Musings on life, love, and healing past trauma
Focus on your breath
In and out
Attend that which is within
All that’s swirling inside
Not the hectic outside
Then try letting it all goAfter a while you’ll find
©RedCat
The calm that’s an oasis
Not a deceptive mirage
Written for this weekend’s writing prompt by Sammi Cox.
Photo credits:
Photo by Ravi Pinisetti on Unsplash
Photo by Cara Fuller on Unsplash
After writing both As I Reap The Dreams That I Have Sown and August Approaches yesterday, I decided that tonight’s Saturday Song had to be one about overcoming obstacles, adversity, challenges and hard times. About not giving up, even when that’s all you feel like doing. I found this list of songs about all that. So I started to read lyrics and the choice fell on Firework by Katy Perry.
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
From Firework by Katy Perry
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from cavin’ in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
I know exactly how that feels. But now I have to get away from that, find my voice, develop my passion and allow my light to shine bright.
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind, wanting to start again?
Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards, one blow from cavin’ in?
Do you ever feel already buried deep?
Six feet under screams, but no one seems to hear a thing
Do you know that there’s still a chance for you?
‘Cause there’s a spark in youYou just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July‘Cause baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky
Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, aweYou don’t have to feel like a waste of space
You’re original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe a reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it’s time, you’ll knowYou just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July‘Cause baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky
Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, aweBoom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It’s always been inside of you, you, you
And now it’s time to let it through‘Cause baby, you’re a firework
Come on, show ’em what you’re worth
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
As you shoot across the sky
Baby, you’re a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make ’em go, “Oh, oh, oh”
You’re gonna leave ’em all in awe, awe, aweBoom, boom, boom
Source: LyricFind
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Song writers: Esther Dean, Sandy Julien Wilhelm, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel Storleer Eriksen, Katheryn Hudson
Lyric to Firework © Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc, BMG Rights Management, DistroKid
Firework photo credit: Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash
As August approaches,
in a golden sweltering haze
Impostor-syndrom encroaches,
trapping in this self-loathing maze
I’ve lived here for ages,
familiar with its confounding ways
Seen my dreams turn to ashes,
evaporate as hopelessness blaze
~ I’ve made new choices,
now can I the changes face ~
As August approaches,
in golden sweltering haze
Thoughts of breaking free encroaches,
I have to burn this thorny self-doubt gorse maze
Learn and evolve as I ages,
find new self-caring and nurturing ways
I will rise from the ashes,
remade by this creative blaze
©RedCat
I should be asleep, but can’t because all thoughts swirling. Realized after reading others poetry, that writing the turmoil out probably where a better way than watching tv.
So sat by candlelight, watching the moon and poured it on paper.
Written for First Line Friday over at Mindlovemisery Menagerie.
There’s thunder in the sky,
the sickle flashes by.
As I hurry to cut down the corn.I reap with a happy sigh,
as swift swallows fly.
The field must be done by Sunday morn.I’ve struggled and hoped,
clinging to a frayed rope.
Until roots took hold, new futures were born.
Now I’ve got to be bold, leave behind what I’ve been told.Forget about the lonely tears I weeped.
As I reap the dreams that I have sown.The harvest moon glow,
when I life changes sow.
As I sing beneath the sickle moon.I’ll rise above my woes,
when the change of seasons blows.
As I dance scy-clad to her freeing tune.Forget about the lonely tears I weeped.
As I reap the dreams that I have sown.I’ve sown the seeds,
that my soul will free.
Time to harvest them just like the corn.I’ve learnt to know my needs,
to my muses feed.
Now let creativity my life adorn.I’ve struggled and hoped,
clinging to a frayed rope.
Until roots took hold, new futures were born.
Now I’ve got to be bold, leave behind what I’ve been told.Forget about the lonely tears I weeped.
As I reap the dreams that I have sown.As I reap the dreams that I have sown.
©RedCat
Written for earthweal’s weekly challenge: LAMMAS. I was so inspired by the song in the prompt, a 14th century song about the death and rebirth of the barley crop (video below), that I had to write one of my own.
Of sowing and reaping, growing and weeping, of dreams becoming reality.
Photo credits:
Sickle moon – Photo by Mitchell Bowser on Unsplash
Corn Field – Photo by Nadine Redlich on Unsplash
To mark the publication of The Anthropocene Hymnal, Ingrid present her reading of ‘Destiny of this earth’ by Gabriela Marie Milton, which is included in the anthology.
