Belonging is More Than a Place,

 

When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind. ~Seneca

 

You don’t have to be a ship to be wrecked

Nor do you have to be in peril to be lost at sea

Yet we lose our way on the gravel road

Where we forgot our atlas and the key

The seagull knows where he is headed

The black bird always knows his place

But mankind loses his footing and purpose

Always running in a hollow race

You don’t have to be a ship to be wrecked

Nor be in peril to be lost at sea

But you need to know your purpose

If you want to know where it is you should be.

 

 

Opportunity * Hope * Purpose

Courtesy Google Images

Linking with The Sunday Muse for Muse # 23

I can't wait all my life
On a street of broken dreams.
~Journey

Hope is not a second cousin once removed that lives in a far away state
it is as close as a dear child planting kisses upon your face.

Opportunity is not some rock star that lives in California that you will never meet
it is countless pebbles along your path right at your feet.

Purpose is not a mountain top that you could never reach
it is anyone's chair that sits in an alley way so just walk up and take a seat.

A Whisper In a Hailstorm

Photo Credit

 

 

Now I know, a refuge never grows
from a chin in the hand and a thoughtful pose
Gotta tend the earth if you want a rose.
~Indigo Girls

 

 

 At a glance, you cannot see a shadow in the dark.

Its beginnings are as undefined as recognizing

one face in a crowd.

For no eyes have ever taken awe at a 

painting halfway done.

Its colors are as obscure as

the misunderstood ring of

a vaguely uttered sound.

Listing, you cannot hear a

whisper in a hailstorm.

Its vibrations vanish in the wind

unnoticed as a sigh of regret.

For a heart has never been moved

by an act of complacency.

Its message is as uninspiring

as words that were never said.

 

 

Linking with Imaginary Gardens for "Open Link Monday"

 

Lonely Is A Velvet Chair

Google Images

 Linking with Poetry Pantry #220

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty." 

~Mother Teresa

In the old house I grew up in, there was an antique velvet chair that sat in the corner of the living room draped with a sheet. It was never used as far as I could tell.  Mother said it was too fine a chair to be dirtied up by our sweaty little bodies. So there it stood ,while I sat on the floor to watch television.

Years later after she passed away, the chair ended up in my grandparent's garage once again draped with a sheet. I came across it searching for old photos of my family. I had spent many nights there at my grandparent's and other friend's houses throughout that difficult time.

Looking back now, I realize it was simply my Dad's way of protecting me from the emptiness that so filled our home. I suppose he did not understand that loneliness is not merely solidarity, for I learned then, that it is also magnified by being kept apart from where you are meant to be.



Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

Elizabeth Taylor, Set of  "Giant", by Frank Worth

The Mag #231



Chase down your passion like it's the last bus of the night. ~Terri Guillemets

I have skinned my knees for far lesser things
recklessly chasing tumbleweeds and lassoing dreams
carrying the load with my own bare hands
searching for meaning on my own spot of land
it takes giant strength to break a steed
and yet another kind to set him free
so now I plow hard on a lonely plain
hoping for sunshine praying for rain
for finding purpose and chasing dreams
is a thirsty calling and a tricky thing
you can get stuck in the mud falling hard
or lose your way and break your heart
either way it is an awkward gravel path
where boots get torn and tires go flat
so cowards need not apply for this post
keep your baggage and just stay home
I'm searching for greater things something more
and it can't be bought at the corner store
I will probably get robbed or ripped to shreds
digging for gold that could never be lent
but that has never before shattered my dreams
and I have skinned my knees for far lesser things.

Life is a Passage of Grace

The Mag #228 Photo courtesy Tess

 

In life we all have an unspeakable secret, an irreversible regret, an unreachable dream and an unforgettable love. ~Diego Marchi

It is

an awkward

yet graceful journey

the trek that each man

treads in this life.  Where

the steps wind in different directions

but we all still head toward the same higher hall

Hoping for some joy and longing to be heard stepping ever

forward on steps our fathers forged. It is a passage worn with hardship

yet still remnants of the beautiful tapestry of life's estate.  

So climb it's steps with all your fervor and hold the banister how you dare,

for you will have to brave some falls if you are truly going to get somewhere.

