Day 31 - Finding Peace

31st Oct 2019

Day 31 .

The last day.

The prompt, Finding Peace makes me think, ok, after today no more rushing to put some words on the blog for Octpowrimo, only peace.

 Of course  I will be doing other writing and hopefully continuing to post to my blog, but I won't be under constraint. I'm not saying I haven't enjoyed the last month. 

 On the contrary, I do love working to prompts and having deadlines, but only for so long. 

It's been good.

So until next year, here's my Day 31 for Octpowrimo 2019:

Finding Peace.

Come to Me, I will give you rest
He said
So, when weary, weighed down, burdened
by life
I close my eyes, relax, spend  time
with Him,
leave all those worries, those cares at
His feet,
Then find that I can live my day more
lighthearted,
Free from anxiety, full of joy, held in Love,
with Him
at Peace

Day 30 - Who Am I

30th Oct 2019



Day 30.
And only one more poem to go for the challenge.

Who Am I?


No, I am not a nurse
though I tend you when
you're ill,
cool your heated brow,
softly bandage your bruised
pride,
soak up the spillage
of blood.
No, I am not a teacher
though I help you
understand about
the world we live in,
show you how to
master life's problems,
sit with you throughout the night,
till finally you get logarithms.
No, I am not a chef
though most days
I dish you up your favourite
tasty delights.
Occasionally I go the extra mile
and create an exciting
new recipe.
No, I am not a cleaner,
or office manager,
or football coach,
or taxi driver,
or fashion guide,
or relationship coach,
or driving instructor,
or an expert in writing cv's,
or a money making tree,
No, I'm just your mum,
that's me.

Day 29 - Lightness of Being

29th Oct 2019


Day 29 of Octpowrimo.
A bit late getting to post but nevertheless I have, so, I call that success.










Lightness Of Being

A fresh October breeze
Puffs out the white sail
Punched onto blue sky.
Too early for dog walkers,
All quiet, except for
Waves washing up gently
With unusual softness.
To right and left a great
Expanse before me.
I look up to the Heavens,
Breathe in the sea air.
My spirit is free and my
whole being has a certain
Lightness about it.

Day 28 Mending the Broken Places

28th Oct 2019

Hello friends. It is Monday and the start of a new week. The news these last few days of the death of thirty nine people found in a refrigerated truck has really made people think. 
Unfortunately, it's happening all the time . One wonders where they might have ended up . In the slave trade maybe? Yes, it goes on. The money they borrow to get themselves here, they then have to pay back, which they are rarely able to do. 
I can't say I know what the answer is but I would like to think that they would be treated with dignity and respect as we all deserve being everyone of us part of the human race. 

Anyway, today is Day 28 of the ongoing challenge, OctPoWriMo 2019.

Only three more posts for this. 
I will make it.
I will make it.
I will make it.





From Broken Places

Why risk their lives to get here?
Last distressed words, by text,
"My trip to a  foreign land has failed"
"I am dying, I can't breathe!"
"I am suffocating!"

Thirty one men, eight women,
Dead. God be with them.
A pregnant wife and son left behind,
Now grieve.
Many families innocent victims.

Paid to smugglers by one family,
Thirty thousand pounds,
Borrowed with  hope in a future,
Turned into nightmare.
Money laundering.

They escape from broken places,
Hide in trucks, holding onto dreams
Of a better life, of working,
Of sending money back home.
Willing to take the chance.

A mass fatality - without respect
Without dignity,
Trafficking of people
How many more will die by
drowning at sea or in refrigerated trucks?

How many more...

Day 27 - How Did I Get Here

27th Oct 2019

Day 27

How Did I Get Here

On my birthday that year,

Not so long ago,

I took a chance, risked shattering 

My dream.

With palms sweaty, heart racing,

I plunged into the unknown.

I had no idea if I could, 

If it would work,

No confidence in who I was,

A woman with

With deep roots in the mountains

Of the forty shades, 

Storytellers for ancestors.

I should have known I could.

And I did.

And here I am.

Day 26 - What has been Unspoken

Day 26 of this OctPoWriMo challenge

26th Oct 2019

What has been Unspoken

A look will do, the shape of the smile,
Honest, inviting or squiring and vile.
A touch too, no need for words
Fingers talking, softness or swords.

The body arching closer or apart
Can say so much right from the start.
The reaching out of a hand to care
Tells more than an essay would ever dare.

The chill distance kept on coming home
Leads  a loved one to have a moan
In silence, for daring to voice the  fear
Brings the end closer, makes it more clear.

