Cat Calling

 Your call

For you was two secs

For me it was upward hackles

Made me want to get better at self defence 

Wish I wasn't wearing yoga pants 

Second call made me feel more angry that I felt this way

I wanted to enjoy my walk

To feel that relaxation. 

But not today.

That was not asked for. 

Can't I just feel safe in my neigbourhood?

As long as your attitude remains

I can't walk this way

Yoga pants are not so you stare at me.

I wore them to feel comfortable on my walk.

Not so you could make me feel unsafe and insecure. 

The only person allowed to comment on how nice the pants make my bum look is lying in the bed next to me each night. 

Through trust, affection and respect of me as a full person. 

This is the sort of man I married. 

Unless you change your attitude towards women,  your not going to know the many privileges of marriage. 

If you are, than I'm sorry for your wife.

Do better. 

I'm not a dog to be whistled at.

Nor a paining being admired.

I'm a human being who should get to relax walking in her yoga pants at 5:30 pm and any other time of night. 

It's not as funny as you think.

Cat calling instills fear, is an act of verbal aggression, and isn't at all friendly or a complement.

Stop.

How Precious

Dedication: for some beloved friends of mine and their precious son.

How precious is a moment.

When tiny infant is dying.

When you say goodbye.

Times when sleep avades you.

This is when we treasure most.

Our memmories...

We fully absorb each moment.

For while they don't last forever...

In recolection they last for a time.

Memmory is such a gift.

Perhaps that is why Dementia is so painful.

The gift is taken away.

But it is something shared stroungly by others.

When one forgets, another recalls.

All stand together, sharing these moments.

One that I will hold dear is that of little Daniel.

A little star that shined who's light is held and will not be forgoten.

This poem is for him and his parents and family.

May we not forget that he lived and was so loved.

Let us share in the preious memmory of little Daniel. 

The Call

I felt the call.

The call of faith

To accept and help

Those that do not fit

In a world reluctant to change

 

So sorry for not getting it

The way everyone else does

It is not consistently said

Editing who you are is painful.

 

I have been there.

Like too many have

It is not even or fair.

listen, ask, think, and act.

How can I make this better?  

Feel

All of it. Pain, sorrow, not only yours but others.
So deep it wounds you.

But... if I did not feel...
How would I know?

To just hold, stroke, speak gently.
Be present and give all attention.

Till you find the pain bearable.
For I bear it with you.

Truly sorry that someone I
care about is in such pain.

So... thank you God.
For allowing me to feel.

To feel a little like you did.
When you bore all our pain.

“Come, Mr. Frodo!' he cried. 'I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Fire Extinguisher

-Dedication: To all the Fire Fighters in NSW... thank you.-

Flames. Any kind.

Easy to exacerbate. Easy to create. 

But hard to tame. 

How do you lessen a flame?

It takes time to quell.

Why? Because fire is powerful.

Angry fire, boiling emotions.

Fire is real, hot, and decimates fast.

How to make still? Still enough to quench?

We'll need resources: patience, time, respect.

A clear head and a calm presence.

Let it still and slowly soften the flame.

It is love.

 Love that gives what is needed.

To save relationships, treasures and life.

The willingness to fight back  the flames.

So thank you to firefights of NSW.

Those who put themselves at risk,

to save others, often strangers.  

Thank you for showing us bravery. 

For your example we can find courage to fight.

To fight flames of anger and powerful emotions. 

To help others fight internal flames.

To say 'hey, let's take a breath together'. 

Because if a fire-fighter can stand up to flames...

Then so must I. 

With you by my side. 

Luke 18: "For nothing is impossible with God"

Hold me

Hold me now, I am weary.
Hold me now, you are dear.
Hold me now, I'm not okay.

You listen, I cry.
Hold me now.
You understand, I relax.
Hold me now.
You accept, I settle.

Hold you now.
I see your long day.
Hold you now.
I sense your pain.
I hear your voice my love.

"Hold me now."
Say it out loud. 
"Hold me now."
Come to embrace.

"Hold me now."
I already am.
"Hold me now."
Here you are safe.

Your love is like Christ's.
You seek me when I am lost.
In my dark days you don't let go.
When I forget, you remember.

Thank-you Father God for the people,
that love me as you love.

Little Things

Sometimes on the grey days and the black days,
we are prone to focus on the darkness.
But it is far better to look at the shoots and the stars.
Those little stars in the bleak blackness.

A call from a friend.
A walk with the dog.
A good book that makes you laugh.

All of these are can lift the weight off you.
Each little thing helps.
They don't have to be complex.

A hug rather than a worried look.
A small task completed for you.
A meal made for you.

Just little things, but they make life worth continuing.
Every little sensation.
A taste. A touch. A feel. A smell.

Thank You God for all the little things.
For even when there is darkness all around...
I will choose to fix my eyes upon the little things.
Starting with a breath and ending with a poem.

Emotions

There are times when I’ve yearned for my emotions to simply cease.

But what would that look like? After contemplating the question, I resolved that if we eradicated all feelings… grief, loneliness, comfort, jealously, satisfaction, affection, joy, hatred, compassion, envy, anxiety, dispiar, anger, shame, joy…

Leaving them all behind would destroy our motivation, empathy and sense of purpose.

We need to feel. If we became entirely apathetic we could not feel for others. Never having experienced, and therefore not able to understand, where the other person is and how they are feeling.

It is deeply encouraging to me to know that Jesus knew how painful it can be to live in this world
- but he came regardless.

He came so that we might not endure the estrangement, but the adoption.

So that we may know the happiness amongst the grief. The colour against the black.

For what we did not earn he gave in abundance. He gave his grace. 

A treasure that will never spoil or fade.

Now when emotions make strong attempts to overwhelm me, I will recall him who triumphs.

I will put on the armour of God as I prepare for battle. As I march out surrounded by other Christians, I will remember that I do not struggle alone. With the support of my brothers and sisters, I am not alone. None of us are, God is with us…  Always.

Praise Be To His Name!

Undulating waves.

Rocks and fossils.

Colour, size and shape.

The Lord spoke and 

there they were.

Laughter, puzzles, books.

Food, walks, time away.

The Lord gave us the

ability to enjoy.

Songs, voices upraised.

Small communities of Christians.

Coming together as one by grace.

The Lord has provided in Jesus.

Praise be to his name! 

Note: This is a poem written on behalf of Christians that have died and gone to be with God the Father.

Remember me 

When I go remember me.

For you are left and I can no longer be on your right. 

Remember me, for I am gone.

Grief is strong and hard to bear.

Yet all of us have dealings with it.

May our Heavenly Father aid you from here on in, for I cannot.

Continue life's journey with your load,

of photographs and places we can no longer go.

Remember me, for I am gone.

There are traces of me, in faces and hearts
of  people you know. They are living and whole.

As I pray you will grow to be once again.

Please keep your merry laugh, as the days move past.

Emerge from the fog of grief, with God in your heart.  

Remember me, for I am gone. 

Old age and its meaning

Wrinkles, walkers, and problems.
Old age.
Empathy, fragmented thinking,and fagillity.
Old age.

Why does dementia often go with demented?
Why can't it fit in with concideration instead?

Cannot family mean freedom rather than
restritions and other over protection?

The elderly are not merely objects or
major tax drain. They have their own
tales and one day you will be one of
them. Because they are people after all.