
It belongs to me
And it's mine for keeps
I've got a legal right to it
For I've earned every scar and scratch
Printed upon that beating muscle
So it's legally mine
Has been fought for
In the battlefield of life
And has no right to be infringed upon
To be taken away from me
512 · Nov 2010
On Empty (Senryu)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Stomach, satisfied
Brain, often stimulated
My heart, on empty
Dorothy A Nov 2010
I want to write a poem
but the words escape me
Is there anything new
under the sun?

I've written about
Love
Pain
Depression
Anger
Death
God
Evil
Light
Hope
Nature­
and so on

I don't want to sound redundant
I don't want to regurgitate the same thing
I fear I might be a broken record

So I wait patiently for some more inspiration

I want to write a poem
but the words escape me
Is there anything new
under the sun?
511 · Nov 2010
First of Spring (haiku)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Green is the valley
Spring's youthfulness has arrived
New leaves in soft breeze
509 · Sep 2013
To Be
Dorothy A Sep 2013
To be in need.........is to be vulnerable

To be vulnerable.....is to be a risk taker

To be a risk taker.......is to be brave

To be brave....is to experience what's out there beyond your own existence

To be beyond your own existence....is to be completely alive

To be completely alive......is to fully feel

To fully feel....is keeping it real

To be keeping it real....is worth it to be.
509 · Jun 2010
She Walks On
Dorothy A Jun 2010
She sees her beauty
in His eyes.
She feels younger
than a budding blossom in May.
Taller she walks these days.
Smaller are her concerns.
Soft is her lofty brow.
There is sunshine in her hair
and an apple in her eye.
Somehow there is a vision
that she keeps on following
and a road never ending to an utopian time.

She sees truth
in His eyes.
She feels stronger
than a red hawk in autumn flight.
So courageous, she senses her might.
More contagious is her laughter.
Strong are the days and long the evenings,
for the logical clock is her generous friend,
and the humble breeze is her patient guide
that keeps propelling her forward.

She longs to hold Him close,
and envelop Him in her arms,
and so she walks on.
1990s...can be applied to God or to men
507 · Nov 2009
Find a Way
Dorothy A Nov 2009
Backed in a corner...
No way out...
Find a way

I guess it's "no" this time
I cannot accomplish my dream
Find a way

It will never find me
It does not have legs
But God willing
And I am still in the running

I will find a way
Dorothy A Sep 2013
I'm a poet....and I do even know it!
Dorothy A Jul 2010
Did you ever feel
the need to apologize
for even being alive?

You may not have
actually said these words
but you acted like it
Perhaps?

Thoughts buried down
deeply inside you
That you were a bother
That you were in the way

No parent is perfect
And most don't wake up each day
Saying, "How can I mess up
my child's life today?"

So we need to forgive them
for falling short,
for hurting us
instead of loving us
the way we were meant to be loved
500 · Jan 2016
P-O-E-T-R-Y
Dorothy A Jan 2016
P**   Put your thoughts to words

O  Over a piece of paper, computer screen - or whatever

E   Edit your work to your satisfaction

T  Tell us tales with your fingers - let it be your voice  

R   Read your work over, and then read someone else's

Y   Yearn to express yourself, again and again
500 · Dec 2010
What Gets Me Through
Dorothy A Dec 2010
What gets me through
is seeing You in my view
Not love of man, fleeting
But You keep my heart beating

While the world has its sorrows
Poets write of brighter tomorrows
Are we so naive
in that we believe?

My brother took his own life
Acquainted with inner strife
But, as a sword, I'll take up my pen
Knowing my life is in God's hands
498 · Nov 2010
Give Me All Riches (senryu)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Give me all riches
Deny to me wondrous love
I am the most poor
490 · Nov 2010
Summer (haiku)
Dorothy A Nov 2010
Long and lazy days
Cool off the heat at the beach
Summertime enchants
490 · Jul 2010
Will I Call You My Love
Dorothy A Jul 2010
The sun is giving away a golden glow,
but it is not ours to possess

The moon is made to lead all lovers,
but it does no beam upon us

The stars are arranged for a romantic plunge,
but we cannot dive into the diamonds of light

Not until the sun, the moon, and the stars
ever desire to belong to us
will I call you my Love
487 · Mar 2018
Tightrope of Hope
Dorothy A Mar 2018
Doesn't it feel that way, sometimes?
That hope is a thin line
And your tottering over it?
One misstep and you fear
It's soon gone
It's over and so are you
As you plunge
Into the abyss.

That's when hope is
Thinning out
And the rope is fraying
And the line is swaying..
And if you can only make it
Before it all falls apart
484 · Jun 2010
How Could I Not?
Dorothy A Jun 2010
A tear shed,
Mingled with blood
How could I not
Give Him my love?
Alive to this world,
Yet He was dead to sin
How could I not be
Born again?
Died and risen,
But He sees us
How could I not
Know Jesus?
482 · Mar 2017
Going Home (a flash story)
Dorothy A Mar 2017
Lily drove past tiny towns and big metropolises.  She packed up what she could in her small car and left the rest behind, anything to get away from the life that she helplessly felt was eroding away into disaster.