So be careful to communicate what you mean
Because the unspoken will always be seen

Day 25 - White

25th Oct 2019








An acrostic today:

White

Why, oh why, did I put pressure on that point?
How blatantly bad that I cannot backtrack.
It's  lost, long gone, leaving
The page perfectly pale, white, in fact and me
Enduring a sort of grey, grizzly grief,

Day 24 - Breathing

24th Oct 2019


Day 24 - OctPoWriMo  2019

Breathing

Crowds

Breathe mist into icy air

Scurry along this  dark evening,

Eager to get to ...

Theatres, Shows,  meetings with

Friends.

Keep cold at bay with

Furs, scarves, hats, gloves.

Hurry past...

Past railings

Where you're sat on

Your cardboard mat

Past...

You...
In  the air

Tempting aromas - burgers,,
chips,  onions,

( I've always loved the smell of frying onions).

You,

Hunched over,.

Hands gnarled, red

 "a man of the road".

They, look away.

Are you invisible ?

No, they don't want to see..

Don't want, to "get involved"

Make excuses:

"There's no need for anyone to be

Hungry in this country"

Your blanket,
pulled up under your chin,

little protection.

A small family notice,

See you,

Are moved,

Bring coffee, chips.

A cheery word,

Acknowledge you,

Listen to you,

Then go their way,

You, watch,
Hands caressing warm cup
You, smile...

Day 23 - Fur Babies

23rd Oct 2019

Welcome to Day 23. After this only eight more days.
Today I have just a few words in the form of a haiku.

Fur Babies

Four fur babies snuggle up,

Soft, size of her palm,

Promise of future sweet joy

Fur Babies

Four fur babies snuggled up

Soft, size of her palm

Promise of future sweet joy

Day 21 - Screaming Into The Wind

21st Oct 2019


Cold, grey miserable day .
I have come late to write my offering for the challenge.
But I have come.
So:
Day 21 - Going with the Prompt

Screaming Into The Wind

Little by little ,inside my head,
It grows,
Becomes the heaviest of weights,
To bear.
I try to hide it, abide it, so
nobody knows
How much it is harming, as if
They care.

One day, when almost ready
To burst,
I take myself down to the sea,
Alone
And there, as if slaking a
mighty thirst
I scream into the wind the
Biggest moan.

I scream into the salty wind,
And pray,
That I can keep going for just
Another day

Day 20 - The Transfiguration

20th Oct 2019

The Transfiguration

It was strange that day.
He took just the three of us with Him,
Peter, James and myself,
Up the mountain to pray.
We chatted as we followed,
What did He mean some of us would 
Not taste death before seeing the
Kingdom of God.
At the top of the mountain
He stopped to pray
All of a sudden
His face, His clothes became white, luminous
Shining like the sun.
We'd never seen anything like it.
Our eyes fixed on Him
Two men appeared, prophets,
Talking to Him - Moses, Elijah.
We, ordinary men, just fell
fell to our knees
in the presence of God's Glory
Then Peter, excited, exuberant, spoke,
He wanted desperately to stay in this moment
Make three tents, he said.
At that moment a cloud came and covered us
The hairs of our heads stood up
A voice from the cloud.
"This is my Son, the chosen one,
Listen to Him"
We could not speak
Peace came over us

Day 19- Living Water

19th Oct 2019 



Happy Saturday everyone.
I have dragged myself to Day 19 of OctPoWriMo 2019. I have amazed myself. But, I musn't get complacent.

Not going with the prompt today

Instead, I will share a poem I wrote yesterday to take to Poetry Tea Time at my daughter's.
 I said the name should be changed to Poetry Lunch Time as that's when they normally have this special happening.

On Thursday I was playing with words with the children, who range in age from 2 - 15. We were making up stories together and a little bit of poetry.
I'd left them with a prompt to work on - Water - saying that I'd be looking forward to their creations.
Then yesterday my daughter asked if we'd ( my husband and I) would like to join them for Poetry Tea Time.
We usually read other people's poems, you, know famous people.
 I said it would be lovely to hear the children's efforts with the prompt I'd given them as well.
Then, of course, I couldn't opt out. I had to have my own Water poem to read. So I sat and wrote this just before we went.

Living Water

It was about midday

dusty, hot,

 earth scorched underfoot.

I came to the well. 

The other women, I avoid them, 

had long gone.

He was there, sitting beside it.

He asked me for a drink.

What was this?

Me, a Samaritan woman,

Him, a Jew.

I looked up, warily, 

His eyes searched mine,

I felt His gaze reach

way down inside me.

He talked about giving me,

Living water

How, I thought

Where is your bucket?

But He went on, He said

with the water He gave

I would never thirst again.

What did He mean? 

I wanted that water.

His voice, spoke softly about,

A spring of living water

Welling up to 

Eternal Life.

