I've been away for a while self absorbed in my life.
I traveled the less taken path and was rewarded for doing so.
Life is short and,life is precious.
Share what you have and what you have been given. Be a little selfless and see where it takes you

On February 3rd I donated a kidney to save a life. It is a very powerful thing and life changing. You only need one. Share your spare and save a life

And the day came when the risk to remain  tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom

Anais Nin

I missed my hello poetry family.
I've been on a roller coaster ride recently. Figuratively speaking.  It's time to get back to what and who I love. I love hello poetry and my extended family. Your poetry and insightful words brighten my day. You give me strength and courage to move forward everyday. I am honored to be in such an elite group of poets.
My life is richer because of all of you and I just wanted you to know I appreciate you all

I walk in silence observing my peers. I wonder at what point have we become so hardened and jaded.  When our time is more important than others.  When will we take the commercialism out of the holidays. Bringing back the spiritual meaning.  Take time from your very busy  day and give. Feel  the joy you will get from giving a little child a new outfit.  See the gratitude you will receive when you give a homeless person a hot meal.  Make it about what is truly important. Giving of yourself. Sacrificing a little for the benefit of others. If we all did this what a different world it would be. What a great lesson we would be teaching our children. Less of putting our hand out and expecting.  More of giving with wanting nothing in return.  Let's teach that it's ok to pay it forward.

I lay awake at night staring at the ceiling wondering why I can not turn my thoughts off.
Before my eyes, the  ceiling comes to life playing out scenes from  my minds recollections. Is this a dream or am I awake. I know I remember doing these things that are unraveling before my eyes, only In these images I do things differently. Could this be my conscious telling me where I went wrong or is my brain playing tricks on me.  I wish I could close my eyes and this movie would end but even with eyes closed the story unfolds.  It is hard to differ between reality and fantasy. Which is real and what is the moral to this story.  Help me understand

Today I realized I'm thankful for  you!

The trees are about to show us how lovely it is to let the dead things go.

"Poetry doesn't have to rhyme, it just has to touch someone where your hands couldnt."

-Rudy Akbarian

I wonder often what I would do if I were in Jesus shoes.Would I have enough faith to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders. To do what was necessary to save everyone from their transgressions.   I would like to think I would follow in his footsteps. I would like to believe that I could take everyone's pain away. I realize the probability of this actually happening isn't real but I can dream. Can't I? I can do what is in my heart and I can be there for people in their time of need. I can make a difference one kind deed at a time. I will make a difference.

I lay awake at night staring at the ceiling wondering why I can not turn my thoughts off.
Before my eyes the  ceiling comes to life playing out scenes from  my minds recollections. Is this a dream or am I awake. I know I remember doing these things thst are unraveling before my eyes only In these images I do things differently. Could this be my conscious telling me where I went wrong or is my brain playing tricks on me.  I wish I could close my eyes and this movie would end but even with eyes closed the story unfolds.  It is hard to differ between reality and fantasy. Which is real and what is the moral to this story.  Help me understand

If I could be so bold as to simply put it out there.
This generation needs a wake up call. I know that "you" think that you are smarter and more savy than us old timers but I have a little secret.
For centuries time seems to repeat itself. History is the story of man. simply in  repeat. The only difference is every generation thinks they can do it better.   It is the narcissistic character in us all. As time goes by technology advances but with these advancements the human race seems to lose its humanity. There is too much information at our fingertips, too much social media making it ever so easy to become a hermit. Today the art of conversation is almost non existent. The art of speech and debate has fallen on deaf ears because today it is acceptable to date via Internet, carry conversations without ever hearing a tone in a voice, or looking in someone's eyes. The very thing that gives us character is being stripped away and leaving our youth at a lose.  I want to scream out and make the children of today see what they are doing make them realize that it is ok to learn from the past. That they are not wiser, that they do not need to use the technology today as a crutch. Wake up take a stand. Have a conversation with your peers and see them for who they really are. Take a chance and dare to be different. Dare to not conform!

Every test in our life
makes us bitter or better,
Every problem comes to break us or make us. The choice is ours whether we become VICTIM or VICTOR!

