In retrospect
if you inspect
my spectacles
I expect you
to be respectful
and circumspect
since my perspective
is spectacular
on any spectrum
daily word prompt: Expect
Spect-ables
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Category Archives: Daily Prompt
The Way of Things
I remember this, my last conversation with Papa.
He, trying to alleviate our pain.
But I heard, through his bravado
the saddened beat of my heart
submerged in deep water
no knowledge of how to stay afloat
grief no words could express
He said,
“Remember the sandhill crane?”
How could I forget?
Long necks
the sound of their rattle calls
broad wings flying over
ancestral farmland
He said,
“She’s like the hourglass that drips the sand of time
replenishes herself by picking leftovers from the field
She keeps moving forward.
She never stops.
She is you
and she is me.
Our fields, too deep to forget
Too vast to go away.
I will never truly leave you”
“Is this the way of things, Papa?”
“Ja, mein liebes.”
“It is,” he smiled.
Prose adapted from my novel, “Naked, She Lies”
Photo credit
So, you’ve made a mistake. Now what?
Do you wrap your shoulders in guilt?
Does it make you feel better?
Of course not.
You did what you did, but the moment has passed.
Perhaps it is regret that you are feeling.
Regret is better. It means you have taken that nugget,
examined it with neutral hands
and learned from it.
So, you wash your hands with compassionate soap
and remind yourself that you are not a fraud
but a human flawed
like everyone else.
Be brave and accept
being flawed only adds to your perfection.
Risk anyway
It’s risky business, first learning to paint
being creative, letting go of restraint
who wouldn’t want to see two women chattin’
But maybe not Churchill
compressed in a wagon.
(a couple of my numerous early paintings)
daily word prompt: Risky
The “CAN” Polish is Free
“Getting older is inevitable: Aging is optional” – Christine Northrup
I know, I know. It’s hard sometimes to get motivated to eat right and exercise, not only our bodies, but our minds. But since I’m about to scroll down another line to hit the year I was born (lucky cursor), I thought I’d find some inspiration.
Aging is a relative term. Some might feel their life is almost over when they hit the big 30. Others, like me, understand that we knew very little at that time.
As actress Helen Mirren said, “Your 40s are good. Your 50s are great. Your 60s are fab. And 70 is f*@king awesome!”
Want to keep your get-up-and-go getting up and going? Ponder these:
— “For the unlearned, old age is winter; for the learned, it is the season of the harvest.” ~Hasidic saying
— “I believe the second half of one’s life is meant to be better than the first half. The first half is finding out how you do it. And the second half is enjoying it.” ~Frances Lear
— “None are so old as those who have outlived enthusiasm.” ~Henry David Thoreau
— “I am appalled that the term we use to talk about aging is ‘anti.’ Aging is as natural as a baby’s softness and scent. Aging is human evolution in its pure form.”~ Jamie Lee Curtis
— “The great thing about getting older is that you become more mellow. Things aren’t as black and white, and you become much more tolerant. You can see the good in things much more easily rather than getting enraged as you used to do when you were young.” ~Maeve Binchy
— “We don’t grow older, we grow riper.” ~Pablo Picasso
— “You’re either marvelous or you’re boring, regardless of your age.” – Morrisse
— “Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And Dreams are forever.” – Walt Disney
— “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.” ~Robert Browning
Accept and be loyal to yourself.
And remember, that WON’T and CAN’T are two entirely different kettles.
The CAN polish is free.
photo 1: Royal Free Stock Photos
Painting 2: by Claude Joseph Bail (1862-1921)
Daily Word Prompt: Loyal
Off My Bucket List
I watched the hot air balloon ascend and nervously waited until it was my turn. Truthfully, watching them from the ground is much more peaceful.
Daily word prompt: Ascend
Concede to breathe
There is No Storm
You accept not your true self
You stepped, instead
into an guise
and bathed your limbs in bravado
the musky soap of self-deception
Don’t you know
you’re soaked in a false promise
to yourself, unrecognized?
Why shroud yourself in darkness,
within a cloud
of crystalized ice?
Do you not believe in yourself?
Are you afraid of the shadows?
Don’t you know
you’re cloak, soaked in fear
keeps you from paradise?
Shed that tattered, muscled cloak
It never truly keeps you warm.
There is no storm.
photo page source
daily prompt: Cloaked
“Eyes are the Windows of a (fraudulent) Soul”
He was a fraud! While his wife did all the work, he took the credit.
While he went out to play with other women, she was locked away for fourteen hours a day to making their living.
He posed for photographs and squandered away the millions his wife made.
The Big Eyes of sad, melancholy children, stared back at Margaret for she was them and they were her. But the subservient Margaret kept quiet.
Until she didn’t.
She divorced Walter in 1965 and finally, in 1970 she told the truth. “I’m the artist of these paintings.”
After the lawsuit, “poor” Walter filed for bankruptcy and faded into his original, untalented self.
To read more about Margaret and Walter Keane, read here.
Daily prompt: Fraud
Accepting “I’m Not”
I’m a full-fledged non-hater
Evil, I’ve fought
A fine moderator
(except when I’m not)
Profound is my mind
It keeps trains of thought
I’m a woman refined
(except when I’m not)
I’m a top-notch debater
find every weak spot
A master creator
(except when I’m not)
I’m the queen idea lighter
weave interesting plots
I’m an excellent writer
(except when I’m not)
I am quick to recover
heal when I ought
I’m an exceptional lover
(except when I’m not)
I’m an fabulous teacher
all subjects I’ve taught
A perfect-made creature?
I accept I am not.
Accepting this non-exceptional self-portrait
Daily Word Prompt: Exceptional
Carolyn Dennis-Willingham 