Directions Not Included

photo by Steven Kelly

 

The Mag #183

 

 

"Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose direction and begin to bend."

  ~Walter Savage Landor

 

Sometimes I am rough like an old highway that is in desperate need of repair

 

and I am stagnant like a puddle where there is no light to bring a glare.

 

At times I am tattered like a worn hem on a dress no one will sew

 

and I am meager like a garden where a careless gardener never goes.

 

At times I am lost like a sparrow that has never built it's nest

 

and I am lonely like a boring hostess that will never have a guest.

 

Sometimes I am empty like a pew where the minister shall not preach

 

and full of dust like antique furniture hidden beneath white sheets.

 

At times my focus is for naught like an unused telescope on a starlit night

 

and I am vacant like a building that it too damaged for someone to buy.

 

 In this life there are no road signs to truly guide the way ahead

 

and purpose can get lost if we drive like our foot is made of led.

 

So slow down and pay attention don't miss the turn you were meant to make

 

for no one else can do it for you, it's a maneuver that only you can make.

 

 

Road Map of the Soul

painting by Andrew Wyeth

The Mag # 178

"The windows of my soul I throw
Wide open to the sun."

~John Greenleaf Whittier, My Psalm

We must truly bear our soul butt naked to the world

 if we want to behold truth's vision upon our path.

Yet we shroud it with robes and veils like Muslims do a girl,

suffocating the bosom of all the answers we ever longed to have.

For a welcomed visitor cannot enter into a fortress locked up tight,

nor can a wealth of knowledge be payd for by bounty of the poor.

Yet we search for fulfillment with eyes that have no sight

trying to attain an answer we keep holding hostage for a cure.

This life is a journey that each soul must ride solo with no map

 and the directions cannot be given at the nearest corner store.

So we chase meaning unknowing to what lies ahead and what has passed

for our quest for purpose is not found beyond the horizon but at soul's core.

A Certain Force

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."

~Oprah Winfrey

Poets United Thursday Think Tank #71 Energy


Also linking with dverse




There is a certain force that moves us
 like wind waves a flag,
 and the tide pushes forth an ocean. 
The energies of adversity,
 and our true passions
 make their way through us
 one way or another,
 driving us onward,
or pushing us down.
   Their power can make us stronger,
 and motivate us
 in ways that no other pressure can sway us.
Like the winter cold
makes us shiver,
and the heat persuades
us to thirst,
and
to
quench
it.
The
energy
of
change
has
an
impact
on
what
we
choose.
Through
 it
all
we
can
 find
 a
 force
 within
 us
 to
 survive,
 and
 to
 thrive...
becoming
 a
 beautiful
waving
 kite
 in
 the
open
 sky.



I have found in my life, that the struggles I have faced have been a driving force in what I choose to do.  In those difficult times  I have also been moved to find a way to better cope and survive.  I think even in my childhood, when I first started writing, that is what motivated me.  I can still remember writing my first poem, and why I decided to sit down, and put my energy into it.  There was a difficult situation going on at the time, and somehow that moved me to write.  The flickering flame of that heated moment sparked me on a journey that has continually been a comfort for me in life.  The energy of life's hardships, and constant change, have hurled me forward in my passion for writing time and time again.

The Artistry of God

Magpie # 57

God loved the flowers and invented soil.  Man loved the flowers and invented vases.  ~Variation of a saying by Jacques Deval

You did not get here all by yourself my beautiful friend

every garden once had a beloved gardener

and each falling leaf once had a limb

the earth at times may seem parched

as the winds blow hard

but your petals hold a purpose

right here where you are.



Also sharing with lovely Emily at Imperfect Prose

A Thousand Directions

Magpie #50

Life is a thicket of choices

a thousand roads leading towards

and directing away

from where I stand

a thousand books and road signs

pointing, but for life there is no map

the exact distance between

where I am and that place I could have been

is a jagged branch I could never truly climb

for the winds of regret only sway us

and serve to waste our time.

Also linking with Poetry Jam

Each day is an opportunity to travel back into tomorrow's past and change it. 

~Robert Brault