Hope Can Be Held Whole or Served by the Slice

 Freedom is strangely ephemeral. It is something like breathing; one only becomes acutely aware of its importance when one is choking. ~William E. Simon

 

I never was brave or good with a knife,

but sometimes I take words and slice them,

so, you can see the core of my life

 and I serve them to the world on once empty plates.

For the rumbles of hunger call like thunder in the rain,

to sailors and farmers alike.

The living yearn to be fed.

Be it hope or be it bread.

So I started trying to fill the emptiness that lives in every silent place,

brush away every heartache

like tears from a child’s tired face.

 And say, it will all be okay,

but truly mean it!

You see I never learned to swim underwater.

Because I was always frightened of not being able to breathe.

I saw someone take their last gasping breath,

and I heard the silence that it leaves.

Since that day, I took hope and ink and learned to speak,

to soothe a bitter ache in the world,

and sooth the ache in me.

Cause I was never brave or good with a knife,

but sometimes I take words and slice them

so you can see the core of my life.

 

 

Carrie 101 💗:

In continuation of my post at the Muse, you may know I work at a library, and that it is inside a lovely garden park where photographers and families come to enjoy the beauty, but what you do not know is:

.....I am almost 60, I have been over weight most of my adulthood.  I have always struggled with knowing how to tell people "no".  I am horrifically afraid of heights. I work out 3 days a week or more to keep my heart healthy, cause most of my family members have died young.  I have a major addiction to English muffins and tacos.  Now that I got some of the messy stuff out of the way, I will tell you all the good things:  I have 5 grown kids.  One I gave birth to, and four that God gave me in marriages.  In turn I have lots of amazing grandchildren that make my heart smile.  We will leave it at that, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.

Thank you again everyone for being a part of the 200th celebration at the Muse!  Especially to Chrissa, Shay & Toni too! 💓💓💓

Linking with the 200th Sunday Muse.  

Trying to Hold the Moon

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 120

Come join us!

To eat an egg, you must break the shell. ~Jamaican Proverb

I was standing on the quick sand of time

Bracing my love on banisters of doubt

Falling between your world and mine

I was unseen like coins in the couch

The secrets held in the reflection of my eyes

Were the moon I longed to give to you

It was close as a lover’s deepest sigh

Yet as far as an elk deep in the brush at noon

For you looked but never truly touched

Afraid of being hurt by the lover that is scorned

 You remained distant like a hunter in the brush

And when you missed the mark you only mourned

***********************************

I am doing a little something different here.  I could not decide where to end this poem.  So you can tell me what you think.  Here is more that I wrote that I decided later not to add.  You be the judge:

Risk is a high stakes gamble where one can lose

And in the search for love can be the same

I stood at the casino table and had to choose

But you cannot bet on hearts with only spades

I was the gambler putting it all out there

And you were the hunter on the make

Sometimes we cannot find the answer

When there is nothing left to save.

In Bondage to What I Cannot See

Painting by Surrealistic Artist Alexandra Dillon

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 111

Fear is the highest fence. ~Dudley Nichols

I have touched the truth with weak hands

In bondage to what I cannot see

Collecting pad locks for every door

Even though I have lost the keys

Fear is a lonely prison

Where windows cannot be found

The answers beyond that jail cell

Are muffled by my own shotgun’s round

and freedom is not a bully

It does not beat the front door down

Yet It sings out loud and mighty

To hearts that know the sound.

For I have touched the truth with weak hands

In bondage to what I cannot see

Standing behind a padlocked door
That can be opened by only me.

"The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience."
 ~Emily Dickinson

Note:

I have found that when I succumb to the fear of change and the unknown, two struggles I have always wrestled with, it has always crippled me.  It leaves me paralyzed, and afraid to move forward in any way, like being on a high bridge with no railing when you are scared to death of heights.   Every time I have made myself face it head on, and get out of my comfort zone, I have always been thankful for it later.  It is always an opportunity to grow and broaden my horizons.  Looking back now I know it is always worth the pain it takes to get through it.  This world needs change, and it won't be easy to face it head on, but it will be worth it!

What the Future Holds

Photography by Anatasiya Dobrovolskaya click HERE for website.

Linking with the Sunday Muse for Muse # 102

The geometry of human progress is an expanding circle of compassion. Every advance in thinking has shown that our relationships extend further than we thought. ~Carl Safina

The red fox runs the autumn river

The black fox leaps the summer wind

The white fox treads the winter snow

Each hunting nimbly to feed their den

We all are diverse hunters

Searching for something more

Longing for a grander purpose

We exit every open door

We are different colored cloths

Part of a grand coat we all must wear

Trying to survive the winter’s rath

And the cold we all must bear

One man’s hungry aching

To hunt down what the future holds

Is part of the fabric of nations

That cover the entire globe.

All the Ghosts Under My Bed

Linking today with Flash Friday 55

I am delighted to be able to join in this time!

Come join us writers!!

When I was five

one night I heard ghosts

They seemed to moan from everywhere

I huddled in my covers

Closing my eyes tight

like army sheets

Fingers over ears

How long can one stay in hiding?

You ask,

As long as it takes

To fall asleep

Hoping to awake

To a ghost free world.