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By now most of you are well aware of the tone of my poetry. I fully believe that what I write is a transcription from the Universe who is directing me to write what I cannot verbalize. This was one of those poems on one of those days…and I am certain that many of you can relate….
Challenges
Where would we be
Without the daily challenges of life?
From the probabilities of conception,
To surviving childbirth? Childhood?
Learning to crawl, and then stand,
Taking those first timid steps to walk,
Learning to tie one’s own shoes or ride a bicycle
The first day of grade school, high school, college?
Challenges make us inevitably stronger –
At work, at play, in relationships,
But if we fail to triumph over the challenges,
We may be forever scarred
By our failures, or the failures of those who were our role models.
Our egos, our psyches –
But fragile vessels,
Susceptible to being destroyed
By one word, a gesture, one person, one incident.
Interesting that society has labels –
Physically challenged, mentally challenged;
Never a word about ‘emotionally challenged’!
Perhaps it is viewed as a temporal condition,
To those who will never understand…..
With Christmas fast approaching I am posting this work which applies to children and adults. I am still reeling from the loss of our two dear friends and I know that many of their friends and families are questioning why they had to leave us so soon….they were BOTH good people!!!!!
Affirmation
From an early age
We are taught, “Wish upon a star”,
“Thank your lucky stars”
And, like the ant and the rubber tree plant,
“Never give up hope”.
As if any of these thoughts
Could ever really make a difference
In our lives.
Very few children or young adults
Are taught to set goals in life –
As, truthfully,
No amount of wishing or hoping
Will ever make dreams come true!
We teach children to believe
In Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny,
Knowing full well that sooner or later,
Reality shatters those beliefs.
Innocence is lost.
Better that we should teach children
To affirm that whatever the realities of their lives,
One should continue, not to believe
That good things will come to good people, or
That good things will happen to them,
Based simply on wishing and hoping,
But that,
According to the laws of the Universe,
Good things will come to them;
Good things will happen to them –
Through the continued process
Of affirmation.
We need not see to believe,
But rather,
If we believe, we shall see!
If it’s Wednesday, it must be poetry day. I have to say that this has been a very challenging week for us both. We have lost two friends suddenly, one in Canada and the other here in Mexico. Both were tragic losses of young men – 59 and 63 years old respectively. Our hearts go out to their many family and friends. I wrote both of these earlier this year and they seem fitting for these tragic times.
Life Spans
In the great scheme of things,
Man lives, and sometimes dies,
After as little as a few minutes,
Or as long as a hundred plus years!
This is not to say that he who lives longest
Has had the better life,
Nor does it say
That he who lives longest makes a greater impact
On family, friends or acquaintances
Whom he leaves behind at his transition.
Tell the parents of a premature baby who passes moments after birth,
Tell the wife whose husband dies at 35,
Tell the child whose parent dies at 40,
Tell the grandchild whose grandpa passes at 60,
Tell the eighty-five year old woman whose son dies at 65,
That this too shall pass –
The shock, the hurt, the pain, the sorrow,
The feeling of loss is always the same
No matter how short or how long
That their life on earth has been.
The second poem was inspired by a short video sent to me by my oldest daughter actually entitled Life on a Train……
Hearts Full
When the last train leaves the station,
We are left with an emptiness,
A hole in our heart –
Spirit’s plan for those left behind…
A place for us to store up
All the tender memories of times past,
Sunrises and sunsets,
Good times and bad times together (In sickness and in health),
That we spent with those on board
Our journey – our train!
I like to believe that their journey,
Like ours, continues down the tracks,
Seeing new places, making new friends,
Forging new relationships,
Sharing days, hours, weeks, and years –
Seasons of joy and happiness,
Until it is OUR time to board that same train,
Joining them at last on the journey of a lifetime –
Hearts full!
We will see both of you guys ‘at the next station…..
We are back from our journey to Mexico City, Morelia, Patzcuaro and Michoacan, so time to catch up on the blog mis amigos. This particular poem was written a year ago in August, but my grand-parental memory has lost track of what motivated it. Many of us are grandparents at our age, so I know you can identify with it despite my motivation…..
N.B. For more about our recent trip check out the website www.mexico1012.wordpress.com
Grand Parents
We raise our children
To be polite and well-mannered,
To make good choices
And sound judgments,
To respect all others,
And most of all –
To become successful, independent adults.
Along the way
Some children succeed,
While others fail miserably,
Falling short of parental expectations.
Parental goals, parental dreams.
Some of us, indeed,
Deem ourselves failures as parents.
Astonishingly those children persevere,
Picking themselves up (sometimes more than once)
From where they have temporarily fallen,
Realizing their own culpability
And finally moving forward,
Ever watchful parents
Cautiously optimistic,
This time will be different.
The comes the moment
When our children become parents.
Our ecstasy, short lived,
Brings back the memories
Of our own early parenthood.
We watch; we wonder; we worry.
What kind of parents will our children be?
More important…
What kind of grandparents will we be?
Is this not the same question which our parents asked?
The answer never varies…
Our role is to love and nurture them as if they truly were our children.
Let them experience the good and the bad.
Listen to them when they need someone to listen.
Offer them guidance when they seem to be going astray.
Most importantly, LOVE THEM…just as they are.
For that is the true role of a grandparent!
Trust the Winds 