FAREWELL MY DEAR SISTER RUTH

In memoriam of my younger Sister Ruth
(Interred on this date as written)

Today I am going to release this butterfly
Up into the air, to the highest sky;
I am going to let go all unkind remembrance of you:
The spites, the hurts, the agonies of the scars;
Once you had inflicted in me without closure.
I long have chosen to forgive and forget.
What will stay are memories of you
When life hit you hard on the road
and I couldn't close my eyes over you.
It was hurting us all when you left us
Without leaving a trace or a clue
Of where you were, no words to know
where to find you, as we lost you.
The only occasion you showed up
unannounced, unexpectedly were the times 
when we sent our folks to their resting place.
I had done my part - now you're ready to depart
Forever from our sight, from our life.
I bid you farewell today, as you return home
To the Eternal who gave you the breathe of life.
HE has taken it back so you'll go and rest in peace.
In us who are left behind, we will have our turn;
It maybe soon, it maybe later, we don't know.
I just hope we will all be ready to meet you
Somewhere beyond the blue and be together
Once more in peace, and in harmony.
Where the Land you are going is Bright and Fair,
It's just OVER YONDER!

Leah C. Dancel
Copyright@2019
August 23, 2019
Friday
Australia

HOW CURIOUS IS THE HEART

By Shadowjo

*

*

How Curious Is The Heart?

*

It has the strength to give life

*

It has the power to take it away

*

It can make your world shine 

*

It can make it all so dark

*

It can make you feel the magic

*

It can make you feel the miseries

*

It can place you on top of the world

*

It can drag you down to the abyss 

*

It can make you believe the impossible

*

It can blind you to the truth

*

It can hurt from so much pain

*

It can hurt from so much love

*

Oh this curious heart of mine.

Source: Shadowlands
December 07, 2010

THE GOLDEN YEARS

By Shadowjo

The sun is setting

My youth has vanished

My dreams have passed.

I pass on to you
My lessons learned

My wisdom earned.

Do not see me failed
My dear young child,
My heart is still wild.

Learn from the lessons

My bitter fights taught,

My body blows caught.

Go forth and be better

My disappointments be

My pride, in you I see.

Live long live better
My story, your teacher

My soul, your preacher.

Source: Shadowlands
November 21, 2014

TWILIGHT SKYLIGHT

By Shadowjo

*

Before the daylight

Is subjugated by darkness

There ensures in the sky

A mighty celestial battle.

The forces of light 

Are locked in a pitched struggle

Against the coming dark.


*

Where they meet,

The sky is drenched

In blood red 

And bruised purple. 

But with each victory

Comes a not too distant defeat.


*

The very next day

This recurring theme

Is witnessed again 

And the battle recedes

Into an sempiternal fight

That inspire lovers and poets alike.


*
Source: Shadowlands

January 30, 2015

THE STORY OF TREES

by Rado Gatchalian

inhale exhale breathe the air

that is commensurate

to life, eternal.

follow the wave of its arms
~
see the rays of contemplative gesture ~

touch the earth and feel its roots

where tomorrow’s may

you and the trees are one.

inhale exhale breathe the air

that is more profound

than any truths.

today’s rain and tomorrow’s sunshine:

lift yours hands like praying leaves —

and never doubt

that such glory

is always found in your roots.

believe

and you shall grow...

THE TURMOIL WITHIN

By Shadowjo

*
A strong outward facade

Does not always sustain

A strong inner self.


*

A deep turmoil within

Often over-compensates

With false strength without.


*

Only a healthy inner core 

Can sustain indefinitely 

A flourishing body and mind.


*
Source: Shadowlands 

August 02, 2020

THE PATTERN OF LIFE

We met and married a long time ago.
We worked long hours when wages were low.
No telly, no bath, for times were hard.
Just a cold water tap and a walk in the yard.

No holidays abroad, no carpets on floors,
We'd coal on the fire, and didn't lock doors.
Our children arrived (No Pill in those days).
We brought them up without any state aid.

They were safe going out to play in the park.
And old folk could go for a walk in the dark.
No Valium, drugs and no LSD.
We cured most of our ill with a good cup of tea.

No vandals, no muggings (not much to rob).
We felt we were rich with a couple of bob.
People seemed happier in those far off days.
Kinder and caring in so many ways.

Milkmen and paperboys would whistle and sing.
A night at the pictures was quite a mad fling.
We got our share of troubles and strife.
But we had to face it - the Pattern of Life.

Author Anon

From a paper cutting of anon source under a title heading:
"A poem about life as it was"

INSPIRATION

Within the ancient city walls
Our great cathedral rise,
Towering over time and change
To point us to the skies.

~David Hope~

Source: The Friendship Book of Francis Gay

THE ESTRANGEMENT OF MY DERANGEMENT

*
My soul almost died in those days of shame,
It came close to death on so many occasions
Its survival is a miracle to me
One I never quite comprehended.
*
I was always the stranger in a strange land
The new boy that never stayed long enough
To be humiliated into submission,
Or assimilated into admission.
*
I refused to bend under the weight,
Or to snap under the strain.
But the price for my personal state of isolation
Was the capitulation of my soul.
*
The battles were many and the victories few
Towns, cities, states, and counties,
Like a carousel of hate and humiliation
Came and went and tore at the heart of my soul.
*
As the years passed and the body hardened
My one determined goal never strayed off course.
The body may bleed, the heart may cry,
But my soul will never be lost.
*
I swore allegiance to that battered soul
Took an oath and professed forever on
Whatever this world had in store,
I would not change to save myself from hurt
*
So here I am, battered and bruised.
Among my raddled but still noble anamnesis
With elysian pride and a peaceful heart
I watch at last, the renaissance of my soul.

By Shadowjo
Source: Shadowlands
30 June 2014