Who was this man?

He knew all about me, for sure,

My whole life, everything.

I went to tell the whole village

That I'd found 

The Messiah

Day 18 Self

18th Oct 2019

It is nearly the weekend .
And it's day 18 of OctPoWriMo 2019
Today I'm veering away from the prompt and cheating by  using a poem from a while ago. It was inspired by an exhibition at the Turner in Margate.

Day 17 - Family

17th Oct 2019


Family



Thanks to the people of the Netherlands. In the last twelve hours 99 of you have visited my blog. I don't know why this is, but I'm happy that you are reading my work. I would love to hear from you, so please write a comment and start a conversation.

Day 17 of this increasingly difficult challenge.  OctPoWriMo 2019.

I have , in the main,  been sticking to the prompts to see where they lead me. The prompt for today sent me into quite a kaleidoscope of thought as I pondered the whole idea of family and what it means to me.
I eventually came to the conclusion that it means everything to me. In no way have I done justice to this idea in the poem I've written . How could I?

The photo is of my husband and I and our nine children at my daughter's wedding, one of the only times we get everybody together these days.  However, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to family. This is only 11 of the 47 who make up this small part of the family. And if from there we spread the net... well...

Family

On the table, spread out before me

Taking up most of the space

Two large pieces of paper

On one the family tree on my mother's side

On the other , my father's

Both tracing the branches back,

with their different characters, to my 

Great, great grandparents

Hinting of Roots that go deep

Both papers from my parents down

Identical

.There in the middle, I am

Above me,certainty of the past 

Below, promise of  future surprises

Great, great grandchildren - mine

there at the bottom.

All of us, on both sheets

Children of God

We belong to the 

Family of God

The human family.

Day 16 - Our Father

16th Oct 2019

OK , so just past half way.
And I am flagging - a little ....
But no, I am not giving up 

Day 16 of the OctPoWriMo  2019 Challenge. Here goes

Our Father

Pears, a large bagful from the farm
not uniform enough for the shelf
 in the shop
left, after giving to those in need
and now we are offered  them.
This is how Our heavenly Father
Looks after us,
gives us our daily bread
or pears,
or curtains,
or coats for the children in a
harsh winter
Always He provides for us

And   an  Acrostic

My Dad

Fondly I think of you from time long ago
A walk by the river, hand in hand, we
Talked , or rather I chatted on
Happy to be with you , my Dad,
Ever after my hero, especially in the
Rough moments.

The nights you spent with me
Intent on helping me to find joy in the
Maths that I found, oh so hard, but you,
Exceptionally patient, never gave up on me.

Day 15 - Mother May I

15th Oct 2019



Day 15, of OctPoWriMo 2019

What a challenge this is. Nearly half way there. Will I make it ??? I don't know but I will try.
Prompt today - Mother May I ...

Mother May I

Mother may I sit with you 

like I used to do before

Listen to your warm soft voice

telling of days of yore

Drink some tea out of china cups

best that way you say

eat your brackbread spread with  butter

thick on top it lay

Mother may I tell you things that 

meant a lot to me

Things we never talked about and 

Now can never  be 

How hurt I was by all the times you 

criticized my life

how every time your hateful words cut 

through me like a knife

I know you thought yourself so kind

kindness was your thing

But for me and mine you always chose 

a meaner song to sing

And now you're gone and it's too late

to rectify the wrong

I wish I'd had the courage then,  to 

stand up tall and strong

Day 14 - Mother Earth

14th Oct 2019



I must say the challenge is getting harder.
Day 14
I took the prompt - Mother Earth and turned it to suit me:

Mother of Heaven and Earth

How can it be that you are my mother

Most blessed of all creatures 

Most pure

How can it be that you care for me

You, with all the children of the world

Under your soft protection

How can it be that every little detail

Of my life is of interest to you, 

Dear mother

You, who lived an ordinary life 

But it is,,

So I come  to you, sit with you

Bring my little worries 

And the bigger ones too

And you, you take them up to the sun

Your own dear son 

Yes,  because you are the mother 

Of the creator of the entire universe

You are indeed,

Mother of Heaven and Earth

Day 13 - Hugging a tree

13th Oct 2019

Hugging a tree?

We're on Day 13 of the OctPoWriMo challenge. I'm afraid the prompt, "Hugging a Tree" didn't do anything for me today.
So, what to post instead? OK, here goes: I have tried a Loop poem today . 

The Wood of the Tree.