Over the next few weeks, many of the poets from the anthology will be featured, so you can get to know a bit more about them, and their contributions to the book.
I am truly grateful for being able to contribute poems and share these readings of the project.
This poem is so true and touching it brings tears to my eyes.
“Destiny of this earth, you are my destiny too.”
From Destiny of this Earth by Gabriela Marie Milton
Gabriela Marie Milton is an internationally published author. Her literary work appeared in various magazines and anthologies. Under the pen name Gabriela M she was awarded 2019 Author of the Year at Spillwords Press (NYC). Her piece If I say I love you was nominated for 2020 Spillwords Press Publication of the Year (Poetic). She is the author of Passions: Love Poems and Other Writings published by Vita Brevis Press in April 2020.
Her new collection of poetry, Woman: Splendor and Sorrow will be published by Vita Brevis Press on July 31, 2021.
Sweet-smelling summer night in June
Night is full of enchanted tunes
Ground with sparkling dewdrops is strewn
Magic of moon, magic of moonThe wind silvery giggles carries
Hiding among the blue posies
A dancing frolic of fairies
Wings like daisies, wings like daisiesIn the pale midsummer night sky
Pink tinted clouds swiftly scuds by
We soar together you and I
As swallows fly, as swallows flyThe moon is full and shining bright
©RedCat
Bathing us in her blessed light
As we share in earthly delights
Sweet summer night, sweet summer night
Written for Poetry Form: Monotetra at dVerse. It’s always a fun challenge to try out a new form.
The monotetra is a poetic form developed by Michael Walker. Here are the basic rules:
*Comprised of quatrains (four-line stanzas) in tetrameter (four metrical feet) for a total of 8 syllables per line
*Each quatrain consists of mono-rhymed lines (so each line in the first stanza has the same type of rhyme, as does each line in the second stanza, etc.)
*The final line of each stanza repeats the same four syllables. This is what makes the monotetra so powerful as a poetic form – the last line contains two metrical feet, repeated.
*This poem can be as short as 1 or 2 quatrains and as long as a poet wishes.
Stanza Structure:
Line 1: 8 syllables; A1
Line 2: 8 syllables; A2
Line 3: 8 syllables; A3
Line 4: 4 syllables, repeated; A4, A4
Source
Also shared with Promote Yourself Monday at Go Dog Go Café.
Today, Ingrid reads the second poem from The Anthropocene Hymnal, ‘When I come back, I will be grief,’ by Sherry Marr. It is a hugely emotive piece, and Sherry’s words feel more timely than ever:
This is another poem felt to the core of being.
How can we stand idly by and do nothing as things gets rapidly worse?
Sherry Marr has written since she was a child. She has been in love with the natural world all her life; it informs most of her poems, as does the climate crisis and the suffering of creatures in the non-human realm. She has been writing in the online poetry community since 2010. She lives in Clayoquot Sound on the West Coast of Canada. Many of her poems sing of its beauty.
You can read the original post at Experiments in Fiction.
Abandoned and abused, I grew to fear you
But in truth, I where reared by youBullied as other, ostracized by my peers
Alone with daily jeers, leers and snears
Childhood and adolescence, year after year
Branding me as strange and queerYours the only company to keep me near
Convincing me I’m a mere shadow
Not really alive, not supposed to be hereDeveloped intimate knowledge of all your tiers
As loneliness you have tooth and claws that tear
Lead chains that trust steer
Forged by every untruth spear
Betrayal heart and soul sear
Invisible barriers separating, from those you hold dearDark lonely nights your visits I fear
Haunted hours filled with tears
Leaving me hollow and sheer
As pale dawn washes the heavens clearAfter becoming a mother, I’ve started to befriend you, we’re
Old pals, whatever the history, that’s clear
Nowadays I even hold our moments dear
Filled with new knowledge, hope and trust
I’ll never again from my own side veerAll that I seek
© REDCAT
I can find within my own heart soul sphere
Re-post comment:
Loneliness has been much on my mind and in my feelings the last couple of weeks. Both the kind is need and seek. And the kind that can make me feel wholly alone in a room full of people.
So this poem is this week’s archive find.
Enjoy!
This piece where not something I wished to write, but perhaps needed to write, as whatever I thought about the subject solitude – that I express both it and loneliness quite often – got drowned out by this piece rhymes running in loops in my mind.
In the prompt Björn writes;
In today’s situation of social distancing, we all have taken a crash course in loneliness, and when learning to cope. Today I would like you to write about your own experience with how you find strength in solitude or how you still struggle with loneliness.
The world according to RedCat 
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