Resembling someone I no longer know
Empty, devoid of emotion, almost inhumane
Seeing you, grudgingly, in your moment of glory
Pumped victoriously with ego
Endorphins swimming with energy
Circling the waters like a shark
Targeting your catch of the day
Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©
Photo by Artur Nasyrov on Unsplash
Word Prompts:
My glass half full, yours is half empty
Allowing room for more negativity
Mine is always a sunny disposition
Going against your doomsday expedition
I want to fly high with wind beneath my wings
You would rather be grounded and do other things
Differences can be healthy and normal
In our case, not so much, our conflicts have been awful
We are not twins and our interests are varied
Sometimes our interactions can be quite frenzied
Your intentions not always distinct
However your actions are succinct
There is no deadline for a resolution
Our relationship always has a stay of execution
Yet somehow we have made it work
You know you are not really a jerk
I just say that from time to time
When I think we have come off the line
We always find our way back to the center
Neither one of us is a dissenter
With your fingers on my pulse
My being you could easily convulse
You have always been my confidant
There is no one else I would rather want
Exchanging our sugarcoated sound bites
Loving each other into the night
I suggest, that as tomorrow is another day
We should just throw your glass away
Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©
Words Prompts:
The politics of yet another day
Causing a stir amongst the masses
Spirited conversations ignite
One voice louder than the next
A proverbial battle of the classes
A line is drawn in the sand
That no one dares to cross
You fear for your life
Silence might be best
Your beliefs your albatross
Tantamount to a civil car
The rebellious versus the righteous
Neither side knows what they don’t know
A verbal conflict louder and longer
The winner being the most pious
Blind faith of the minority
And an archaic amendment
Gifted us with what we have today
Fractured here and broken there
Drowning us in a pool of resentment
Knocking down our allies
With scornful and outrageous demands
When the anti truth becomes your facts
You are making enemies of your people
Whose dilemmas you will never understand
An association doomed for failure
A reflection on our society’s blindness
The moral compass conveniently cast aside
In favor of the inflated ego
Observing the decline of social responsibility
Where self-serving trumps kindness
Those paying homage to the narcissistic god
From his shirttails they will unhitch
When their stipend shows no relief
Their sum of all fears will be balanced
By Karma who will prove to be a Bitch
Christine Bolton
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Word Prompts:
Sorrowful and woebegone is your life
When you take a good look
Checking in and out of relationships
Like a dog-eared library book
As a stroke on a keyboard
Searching all the profiles
Life’s offerings in a database
Bringing on the fake smiles
Following one another like lemmings
With no fear of stepping off the ledge
Not even considering the consequences
Balancing your life on the edge
A leap of faith into the unknown
Do you have the stomach for it
A resumé of lies churning out the match
Maybe today is the day when something will fit
Be another lamb on its way
Blindly to the slaughter
Maybe this time you’ll get chosen
Another chance, another day, no time to falter
Secretly scorn those successful
For they create the legend
You are destined to follow them
On your journey to transcend
Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©
There is an empty place in my soul
Where you once used to live
You have left there long since
As there was no more of me to give
You visit my mind often
Unbeknown to you
You come and go when needed
Until I’m ready to say adieu
I’m trying to comprehend
Where it went so wrong
I know you never understood
Why you’re so headstrong
Independence is worked for
Fierce and won by the brave
Not necessarily to settle a score
And not to enslave
It is achieved so you are not weak
The monsters cannot win
Perhaps that was the problem
To explain, how could I begin
When I found you drowning
Staying afloat under abundant pain
Fending off enemies in your mind
Although always in vain
No one was good enough
To withstand your allegations
Even offering you love
They fell short of your expectations
Love is an understanding
Not a thing in a box
To be discarded so thoughtlessly
Like a pair of socks
It takes work and communication
On more than one level
Things are not always straight
Sometimes they are bevel
Life is not black and white
There is plenty of grey
To smooth the edges
Of a bruised individual with plenty to say
A different concept for you
Difficult to sustain
Although we did try
Until it became a strain
The enemies in your mind are still there
Acknowledgement makes them stronger
If you would realize they don’t exist
You will be tilting at windmills no longer
Christine Bolton
Word of the Day Challenge: Abundant
What happened to us?
Give me your tired, your poor
Your huddled masses
Lady Liberty welcomes you
You can escape the classes
Come here, it will be safe
You will be able to flourish
Bring your family with you
So they can be nourished
America was founded
So those could flee
Oppression in their native land
Come to America and be free
Sadly this is not the case anymore
America has its own oppressor
Preposterous that he has been allowed
To become an aggressor
Putting children in cages
What a despicable plan
Crying for their Mama
The work of a bogeyman
How can this happen here
His party is enabling
He speaks only to his base
Dividing and dismantling
This is so far removed from liberty
What kind of person cannot relate
To the plight of these families
America is no longer great
Christine Bolton
Fandango one Word Challenge Preposterous
I’m a little late with this poem for the Word of The Day Challenge on June 20, but hope you enjoy it.
