The Heart of Hercules

Summer Night, 1913, by Albert Bloch

The Mag #133 with awesome Tess.

"There is no ghost so difficult to lay as the ghost of an injury."

~Alexander Smith

My heart is a collector

 of many burdensome heirlooms

 too heavy to truly hold

each loss is like a boulder

every hurt is asphalt

that could cover a boulevard

and scrape a thousand knees

I carry them all mightily

with the strength of hercules

the burdens of a thousand grievances

weigh down like titanic in the sea

and all the ghosts of abandoned longings

are still waiting to be freed

for all the force one endures

 to hold them internally

is frail compared to the might

it takes to give them liberty.

Also linking with lovely Emily at Imperfect Prose

A Beautiful Sheltering

Red Roofs, Marc Chagall, 1954

The Mag #113

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

~ Lao Tzu

Love layers the strength of hope

gently upon another soul

like shingles upon a roof

building a fortress

 that no grievance can destroy

and a beauty that time cannot decay

a crafted armor that hands have never touched

only hearts have known its true embrace.

The Mighty Things II

Magpie #58

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."  ~C.S. Lewis

BRAVERY

It is not the man that can easily do what we are all frightened of,

but the one who is certainly afraid yet dares to do it anyway.

FRAILTY

It is not the heart that is easily broken with compassion,

but the one too hard to feel it that has taken the greatest loss.

POWER

It is not the hand that swings the weapon that holds the most power,

for it can only quickly move us about, but the one that carries the tools of the builders and weaver of the soul that hold the power to change our lives.

Also sharing with One Shot Wednesday

The Mighty Things

"He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass."   ~George Herbert

It takes courage to live with someone who would harm you night or day,

and even more to just walk away.

It takes love to nurture a child, and hold him through life's trials,

and even more to let go when it is time.

It takes strength to convict a molester, and bring him to justice for his sin,

yet even more to forgive him.

One Shot Wednesday

Also participating in Imperfect Prose with Emily.

The Winds of Hardship Blow In All Directions

Magpie #31

We are not that different you and I

I can feel it in your gentle sway

you can see it in my weary eyes

like a high flag we must face the wind's blow

with a lumber strength deep in our soul

I might shift and you may bend

but we both stand up to what life blows in

side by side or worlds apart

each soul has hardships and storms at dark

we are not that different you and I

for we all long for acceptance and peaceful skies.

Click here to see Willow's Magpie Tales...you will be glad you did. :-)

May there be peace on earth for EVERY man,woman, and child...no matter where they live, or what they believe.

A Certain Kind of Strength

There is a certain kind of hope that comes from emerging empty handed from tribulation's fire, knowing you have survived with nothing more to loose and surely everything to gain.

There is a certian kind of grace that comes from crossing the threshold of forgiveness, to know the difference between being it's giver and the vulnerability of being it's grateful receiver.

There is a certain kind of strength that comes from reaching out, not to pick up the heavy burden, but instead to humbly lay it down.

Underneath a Faded Quilt

Her hands have become too shaky to stitch the detailed quilt,
yet her heart in its many years stands gracefully still.

Her eyes have lost their keen vision to connect the needle with the thread,
yet her spirit can see the glistening of life's beauty that is ahead.

Her strength is slowly unraveling making her too weak to spend hours on her work,
yet the hems of her soul are still as strong as her worth.

Her outer beauty has lost it's luster, like the fading of a cloth,
yet underneath her beauty is greater than it was.

I can see her life now as not an ending sunset, but instead the beginning of the dawn,
for underneath a faded quilt the stitches still stand strong.


For Aunt Margaret

Crawling Inside Someone Else's Shoes

To know what bravery means we must crawl inside the shaking knees of a soldier standing behind enemy lines, that has no choice but to face what he has feared.

To know what prejudice means we must crawl inside the closed eyes of someone who cannot see beyond the wall of hate they have themselves built

To know what trust means we must crawl inside the open arms of a child that holds on to their faith in the unseen with all the might they have.

To know what grief means we must crawl inside the heavy tears of a mother that cries when faced with children at joyous play, for she is only reminded of the child she has lost.

To know what love means we must crawl inside the full heart of a person who has lost everything for the sake of someone else, and done it gladly.

To know what strength means we must crawl inside the still back of a paralyzed man who has learned to accept his frailties.

To know what loneliness means we must crawl inside the weary voice of an old woman whose words are only silenced by her own ears.

To know what mercy means we must crawl inside the mighty hands of God after we have let Him go.