Her dad was right. "Never fall for a guy who is more in love with himself than he is with you," was his advice to her as she was about to embark to Los Angles. A practical man from Iowa, who was most comfortable on the cornfields, Lily's dad was always her solid rock.  She never felt she should compare her men in her life to her dad, but they fell far short in the comparison that she never tried to use as her measuring stick. Nothing phony or pretentious about him in his daughter's eyes, Mack was the real deal of what a man should be.

Now her husband, Trey, was just the opposite. He was the lead singer of a local band, and his magnetic attraction towards women was certainly not uncommon among musicians. They fell for him like he was the Pied Piper—for he was viewed as a lady killer—and he willingly obliged more than once to any adoring female fan. Lily couldn't put up with it anymore, and so she was heading home. Two years since she saw her dad, he was surely there to welcome her back with open arms.  He told her she always had a place in his home. Her old yellow lab, Buster, was waiting for her, too.    

Lily drove past mountains and valleys, twists and turns, drove by wheat fields and wildflowers. They were the breadcrumbs that paved a way to the cornfields and sleepy, little towns that were all so familiar to her. Once she got there, she'd give her dear dad a huge bear hug, receive dozens of sloppy kisses from her dog, greet an old friend or two, and take a nice good bubble bath—anything to clear her mind and soothe her soul.

So it was Iowa, once again, that she would make as her home. From there, who knew? All she knew is that she was well on her way.
477 · Nov 2009
Where are you?
Dorothy A Nov 2009
Where did you go?
I cannot find you
You are a stranger to me
It's like you've gone away for good
and are not coming back

Sometimes your there
Sometimes your not
Sometimes your hot
Then cold again
Back and forth
Back and forth
I cannot figure you out

I beg you to answer me
to help me out
to find my way
but you just shed a tear
revealed in the reflection I see
as the mirror reveals the pain
476 · Feb 2017
Limerick #3
Dorothy A Feb 2017
Fefe hailed from the state of Maine
She loved to guzzle down champagne
A party girl
Diamonds and pearls
Sugar daddies always played her game
475 · Mar 2017
Limerick #4
Dorothy A Mar 2017
There was a handsome man named *****
Who made his home in East Toledo
Ladies' eye candy
Binoculars handy
As he jogged on by in his speedos
475 · Jun 2010
Hearts and Minds
Dorothy A Jun 2010
The heart keeps us alive
It pumps
Excited,
it jumps

The mind is what keeps us wise
alerted by the heart
it awakens
and the churning starts...

Both are organs
That make a rhythm
Who can live without them?
470 · Apr 2016
Nothing New
Dorothy A Apr 2016
Nothing new
Written under the sun
Every word
Another pun

Innovation's whisper
Only left are crumbs
Oh, pitiful fool
It's all been done!

My ego's gone from massive
Back to square one
Once I thought the road, endless
Now I feel shunned

Prose regurgitation
Upon the page it's from
Even the muses agree
It's all been done
457 · Feb 2015
Turning Fifty
Dorothy A Feb 2015
I remember when I was going to be twenty-five. I thought it was so drastic because I was going to be a quarter of a century old. Wait! Stop the presses!

I have to poke fun of that mindset I had. I didn't want to celebrate that day but wasted it being miserable, instead. Now I'd like to go back to that younger version of me and say, "Hey, get a reality check! This is nothing to worry about, so why all the drama?"

I don't remember how I felt when I turned thirty. Now five years the wiser, I probably thought I'd never be that ridiculous again. Piece of cake! Thirty wasn't over the hill by any means!

When I turned forty, I was preparing myself to accepting the inevitable. The month before, I lost my father. If I could get through that, this paled in comparison.  Now middle age had knocked upon my door. I had no choice but to answer.

Now that I'm turning fifty, I'm trying to convince myself, "Dorothy, you'll be alright" but I'm surely not buying it. This time, I have something to write about--a half a century! A quarter more of a century upon that other quarter! What would my twenty-five-year old self think of that?

I'm trying to be okay with it, but I admit I'm struggling pretty badly . It should be a triumph! It should be an accomplishment! I've got things I want to improve on, but there are problems I overcame, places I went and people I have met. Nevertheless, I'm still afraid of the unknown.  Will I end up like my mother, the early stages of dementia, or my father with Alzheimer's?  

Where did the time go when I thought youth was on my side? What will the future hold? I find myself sandwiched between two worlds. One is gone forever and the other has yet to arrive.  I shouldn't be entangled in either one--regret or dread. I am not up for any battle.

I live in a youth obsessed culture. I live in an age when to be "in" is to be faster, prettier and younger. So it is what it is. Like it or not, here comes fifty.
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