Tag: survival

Blog, Survival

Free At Last

by  •  • 13 Comments

Free At Last

As night turned into day
the light in the dingy room
depressed me more
and I slipped beyond gloom

Overcome with sadness
my feelings I tried to repress
Teardrops fell from my eyes
and I was clearly in distress

Through my moments of crazy
I saw the parcel on the floor
It was a box tied up with string
I hadn’t noticed it before

Who could it belong to
No name and address supplied
I opened it cautiously
Considering the contents inside

A leather bound book
With a letter addressed to me
This is your time, it said
Get up and be set free

No more sadness now
This is the end of the wrath
Your time has come at last
You are now on the glide path

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

 

Word Prompts:

Dingy

Parcel

Repress

Glide

Photo by Raven Dark on Unsplash

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Survival

Get Away

by  •  • 12 Comments

Get Away

She became the tired recipient
of his irrational behavior
He’s up, then he’s down
A relationship doomed to failure

Tolerance wearing thin
Her desire to please had waned
She had to get away
and no longer be restrained

Enough is enough
Her dedication there no longer
What won’t kill you
makes you stronger

Not wanting to drink poison
for him this day
She swore to leave
and him she would betray

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

In response to Reena’s Weekly Exploration Challenge Week #58

Keywords

  1. Whiner
  2. Patience personified
  3. Pessimist
  4. Testing Times
  5. Doer
  6. Jilted Lover
  7. Circumstantial
  8. Devoted

Reena asked us to pick a minimum of two keywords from the above list and weave a story/poem around them, without using them.  The onus of identifying the keywords is on the writer by using them as a theme or a personality.

Photo by Melan Cholia on Unsplash

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Survival

Blind Faith

by  •  • 4 Comments

Giving potency
to the dormant
a zest for life
and a desire
to move forward
The course will be drawn

Be confident
in your quest
Eyes straight ahead
you’re never alone
Challenges met
Another day’s dawn

Abiding love
will not fade
or wane
Invisible to the eye
it will stay strong
a crutch to lean on

When times are rough
it will be the underpin
Keeping you upright
and moving forward
Competing
in life’s marathon

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Word Prompts:

Zest

Abiding

Love

Blog, Survival

Saddened

by  •  • 3 Comments

My heart is heavy again today

It feels like pain will never go away

I was doing so well

Never hearing the warning bell

My world suddenly on its end

I look to you but you will not bend

Your actions provoke

Even when nothing is spoke

Goading for a reaction

I’m innocent, rejecting the accusation

This treatment I cannot abide

I just want to run away and hide

I am walking aimlessly in a minefield

Where your weapons you do wield

There is no middle ground

It’s as if we have drowned

I go into survival mode

My livelihood is about to unfold

I must walk away from you

If it is the last thing I ever do

 

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Daily Prompt Abide

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Pain/Sadness

Debilitating

by  •  • 7 Comments

The morning light was squinting
Through the bedroom shades
Few clouds in a sunny sky
The birds singing their serenades

Earl Grey in the teapot
A light breakfast prepared
Saying hello to the day
I thought I was prepared

It happened again
Without any warning
The monster reared its head
Leaving me in mourning

A verbal attack came
From nowhere I could see
Blindsided as usual
While I was drinking my tea

I said I was feeling better
Not a complaint or a question
Yesterday experiencing something minor
A simple statement, not aggression

Then how do I become
the target of your onslaught?
I didn’t do what you suggested
Is that really a fault?

Your words of anger
So hurtful and debilitating
You are angry because what?
I feel like it’s baiting

You are looking for a fight
I never know why
I am so totally unprepared
I have no battle cry

Your reactions to statements
Are so unbelievably strange
You attack and become the victim
Setting a scene to derange

Trying to wrap my arms
Around your state of mind
Incognizant of my own pain
It is you I have to find

Know suggestions can be useful
They are offered to awaken
Like opinions they cost nothing
Don’t be surprised if not taken

If I need help I would ask
If I need a doctor I would deduce
If I need support I would expect
What I don’t need is verbal abuse

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Word of the Day Challenge Debilitate:

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Survival

Quarry

by  •  • 3 Comments

Deceived by your eloquence
I was swept up by your pander
Your agenda was not initially known
When I realized your plan
You did not appreciate my candor

