Category: Hope

Shoes

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Today I have appreciation
For this life I live
Even when at times I am melancholy
There is still is so much to give

With suffering all around
It’s easy to turn the other way
Thankful for our own good fortune
Maybe we can help another day

Let me walk in your shoes
At least for today
I want to feel your anguish
Perhaps your pain I can defray

Kindness is a currency of gold
Costing nothing to share
Reaching out to the less fortunate
Relieving them of despair

Mirth is not only for the prosperous
Those suffering also need relief
Remember somewhere in your past
You too suffered with grief

Christine Bolton

Daily Prompts

Melancholy

Appreciation

Mirth

Gold

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Deviate

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Trucking along the road

Disregarding life’s load

Taking advantage of the free ride

Letting someone else be the guide

Never to deviate from the course

Using another as the centrifugal force

Having lost all sense of being

You are now merely sightseeing

A shadow of your former self

Resembling an object on a mantle shelf 

Used and abused with no voice

You have forgotten that you have a choice

Pave your own way out of that hell

All stigma attached you must dispel

You have the strength to be reborn

Heal the parts of you that are worn

Find yourself once more

Start walking to that door

On the other side is hope

A new life is not beyond your scope

Christine Bolton

Word of the Day Challenge: Deviate

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Independence

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I must admit, not being a born American, I have always had a problem with July 4th, Independence Day.  I just never quite got the hang of it!  Thanksgiving was much easier.  It was like Christmas only earlier.

However this year it is much more meaningful.  Not because of the food and fireworks, but because of what independence and freedom means. I was not a refugee and I had no language barriers, so for all intents and purposes it should have been an easy transition, right?  Yes, the paperwork and interviews etc. were easy.  But leaving behind family and friends was daunting even for an adventurer like me. Immigration can be quite an isolating experience.

So this year as I witness the cruel and unusual treatment the immigrants are receiving at our borders, I feel ashamed. How could this wonderful country, which opened it arms to me and the people from the other 84 nations that stood next to me at my naturalization ceremony, behave in such a way?  Babies, yes babies, torn away from their mothers and put in cages.  It is truly shocking.  These immigrants are just wanting a better and safe life for their families. They are escaping tyranny and dictators.  A concept hard for the average American to wrap his arms around.

So on this day of independence try and put yourself in someone else’s shoes, for just a moment.  Imagine their plight, their heartache and their longing for independence and be grateful for what we have.

Thank you for listening.

Today’s poem is in response to  Word of the Day Challenge – Independence

Independence

Not American born
I come from overseas
An immigrant you would say
With no communicable disease

I am white and English speaking
What could be better than that
I do not look at it that way
I am no aristocrat

The plight of immigrants today
So poor as a church mouse
Treated like animals
Waiting for the slaughter house

They want what we have
There is no villainy
As did your forefathers
They escape the tyranny

If you can be anything
Be thoughtful and kind
It’s the independence they crave
Lady Justice is blind

Christine Bolton

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Serendipity

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Is it Serendipity
Or just stupidity
Searching for you
Looking for affinity
Hoping for sensitivity
Can I see this through

Hopes are raised
Personalities praised
Skipping a heartbeat
Eyes are glazed
Not amazed
Once more repeat

A merry-go-round
In an adult playground
Is there a better way
You just want to mess around
Another king uncrowned
Try again another day

Christine Bolton

Escape from Chaos

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Desperate to escape the chaos
I reach for my formula of medicine
Journal and writing implements in hand
Slipping quietly into oblivion

My thoughts become an epiphany
Exploding in my head
Furiously I write them down
Capturing all before they are dead

The clear night
Gave forth to brilliant stars
Lighting the sky
Like a fireflies in jars

The soft breeze
Was calming my soul
Musical leaves fluttering
I will soon again be whole

My words move quickly
Across the page
Reminiscent of ballerinas
Dancing on a stage

My heart empties
Its tears of pain
Forming verse so beautiful
Reminding me I am sane

When inside my head
Becomes dark and captured
I can set the demons free
With writings enraptured

Flowing effortlessly
Like waters in a stream
Unleashed onto paper
As if in a dream

Therapy for my head
The jumbled pieces of my brain
Coming together in harmony
My heart does not beat in vain