Circle of Life
From first breath
Anticipation
Mouth open
Seeking mother’s breast
Confirmation
Christmas coming
Anticipation
Gifts under the tree
Santa is on his way
Gratification
Puppy love
Anticipation
Love at first sight
Heart is broken
Devastation
Walk down the aisle
Anticipation
Love forever
Happy ever after
Excitation
Baby on the way
Anticipation
Names on a list
Which to choose
Rationalization
Future to share
Anticipation
Sharing life
A growing family
Dedication
Broken agreements
Anticipation
Heartache to come
No relief in sight
Humiliation
Alone again
Anticipation
What to do now
Where to go
Devastation
Christine Bolton
Word of the Day Challenge: https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/06/20/anticipation/
Journey
If you have lived your life
To the ‘nth degree
There is no part of you
That is not damaged
Leaving behind some debris
Growing and learning
Through the circle of life
Banging into walls
Running into dead ends
Doing your best to avoid the strife
The happiness is in and out
Like the sunshine playing with the showers
You bask and you run for cover
Laughing and crying
Living and dying like the flowers
You flourish while you are nourished
Taking the food of the gods
Drinking the wine of life
Sometimes overindulging
So what are the odds
What goes up must come down
You take the good and the bad
For every hill you climb
There is chute going down
And sometimes a Galahad
Life is always a gamble
You play the game
You can win big and fall hard
Welsh on your debts if so inclined
But take responsibility for any blame
Never give up on your challenges
You will always see them through
Life is a race to the finish
How you get there
Is entirely up to you
Christine Bolton
Word of the Day Challenge: Flourish
Integrity – Doing The Right Thing
Integrity is demonstrated on a daily basis by most people, usually unnoticed, because we believe it is the right thing to do. However, several stories have been reported recently of people who have demonstrated integrity in extraordinary circumstances. The most recent, and excellent example, was about 22 year old Mamoudou Gassama, an immigrant from Mali who saw a toddler hanging from a balcony five stories up an apartment building in Paris. Without hesitation Gassama scaled the outside of the building, moving from balcony to balcony, and whisked a 4-year-old boy to safety as a crowd below screamed. The Video, Click here , was jaw dropping. His actions went viral on social media, where he was dubbed “Spider-Man.
In my opinion another display of integrity was that of Emmanuel Macron, President of France, who met with Gassama and offered to begin the naturalization process to make Gassama a French citizen and said, “Because this is an exceptional act … we are obviously, today, going to regularize all your papers.” He also offered him a job as a firefighter, stating that he had shown the necessary skills required for the job. The President demonstrated his integrity by doing the right thing but he did not let it influence his policy on migrants.
In the US there were at least two recent memorable events where integrity was highlighted. The two African American gentleman who were astonishingly arrested for trespassing and forcibly removed from from a Starbucks in Philadelphia, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, chose not to pursue a lawsuit against the city, Mike Dunn, a spokesman for the city of Philadelphia, told The Washington Post. Instead, they agreed to a symbolic payment of $1 each and asked the city to fund $200,000 for a grant program for high school students aspiring to become entrepreneurs. Wow!
Then there was the other young African American, James Shaw Jr., who fearlessly disarmed a shooter in a Waffle House in Nashville who had already killed four people. Shaw was eating at the restaurant that night and became an instant hero after he charged the alleged gunman, Travis Reinking, and wrestled the rifle away from him.
“I figured if I was going to die, he was going to have to work for it,” Shaw said after the shooting according to CNN.
He went on to start a GoFundMe account raising more than $230,000.00 for the families of the victims.
These are all fine examples of integrity, doing the right thing, and without any hesitation. The four gentlemen are tough acts to follow.
Christine Bolton
In response to today’s Word Prompt: Integrity
My name is Christine
And I am a gallivanter
As a child growing up in England a million years ago, everyone used to book their annual vacation immediately after Christmas. At the back of each newspaper and magazine there were countless advertisements for holidays abroad. You would fill in a little section of the ad with your name and address and send it with a stamped and self addressed envelope. In a few weeks you’d receive a big glossy catalogue! When I was 7 or 8 years old I used to save my pocket money and buy stamps and envelopes so I could send away for all these fabulous free books on exotic places all over the world. My mother couldn’t understand my fascination and she thought my expectations were very lofty about wanting to see the world.
It never left me though and I became addicted to gallivanting! I am fortunate in that I chose a travel industry career in sales and marketing. I worked for travel agents, a major airline and then fine hotels, ending up in private country clubs. Always working with people either planning a trip, actually traveling, or at their final destination. Of course my choices helped tremendously with the financial side of things and I was lucky enough to gallivant all over the world for next to nothing. I even ended up living overseas! I had the opportunity to follow my dream and I am a better person for it. Traveling is an eduction by itself and it teaches you to be more accepting of everyone.
Someone said once, “Show me the child at 7 and I will show you the man” (Or woman!). He was right!
Dream
I wish I could travel
To the ends of the earth
So dreamed the child
Perhaps to Cairo or Perth
Learning different languages
Colorful Bazaars
Mystical places
Why not reach for the stars
Hang on to your dreams
Keep them close to your heart
Sometimes they are all you have
While you map the chart
The world is your oyster
It presents you with a pearl
Enjoy the wanderlust
And give it a whirl
What you envisage
Usually comes true
Keep dreaming on young thing
One day you’ll be saying adieu
Christine Bolton
I’m a little late with this submission but it’s such a great word!
Gallivant Word of the (Yester)Day