Angered by my directness
You were no longer comfortable
Your swagger became limp
Seeing my chance to escape
I was no longer vulnerable

Escaping from your clutches
Your words were accusatory
There was anger in your eyes
Your goal would not be achieved
I would never be your quarry

Struggling to stay upright
Clawing my way through trees
Knowing the predator was on my heels
My breathing became labored
As I battled to be free

Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©

Daily Prompts:

Quarry

Eloquence

Candor

Comfortable

 

Blog, Survival

Fire and Water

by  •  • 4 Comments

Fire and water
We travel through it by far
As much as I douse your flames
You continue to spar

Paralyzed by your words
Cold and cruel, you are an animal
Each one a mind blowing zing
And you claim to be rational

Your criticisms are unfounded
They are unkind and heartless
Where is your filter?
But you proceed regardless

Saying whatever you want
Irrespective of the effect
If I try to distract you
Your voice will inflect

It hurts and you are aware
But it doesn’t stop you
Never apologizing
Your behavior is askew

For the pain you inflict
I don’t know you anymore?
Not recognizing who you’ve become
I feel cut to the core

Our communications escalate
To a level that is dangerous
Your false accusations
Are downright traitorous

You are determined to compete
I have become your arch rival
To you I practice cognitive dissonance
But in reality it is my survival

Christine Bolton

Daily Prompts:

Zing

Distract

Compete

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Poem of the Month, Survival

Eight – Poem of the Month – August 2018

by  •  • 19 Comments

Eight

When I was eight
Things were not so great
Life gave me such a kick
I grew up pretty quick
A child expecting a present
Instead was delivered unpleasant
My parents started fighting
Just the beginning of writing
That was clearly on the wall
Witnessing the nightly brawl
My father was an unhappy man
My mother trying the best she can
The combination explosive
Their relationship corrosive
Living life under cumulus clouds
Feeling like the dead covered in shrouds
I learned to fake
Even though my heart would ache
Every ounce of pain
They delivered without refrain
Hurting each other mercilessly
Only to be regretted remorsefully
Suffering the pain as a mortal
Damage to the psyche immortal
Communication with each other
Was really like no other
I was the chosen intermediary
Carrying their messages diligently
The peacekeeper of the house
Keeping family secrets quiet as a mouse
Too clever for my young age
I became the family sage
Learning the art of improvise
Trying to get parents to compromise
It was a huge burden to carry
Acting as their emissary
On the shoulders of someone so young
At eight years old this was no fun
They were unable to make decisions
There were only divisions
A merry go round of hostility
I finally had enough servility
If I had any potential
Then escape was essential
Breaking loose of that scene
When I was eighteen

Christine Bolton

Word Prompts of the day:

Potential

Clouds

Immortal

Present

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Survival

Save the Sailor from the Sea

by  •  • 8 Comments

Save the Sailor from the Sea

Demoralized, discouraged
Surrender to darkness
That will surely come
Life held in the balance
Leaving it heartless
 
Joy drowning
Breathless and weakened
Laughter comes no more
Spirit trodden, squashed
Thoroughly beaten
 
Treading troubled water
Exhausted by endeavor
Resistance fading fast
Hope is lost at sea
Now gone forever
 
Voice hoarse from the cry
Who would have listened?
Words fallen on deaf ears
Nobody cared
It was as if imprisoned
 
Nothing left to fight for
It was not meant to be
Insignificant and invisible
was his life, no one could
save the sailor from the sea
 

Christine Bolton - Poetry for Healing ©

Reworked in 2020
 

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

Blog, Survival

Camaraderie

by  •  • 5 Comments

Camaraderie

When the chips are down
You’re not going to drown
Keep your eye on the prize
Focus on the game in hand
No more head in the sand
You are on the verge of a rise

You’ve developed your strength
Keeping enemies at arms length
You don’t let them see you sweat
You are the captain of your ship
Sailing at quite a clip
There is no need for a drift net

How did you find your force?
Did you dig deep for the source?
The camaraderie of good souls
Is likely the healing answer
To this malignant cancer
Giving you the ultimate control

Leaning on your friends
Not having to make amends
Is the support we all need
Reach out when you’re drowning
There’s no time for accounting
Or we die in the weeds

Christine Bolton

Word of the Day Challenge: Camaraderie

Follow Poetry For Healing on WordPress.com

%d bloggers like this: