Tag: strength

Blog, Flash Fiction, Healing

Starting Over – Flash Fiction

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The fragrant smell of roses was my wake up call reminding me to savor the moment.  How long had it been?  Was it three or four years?  Shuddering I dispelled the troublesome thoughts that continued to creep into my head, derailing me.  I let my mind come back to the present. Today was going to be about me and I just hoped I could remember how to do that.

Taking my tea, I stepped outside, feeling the warmth of the morning sun.  I sat at the table I had lovingly restored and repainted.  There was a breeze that gently blew away the cobwebs of my past.  I felt almost light-headed as the thought of not one single duty to attend to brought a smile to my face.  Many possibilities suddenly presented themselves and I thought this year’s a different thing – I will not think of you

Copyright © 2023 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Merril js hosting Prosery Monday at D’Verse
We are to write a piece of Flash Fiction or Non Fiction incorporating this line from Charlotte Mews’s poem called I So Liked Spring.

This year’s a different thing - I will not think of you.

Prosery is regarded as a piece of fiction/non fiction of no more than 144 words, excluding the title.



Blog, Strength

Emboldened – A Quadrille

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Emboldened

As much as he tried
she refused to waver
Oh so easy to sink back
into material comfort
Those things kept
the wolf from the door
but starved the brain
of nourishment
Emboldened, and with
a shake of the head,
she never looked back


Copyright © 2023 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

De is hosting Monday Quadrille at D’Verse Poets.
Her prompt tonight is “Bold”
Blog, Strength

Enough is Enough

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Enough is Enough

The white rose petals, dried and flat
lay between the pages of their book of life
Memories of the brief periods of peace 
Lost in the surge of turbulent
and ever-rising tides of their conflicts

The storms would subside
and seas calm once more
A truce called and treaties signed
The ravages of their war debilitating
to both the mind and spirit

Over time the view on the horizon changed
Coming into focus with each bouncing wave
The images different, beckoning 
Injecting new life blood into old veins
Gently pushing her towards new territory

Now her wings he can no longer clip
They are protected and invisible to the eye
The collar at her neck, once taut
eventually worn away from the 
perpetual struggle to be free

Her liberty earned at a price
Paid into the coffers of their history
Her determination unwavering
Her spirit he could not break
She had found her voice

Where he withered, she thrived
His weakness became her strength
Her transformation intimidating
Rendering him powerless
Enough was enough and he knew


Copyright © 2022 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Lisa is hosting D'Verse Poets Open Link Night
Blog, Strength

Take a Chance

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Take a Chance

Sometimes you don’t see it coming
Busy spinning on the hamster wheel
because that’s what you do
Every day like the one before
doing the exact same thing
Addicted to the familiarity
The soothing balm of sameness
safe, predictable
Perfected over a long period of time
As if the instructions were printed
in your mind with indelible ink
Never to be forgotten
worthy of recognition
of reward
of acknowledgement
that never comes
And when you get the chance
to experience something 
New and different
Run towards it with arms wide open
There is no rear-view mirror


Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Lillian is hosting D'Verse Poets tonight and has prompted us with
the lyrics of Dancing Queen by ABBA.  We are to pick one line from
the song to use as a base for our poem.  I chose the line
"And when you get the chance"

Image Pixabay
Blog, Quadrille, Strength

All’s Fair In Love And War – A Quadrille

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All’s Fair In Love And War

It is fair to say
that you
have let me down

In all fairness 
I ask you honestly
through a frown

I’m not your
fair weather friend
Easy come, easy go

I deserve better
Fair’s fair I think
So away from you I grow


Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Linda Lee Lyberg is hosting Monday Quadrille at D'Verse Poets.
Her prompt tonight is the word 'Fair'

A Quadrille is a poem of 44 words excluding the title

Photo - Pixabay
Blog, Strength

Lost No More

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Lost No More

Sun streaming through trees
piercing the forest floor with laser light
I follow the path of brightness
towards the beacon luring me

Unafraid of the unknown
I sense I am in familiar territory
Tall oaks, limbs stretched wide in welcome
pointing me in the direction to travel

Focused on the journey I pay no attention
to distractions pulling me away from my focus
I hear not the call of ghosts from my past
or feel the hands that pull on my clothes

The force propelling me forward
stronger than a million magnets
I am no longer lost
I am found


Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved


Laura is hosting D'Verse Poets tonight and she has prompted
us with Lost and Found poetry.  We are to choose one of
the 'Lost" poems provided and respond to it with 'Found' poetry.

I chose to respond to Pablo Neruda's Lost In The Forest

“Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.

Something from far off it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.

Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig
sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind

as if suddenly the roots I had left behind
cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood—
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent.”

Image by jplenio from Pixabay
Blog, Hope

Message

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Message

In dreams 
black lions stare
as you gape in wonder
Irrational thoughts
prevail in your heart
But your mind senses
a foreboding 
of what might come
It is speaking to you 
Listen!
Bury your head
in the sand no longer
Step back, step aside
Empty the mind of untruths
and broken promises
collected over time
Take off the blinders
See the world for what it is
Not the one you have chosen to live in
Come back from the wilderness
“Do or do not, there is no try.”
You no longer have to live
in a prison of your own making
 
 
Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved

Mish is hosting D'Verse Poets tonight and has prompted us with
lines from famous movies.  From the many she suggested, I chose
the following to include in my poem.
 
“Do or do not, there is no try.” – Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980 

Image by efes from Pixabay 
Blog, Survival

Going, Going, Gone

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Going, Going, Gone

Going
I’m leaving home
I said defiantly
when I was four
but I stayed
 
Going
I’m leaving here
I said defensively
when I was a teen
but I stayed
 
Gone
I’m leaving you
I said dispassionately
when I was married
and so I went
 
Copyright © 2021 Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing
All Rights Reserved


De Jackson (AKA Whimsy Gizmo) is hosting D'Verse Poets
Monday Quadrille and has prompted us with "Go"
A Quadrille is a poem of exactly 44 words excluding
the title.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay 
 
Blog, Healing

Not Worth It

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Not Worth It

She stood fearlessly
On the balcony wall
One more step
And she could end it all

Not that she would
She just wanted to scare
A brief moment of power
Silently saying a prayer

What is the point
of anything anymore
His hateful words
had cut her to the core

Time and again
she would acquiesce
Living with him
was like a game of chess

She always had to be
Two steps ahead
To know what was coming
Or fear to tread

This day was like
Just any other
She was only breathing air
But to him it was a bother

He was irritated as usual
With what she was doing
A fight ensued
It was always brewing

Emergency vehicle sirens
Sounding in the distance
Probably coming for her
To offer their assistance

Digging deep in her soul
Searching for serendipity
This is letting him win
She’d had an epiphany

Stepping down from the ledge
Her strength had returned
The power was hers
The tide had turned

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Serendipity

Balcony

Acquiesce

Emergency

OctPoWriMo – Poem a Day #16 – Catch me when I fall

 

Photo by Megan Wood on Unsplash

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Blog, Haiku

Weakest Link – Haibun Monday

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This challenge made me think about teamwork and how in some industries the strength of the team is key to success.    If one person on the team is weak then the chain can easily be broken and a collapse of service is inevitable.

 

Like links in a chain

Strength is in the weakest link

Knowing it is there

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

In response to D’Verse Poets Haibun Monday – Murmuration

The challenge is to perceive the qualities of the group, and to distinguish what makes an individ​ual member of that group both a part of it and apart from it. What sets or groups can you observe directly or in your imagination? Aim for clarity and simplicity in your language.

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