An Open Window

 

Source: Authors Speak

Legend tells that when a person

dies a window must be opened

to release the soul

 

I have no one to open

my window

Or even know where

I might be when a

window needs opening

to leave that instruction

 

Smiling …

I know the soul above

has found peace

Copyright © 2017 Annie
Always…I wish you peace, joy and happiness, but most of all I wish you Love.
As Ever, Annie

 

An Unshed Tear

Source: We Heart It

The look on my friend’s face as he

told me a snippet of his childhood

has haunted me for nearly

twenty-five years

 

I thought of him today and when

he shared with me his growing up

in an eye-blink town in the middle

of the harsh Texas Panhandle

 

His parents divorced when he was

very young and he and his mother

moved back home with his grandmother

Being raised by his mother, grandmother,

and a gaggle of aunts in an

old school family with no male role model

and too many ‘old lady’ rules

shaped his life

 

Tears gather as he talked

but never escaped

…Big boys don’t cry and all

that Southern Bullshit

…Never show emotions

Still upper lip

You know the drill

 

He continued the story by

telling me his father, new wife

and teenage son now lived

in the rural Texas town where

I grew up and my mother

still lived

 

Asking if I knew them

I replied … No, but the

name and their business

were both familiar to me

 

His teenage half-brother was a

local star athlete he told me

‘My father now has the son

I could never be’

were the words that

brought tears to his

middle-aged eyes

 

Those words stuck with me

all the years

as did the unshed tears

Deep inside that little boy

raised by all those women

blamed himself for the loss

of his father …

his family …

And perhaps what might

have been a different life

 

Copyright © 2017 Annie
Always…I wish you peace, joy and happiness, but most of all I wish you Love.
As Ever, Annie

Yesterday …

Source: We Heart It

Depression is a horrible disease

Even more for the young

Pre-teens and teens have

grown up in the age of

Immediate Results

 

Treatment for our young

is never-ending

No quick fix …

No magic pill …

No golden elixir

to chase away the

hurt and pain

Tomorrow is a lifetime away

and the horror …

the Monsters …

of Depression

is NOW

 

Depression doesn’t discriminate

Good parenting or indifference

will not change the pain

It is debilitating

Robbing the suffering of

creativity …

self-esteem …

life …

love …

hope …

Until they feel the only

way out is the permanent one

 

Unfortunately all too often

Depression blindsides families

when children, young adults,

even the elderly make the

one final choice of letting

Depression Win

by ending their life

Copyright © 2017 Annie
Always…I wish you peace, joy and happiness, but most of all I wish you Love.
As Ever, Annie

 

*Note: Another teen ended their pain by ending their life. Another family is heartbroken trying to understand and get through the unbelievable. The world has been cheated of another creative soul.

We all need to be more aware of the feelings and actions of those we love. Let them know all is not hopeless and they are important … they are loved.

Depression does not discriminate … this is an epidemic for our young people for so may reasons right now … we all must fight to make a difference

 

MAMA SAID

Source: We Heart It

You don’t know me

Yet …

You are throwing

Hate filled

Angry

Words

At me

Chastising me

Berating me

trying to intimidate me

Mama said

There would be

Days like this

She told me …

“Sister, put on

fresh lipstick – red is preferred

straighten your hose

Adjust your crown

And …

Keep your head

held high”

Words like that

From people like that

Are meaningless

Attempts to

Boost their ego

By destroying yours

Indicate cowardly ways

Ignore them

Ignore their hateful words

Be the Better Person

And go on with your life …

 

© Annie 2017

GOODBYE

Source: We Heart I

“Goodbye,” she said

It has been – interesting

But …

The time has come

Leaving is difficult

Death is permanent

I  must go …

To find myself …

Staying will only lead to

Death …

Maybe mine …

Perhaps yours…

Death is not

My style

Not my future

The choice made

“Goodbye,” she said

Leaving to Live …

© Annie Original Poetry

2017

A Breath of Silence

Source: WeHeartIt

Not a leaf moving

No breeze on the morning air

Just before dawn with

Eastern clouds bathed in

their early morning blush

and brilliance of streaming

gold as the sun begins to

wake the day

 

Western clouds not to be

outdone bloom fluffy and white

with tips of pink reflecting from

their sisters in the East

 

As I go about my chores …

Feeding barn cats

Replenishing water bowls

And

Watering my tiny garden

That Breath of Silence

surrounds me

The one that screams loudly

that a scorching summer day

will again push its way into

surrounding yards in my neighborhood

and far-flung fields

Cracking the parched ground

Searing anything green to

crispy brown as

Summer proves again

it has total control

Copyright © 2017 Sharyl
Always…I wish you peace, joy and happiness, but most of all I wish you Love.
As Ever, Sharyl

First Fig

Source: WeHeartIt

Last week was a  personal celebration

of sorts …

A reunion long anticipate

 

Out of curiosity I saw that

First Jewel hanging ripe and ready

In my excitement I held back

from plucking that green and golden

orb and eating it with the white milk

running down my arms

 

Rushing inside for containers

my mouth watered and my brain

planned breakfast around these

royal delights

 

I braved the leaves that cause

my skin to itch and develop

horrible allergic hives

I braved the milky sap that

causes my skin to react in

other unpleasant ways

 

I picked and searched and

picked again until my two buckets

were full of sticky figs waiting

to satisfy my taste buds …

to quench the thirst of many years with

their delicate inner flesh

Smiling I walked inside anticipating

the sweet taste of the

First Fig …

The first after six longs years of drought

Copyright © 2017 Sharyl
Always…I wish you peace, joy and happiness, but most of all I wish you Love.
As Ever, Sharyl

MUD …

Source: WeHeartIt

I enjoy the creature comforts of

small town life …

A nice home with everything I need

Cool or warm depending on the season

Plugged in:

Satellite TV

High Speed Internet

which leads to other addictive obsessions

with media overload

Yet …

All around me I am reminded

even in town – country life surrounds me

A lone cow bawling in the small lot across the street

A rooster crowing in the day somewhere to my northwest

Two horses saying their good mornings – one to my right

the other to my left – unseen but not unheard

Then I see it …

MUD

The water bowl I keep in the old garage for

barn cats, neighborhood dogs, a brave bird or two

just about anything wandering by in need of a drink

The bowl was empty again with the bottom

covered in a thin layer of dark brown … almost black

MUD

Another reminder of my country surroundings … Raccoons

Of course they view the water bowl filled with clean water

as their personal washing up station

This bowl is refilled morning and night with fresh cool water

so these guys are in heaven and the other animals have no

water to drink or no clean water if any remains

They guys – I am guessing two or three young ones –

have not been seen

But …

The MUD is a clear sign of their presence

Out on their own looking for food and of course water

Now the bowl will need changing more often and

extra food left in the old garage since these little

bandits have invade the safe haven …

the sanctuary …

of a handful of dedicated barn cats

Copyright © 2017 Sharyl
Always…I wish you peace, joy and happiness, but most of all I wish you Love.
As Ever, Sharyl