Who, I wonder cut down the tree 

from where it lived 

lived in harmony with the others

until that day 

day and night it was kept in some 

place waiting

waiting for the time it was needed

its task to perform

perform it did the most perverse deed

of all time

time was getting near, they brought 

out the man

man above all men, he did not speak 

he took it

it was the cross that Jesus embraced 

for us, with love 

love brought him to his knees three

times in fell

fell in pain and sorrow with the weight 

of our sins

sins that we now feel our own deep 

sorrow for

for as surely as we are sinners we nailed

him to that tree.  

  

Day 12 Black

Secret Dreams

                                                       

Through the corridor - dark - long,

Doors on either side,

Each one seeking  to be opened

Hand on handle, gently press,

Push open - slowly, only a little.

Is there treasure to be found inside?

No, darkness has only shadows,

A chill recalling

Cobwebs falling,

Can’t stay here, bleak

black memories.

Try more doors

Every room the same, until, 

a seed of promise,

Light creeps, seeps,

from under one door

Slowly, softly,

hope edges forward,

enters,

Looking for joy that once it knew.

Brightness reveals

Secret dreams, unmasked,

Long hidden - radiant still.

Day 11 Silence or Noise

11th Oct 2019

It is day 11 of the OctPoWrimMo 2019 challenge. 
Here is my contribution:

                                             


                                                                       Silence 


.                                  Life -dark -red

Drips

 from gaping wounds,

Drips

 from skin-slashed and torn,

Drips

from forehead pierced with thorns.

Bent ,

unable to stand upright,

Bent,

struggling for breath.

Yet,

 with peace,

Peace, 

 beyond all knowing.

                                                                   
                                                                       He, is silent,

                                                                  Silent

Day 10 Touch

10th Oct 2019

We come to day 10 in the poetry writing month.
Nothing amazes me more than being still here. We are a third of the way there and with a bit of luck I will get to the end of October with 31 poems written and shared. 
The prompt for today is Touch and my poem is in song form with a chorus. Hope you like it.
I welcome any feedback or comments to all of my blogposts. 



Enjoying the Dance                                    

Embracing, gliding, likes swans on a lake,

We took to the floor, a couple to make.

Quick stepping through galaxies, up with the stars,

Fox trotting on  Jupiter, Saturn and Mars.

And they said we could never be

Happy together, you and me.

But we’re still here, proving them wrong,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song.

At times we twirled and swayed too fast,

 Feet barely touching the ground, time passed.

Our toes would be bleeding our bodies sore,

But we carried on across the dance floor.

And they said we could never be

Happy together, you and me.

But we’re still here proving them wrong,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song,

Enjoying the dance and singing our song.

Our dance has slowed but we still glide,

Gently moving, side by side,

Our adventure will come to an end one day,

But we’ll twirl on, we know the way.

Chorus

Day 9 Eyes- or, What Do You See?

9th Oct 2019

Day 9 - OctPoWriMo

I'm using memories today for the prompt "Eyes".

Paris

Do you remember, I know you do, that time in Paris?
Our Silver Anniversary - you said

Leave the children, let’s go, have our honeymoon – alone.
 Three days just for us! A dream.

Like teenagers we strolled by the Seine,
hand in hand, fingers softly feeling, exploring.

May blossom floating down - perfume intoxicating.
You squeezed me,
Pointed out the River Cruise boat
I nodded.

My red dress, always your favourite,
shimmered mackerel reflections.
You’d grown a beard, looked quite the artist
Eyes smiling, we spoke shared stories,
Ate a meal of mussels, our favourite,
With glass of wine - red.
My stomach danced in happy oneness with my spirit,
We talked, can you say about what? No, nor me,

It didn’t matter, just to be, that was all, together,
Drinking in our life,
You, so relaxed, your face shone,

Didn’t tell you that – years melting away – very attractive.
We climbed the steps to the Sacre Coeur,
 looked out over the city,
sky spotted with twinkling stars.

  We danced and laughed, night slipping away. 

Later we embraced, excited as if for the first time, 

but better.

Unexpected surprise, special bond made that day,
of silken gold.

 I knew it as I shivered,
not with cold.
Strengthened in desire we looked forward.

A city for lovers-Paris

Day 8 Scent

8th Oct 2019

Carrying on with the poem a day through October. 

Today's prompt is "scent".


Grass

Early May morning,
Soft new- mown downs spongy underfoot,
Shafts of yellow dancing on sea,
Cotton wool clouds dotted in blue expanse,
Slight breeze, adds salty mist
To grassy reminiscences:
I wake up in Irish cottage,
Snuggled warm in summer’s embrace,
Beside my grandmother.
Delicate, sweet smell of grass
Wafts through open window
From fields with cowpats freshly planted,
Mixes with body odour , of her-
I breathe in the perfume of a new promise,
A familiar narcotic of nurture,
Dreamlike – security, history, joy