I wish I had the power to rid you of your pain. To take the insecurities and replace them with confidence.
I wish I had the power to make you see all the good . To rid you of the pain and suffering you feel the need to have.
I wish you would understand that this ominous feeling you are carrying now will soon seem so trivial.
I wish you knew all the things I know now.
I wish I didn't have to sit back and watch you make the same mistakes I did.
I wish my love for you was enough to carry you through.
I wish the reality that it isn't,
wasn't so.
oh how  i wish......

In the end
it's not going to matter
how many breaths you took,
But how many moments took your breath away!


Shing Xiong

"Don't let people treat you like a cigarette, they only use you when they're bored and step on you when they're done.  Be like drugs, let them die for you."

Unknown

Hearts are wild creatures,
that's why our ribs are like cages.
anonymous

I worry about our future
can we withstand the test of time
we consistently show our arrogance by letting history repeat itself.
why do we always think we can do "it" better. I wish instead of everyone wanting change but doing nothing we could gather our strength and empower our nation to create the change that is so necessary to our very existence. We were once considered the strongest most revered in the world. Now we are weak and laughed at.  If we sit and do nothing we will have given up and cast our fate in the hands of others

I wait alone with baited breath for the return of my one true love.
I wait in the darkness hoping he will come to me and bathe me In his warm glow.
I wait for him to caress me with his words , telling me I am his world.
I wait in anticipation for his touch that scorches my skin in his wake.
I wait in darkness. Alone.
I wait.......

You said to me you are ok, but I beg to differ.  I sit here next to you as an observer watching.  Yes on the outside you seem in control . You may be able to fool those around you but I know you too well and I see behind the mask. I see what is happening before my very eyes. As the evening begins I'm happy to be with my friend but I see the gradual change as the ruby liquid flows filling your mouth and warming your blood. I see my friend disappear before my eyes.   You think your in control but I see it slipping away and before me the transformation begins. I watch and wonder do I rock the boat?  Can I be the one to make you see? The evening goes on and with ever drink I watch my friend slip farther and farther away from me. I become more and more uneasy. I am angry and saddened  to see the control that lasted for 11 years slip away so easily. Knowing how proud you are of this difficult feat you worked so hard to overcome, decimated in the blink of an eye.  Back to square one you will have to go. Can I make you understand what you are doing? Can I make you see how you've gone astray? Is it really worth it to take the chance and possibly lose my friend?
I know the answer before it's even reaches my lips. I really have nothing to lose because I lost you the moment you took that first sip. I only hope I can make you see it too.

I used to be that girl who sat in the back of the class comfortably watching and not participating.
I used to be that girl who was ok with not speaking up and having a voice.
I used to be that girl who wished for so much but thought it couldn't be.
I was that girl!
But as time has a way of making changes happen, I no longer wanted to be
" that girl".
I no longer wanted to go unnoticed.
I no longer was willing to not have a voice.
I no longer accepted that things couldn't be for me.
I now am heard by all of you through my words and I've pledged to  make a difference.
Nothing  now is  impossible because you believe in me.

What a cruel game we play.
we wish it away only to wish we could have it back!

It's laughing at us all the while.

My love for you has no boundaries. I know not where it begins or where it ends. It is eternal and everlasting.
My love for you is forever changing as it grows it also evolves . It tethers  me to you, keeping me grounded. Because of you there is nothing I can not do.
My world is full of hope. You encourage me to pursue my dreams. Making anything and everything seem attainable.
My love for you is possible because of you.
You complete me and I'm happiest when I'm with you.

What does it mean to "Be in Love"!

Does it have to be so all consuming?
Why can't you put as much effort into loving yourself as you do in loving someone else.  
Maybe, just maybe, if you changed your priorities towards loving yourself  Love would be drawn to you like a magnetic attraction.
Traveling with such force  knocking you off your feet.
Not being able to pull away because once you love yourself love can't help but radiate out like a beacon in the night guiding true love to its ultimate destiny home.
Love yourself!

