Surviving rape

white sculptureBroken inside

Secrets to hide

Struggling to float

In the deep moat

Of sorrows profound

Of demons that hound

Pain once inflicted

Deeply embedded

Etched on her soul

Branded like coal

Crying for escape

A change of landscape

A cleansing of soul

To render her whole..

**

She is a survivor

Her strength can revive her

She lifts her head high

She turns a blind eye

To penetrating stares

She knows no one cares

Ghosts of the past

She’s burning at last

She’s picked up the threads

Of her life full of shreds

Weaving them in a pattern

All new, to mark her return

From the dungeons of shame

She’s absolved herself from blame..

**

The scars that remained

The residual pain

Faded some more

As she found succour

In the warmth of love true..

A new landscape she drew

For her heart full of hope

She had climbed up a slope

Of happiness hard-earned

As her fate slowly turned

Her resilience now rewarded

Love, she had been awarded.

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #11

Colorful and bright

They pose an interesting sight

My photographic eye they invite…
DSC04998Outside the Children’s museum in San Diego, CADSC04974Bicycle kite, Seaport Village, San DiegoDSC04930Mexican peasant dresses, Old Town, San Diego

The Daily Post: Fresh

The cerulean sea

The benevolent sun

Shining down bright

Waking up to this sight..

A fresh day has begun

DSC04642DSC04560(Both these photographs are of the Caribbean sea taken from a cruise ship)

Finding confidence

statue2Teetering steps

Wavering confidence

Bashful apologies

In self-defence

Afraid of falling,

Of errors unknown

Myriad voices calling

To drown down my own..

I feel overwhelmed

My faith is slowly dying

I cannot even pretend

Otherwise, though I’m trying…

How do I get back

From this dark, black hole

When confidence I lack

To make my broken self whole?

***

There was this voice inside my head

“You need to pull yourself up,” it said

“The artist of your destiny you are,

Look in to yourself, do not look far”

And so I created a brand new design

Of how I wanted to be, in my mind

Gave myself an aura of exuberance

A radiant smile, exuding confidence

I projected the image I had created

Gradually, all my fears abated

Whenever I feel of myself unsure

That brilliant image of myself I conjure

A new wave of confidence in me I infuse

The world around me with positivity I diffuse. 

A Photo a Week Challenge: Brighten Up Your Day

DSC04688Sun, sands, the sea and the ship!

Content ambition

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

-William BlakeDSC04801

Being contented with what you’ve got

Leads on the path to happiness

Be satisfied is what I was taught

Was told that it would lower stress..

*

My heart does not this fact accept

I think contentment kills progress

When my inner desires I inspect,

I long for much more, I confess..

*

This want, however, is my trigger

That makes me climb ambition’s slope

Makes me aspire for achievements bigger

The constant desire gives me hope…

*

I face the music of ambition

Toss and turn at night I do

Until my efforts reach fruition

Anxious, restless I stay too.

*

This dilemma I cannot resolve

Between contentment and ambition

For following one seems to involve

Letting go of the other condition..

There is something of which I’m certain

Mankind made progress from ambition

Were those ambitious men burdened

By the stress of following their passion?

On the other hand we see some

People who are happy as they are

They maintain balance and equilibrium

They maintain peace and avoid war.

*

I am constantly trying to find

That sweet spot, the middle ground

Yet I cannot make up my mind

Whether at all it can be found

I live for the upswings of achieving

Failure causes momentary depression

But then I go on, always believing

That I can follow my true passion,

Somewhere, some day I am sure

I shall find something in my pursuit

That will my restlessness cure

As well as my ambition boost!

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #11

All these photographs are from my recent visit to San Diego, CA
DSC04995Corridor, Hotel Hyatt, San Diego, CA

DSC05007Stairway at a boutique hotel, San Diego, CA

DSC04889Corridor, Coronado, San DiegoDSC04942Seaport Village, San Diego

A Word a Week Photograph Challenge – Float


 DSC04941             Embarcadero, San DiegoDSC04564             Afloat in the Caribbean..DSC03966 (2)              Water lily leaves floating- Longwood Gardens, PA

ONE WORD PHOTO CHALLENGE: MELON

What a lovely color to photograph!

Both my images are from the Philadelphia Flower Show.DSC04773DSC04776

Attraction

DSC04810Laws of attraction

Whimsical, arbitrary

Causing distraction

In a life ordinary

Wreaking havoc profound

In a tumultuous mind

Emotions raising a sound

While going through the grind

I was caught unaware

Thrown in a cataclysm

Obsession threatening to declare

A war within my heart’s realm

Oblivious of circumstance

Mindless of time and place

Attraction I felt simply by chance

Leaving me a million questions to face

Suspended in mid-air did I feel

With choices difficult lying ahead

As I tried to quieten the zeal

Of a passion I thought was long dead

**

I was tempted to follow my heart

And get instant gratification

I knew that this was not smart

I would face lasting ramifications

I steered myself away

With a steely resolve

Fervently while I did pray

From temptation to be absolved

Bent but not broken

I sprang back again

Leaving hidden, unspoken

A dull residual pain

This attraction transient

My vulnerability revealed

I learnt my heart’s subservient

To temptations concealed. 

Weekly Photo Challenge: Walls

DSC03067Walls of the Vatican CityDSC03048 (2)

Walls of the Roman Forum, Rome, ItalyDSC03832Wall of the Comcast Center, Philadelphia, actually a huge flat screen

DSC04081Hippie-ish walls- at the Haight-Ashbury district, San Francisco, CAHindu trinityCarved wall representing the Hindu trinity

A Word A Week Photograph Challenge – Raindrop

dewdropsRaindrops on the bark of a tree

DSC04555View from a glass window- residual raindrops on the glass