The pen is mightier than the sword
My words are my power
Grounded by my enlightenment
While adversaries inhabit ivory towers

Christine Bolton

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Negotiate

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Negotiate

Now let’s get this straight
I don’t want a debate
My intentions are clear
I am not going to disappear
I just need to be heard
Deep emotions have been stirred
Stop the finger pointing
It has become so annoying
Childish in its approach
You are not beyond reproach
It’s time to discuss
The future of us
Where do we go from here
More fighting is what I fear
The situation has started to frustrate
It is now time to negotiate
What is your currency going to be
Would you rather be right than happy
Wishing we both had a switch
That we could flip when there’s a glitch
Emotions difficult to navigate
Let’s just try to mitigate
Our differences are surmountable
As long as we are both accountable

Christine Bolton

Posted in response to Tales of The Mind of Kristian, Word of the Day: NEGOTIATE

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Retrospective

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Dealing with the past
Is brave for some
Easier to ignore and move on
Too many obstacles to overcome

Keeping bad memories
Alive inside you
Will cause them to fester
And exit like a witches brew

Poisonous thoughts
Will gnaw at your mind
Best to deal with them
One at a time

A Retrospective view
Of what has hindered
Will allow you to grow
And feel less injured

Unless you visit
And heal your past
You will boomerang back
To being typecast

Clear the path for your life
Moving Forward
Deal with your demons
And you will never be cornered

Christine Bolton

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Disaster

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Disaster

In the wake of disaster
I swim in turbulent waters
I drown in sorrow

The water takes me down
So I can wallow in my sadness
It is the end of my world

I let it take me to wherever
Nothing matters anymore
My life is over as I know it

Wait

This is wrong
This is for me to decide
What am I doing?

I cannot let this suck the life from me
I kick hard and force my legs to push me up
Fight and fight hard

No one can take this away from me
Even though I was robbed mercilessly
Of my love, my self-respect

My heart is strong enough to repair
My dignity resilient
My soul you can never take

At the surface I gasp for breath
Drawing it deep into my lungs
I will survive

Christine Bolton

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Hope

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Hope

There are so many people in the world who through no fault of their own go without the basic things in life.  Food, shelter, love, income, family and in some cases even a country. Such hardship and suffering exists both at home and abroad.  One thing they do all have is hope.  Hope is omnipresent and deep within all of us.  It reminds us we are alive and there is still a chance that things will get better.  We cling to it as if our life depends on it because without hope there is nothing. We have all experienced some form of despair at low times and we can feel very alone.  It made me realize how just simple gestures from those we know, and also from strangers, can make such a difference to our lives and ease some of the suffering.  A kind thought costs us nothing neither does spending a little of our time with someone who is lonely.  Sharing some food could be the difference between going to bed hungry or not for a desperate person.  If we can be anything in this life, shouldn’t we be kind?

Hope

The light at the end of the tunnel
A glimmer of something outside of pain
The thread you hang on to
So life would not be in vain

A hand keeping your head above water
Someone saying a kind word
Breaking through the silence
Like the gentle song of a bird

The five dollar bill in your jeans
That made it through the wash
You’re going to make it by any means
Your dreams will not be squashed

Optimism in the face of adversity
Don’t let them ever get you down
Pessimism is not in your lexicon
A big hug to wipe away that frown

Wishes to be granted
A talk back from the ledge of despair
The kindness of those you don’t know
Who will send up a prayer

A good wish from a stranger
Someone aware of your heartache
A basket of food left at your door
Or perhaps a homemade cake

These gestures are so small to many
But those who are down on their luck
Will absorb them like a sponge
Because that’s all they have to get unstuck

Sometimes hope is all we have
When times make it hard to cope
Life can take more that it will give
But in the end there is always hope

Christine Bolton

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Lady in Waiting

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Dancing on the perimeter of your life
Constantly moving so you would
Not forget I was there
I wait for you to beckon me
Inviting me into your life

You are open and welcoming
But cautious and in control
You do not pursue me
I do not know you yet
You may love another

I will be patient because it feels so good
I’m comfortable in my state of waiting
I believe you will come to me
One day
And so it is in your hands

Christine Bolton

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