You come to me in my dreams
Full of promise and wonder.
Exciting me with words of promises and touches ever so faint leaving tingles on my flesh.
Do I surrender to this enticement knowing come light of day you will vanish, or do I send you away and deny myself you in all your glory.
I am quickly getting lost in the wonders of your words. Loving how they pull me in and make me feel things I didn't know we're possible.
My body reacts only for you. I am under your spell now. I give of you myself do what you will.  Make me feel alive before the light of day when the annoying sound of my alarm will steal me from you making me wake to the harsh reality of my waking life. Hurry please don't make me wait!

Looking back at my life I wish I could have done things differently.

So many things I wish I could take back or redo.

Than I realize that those very transgressions I  wish I could change have molded me and made me who I am.

Oh the irony of it.

Today I no longer wish away my life like I did in my youth. I wake every morning and thank God for the blessing of a new day.

I look forward to what the future has yet to be.
Like a child waiting on Christmas morning to open all those presents under the tree.

I welcome what yet lies ahead

Today I asked myself a question.
Am  I up for this challenge?
Could I stand by and do nothing?
Would I be able to live with my decisions.
Soul searching is often difficult because sometimes you learn just who you are and whether you like who you have become.
Today I asked myself,
could I really sit by and watch a loved one suffer when I have the ability to give them a second chance at life?
Today I Chose the path less traveled. I took the first step to give  him a piece of ME.

BOLD
Effervescent
Attainable
Unique
Timeless
You

Lies and deception

What is it that makes one feel the need to deceive some one.

Is it self preservation or fear of rejection?

Oh the tangled Web we weave with lies and deception. We become cocooned into a false sense of security through these lies

We make ourself believe that we are spinning this Web of deceit out of fear or to save another from grief

All the while we strengthen our Web with layer upon layer of mendacity

Not knowing that the cocoon is our coffin suffocating us to the point of no return. The lies weigh heavy on our chest leaving us crestfallen.

The only way to lift this veiled web of anguish is to free our hearts of the despair by having the courage to do the right thing.

Through honesty we will find salvation and only than will we be  able to free ourselves of the shroud of treachery we created in the first place.

This thing we call life is but a journey that we embark upon at birth

We think we make all our own choices but I have learned that life is truly what happens while you are making all your plans

We rush through life thinking we have to always have a plan or a destination. I think for some (operative word some) this sets us up for failure

The essence of Life can be missed because we are so determined to get to where we have planned or what is expected that we miss all the side roads which are full of pleasure and adventure.

It may take a little longer to get to the end but why are we rushing to get to the end?  Slow down be curious take a few turns and see where it leads you.

Life should be an adventure not a chore. Love life embrace it don't rush it away. Before you know it you will wish you had it to do again

How often are we given the gift of wisdom?

The problem with this gift is often it isn't accepted or wanted.

It is cast aside as not a worthy gift and having no value.

If only the receiver knew it's worth and what lengths the gift giver had to go through to obtain this gift.

Wisdom is usually obtained with sacrifice and battle scars.

The giver of this gift only wishes to spare the recipient of unnecessary pain but to no avail they never see the worth of of what  wisdom offers so history repeats itself unnecessarily

Next embrace the gift and accept all that it has to offer. You may be pleasantly suprised !

Words

Once they are put to paper they become relevant

They tell a story of the writer who pens them

Some stories are filled With pain. A pain that is freed and released from the owner. Allowing them freedom from the bond age of the meaning behind them

Others write words of desire. Once put on paper validating the emotions behind them and often times allowing the owner to express their feelings for the person the words were meant for.

My favorite words are those of hope and inspiration.   These words are the words that lift the hearts of many. They empower those in need and give  strength to do anything and everything.

Use your words wisely for once they are put out there for the world to see they can not help but change those who read them!

What if today you were told would be your last
Could you say you lived life to the fullest?
Are you proud of your legacy?
Did you make a difference?
If the answer to these questions are not to your liking than you are in luck because for you there is a tomorrow.
For you it's not to late to make a difference.
From this moment on make every minute count.
Make your life matter!