Pep-talk to self

DSC04879When the days are getting dreary

When my steps are getting weary

I look for a little spark to light

And fill my world with sunshine bright

Gratitude then I summon

I thank everything I have, in turn

I look out for someone in need

I try to do one kind deed

Watch out for my patients’ smiles

That keep me going for endless miles

I give my little one a cuddle

Together in the blanket we huddle

I try something entirely new

Exciting, and quite uplifting too

The weariness starts to ebb

Positive actions weave such a web.

**

This is how I would perceive

Myself, in an effort to deceive

When I am down in the dump

Pretense lets me get over the hump

I pretend that I can achieve

Anything that I believe

Everything that I just said

I try to go through in my head

“Cause that’s what my ideal 

Self would do in an ordeal

It’s a mantra that I chant

Saves me from the rave and rant..

Sunday Stills, the next challenge: Rivers and Creeks

In a secluded creek

Solitude I seek

Far from the maddening crowds

Amidst the river and clouds

Away from the city’s loud noise

I’ve escaped, making a choice

To hear the brook’s musical rumble

As down the hill it  tumbles

Whispering sagacious advice

As a witness to human vice

While in silence I try to decipher

The lessons nature tries to deliver.
profilpic (2)Wissahickon creek, Philadelphia

avalanche creek2Avalanche creek, Glacier National Park, MT

yellowstone river (2)Yellowstone River, Yellowstone National Park, WYglacier creek (2)Another creek at Glacier National Park, MT

Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge: 2015 Week #12

I am always on the lookout for anything eye-catching to photograph nowadays- I know I can put them here!
DSC04829Do you really want to hang out at the “Shame of San Diego”?

DSC04640Ok, not so original- a towel gorilla (or monkey, or orangutan)

DSC04984

An ornate weighing machine, Seaport Village, San Diego

Musings on the occasion of World Poetry Day

DSC04798If I could give you a window

Into the space of my mind

If emotions within me I could show

Raw, unadorned, blind

No better way is there in this universe

No better form of expression

Than carving words into powerful verse

Exuding unbridled passion

Thoughts that are uncomfortable

Ideas too abstract to explain

A poem does their expression enable

A verse can capture true pain..

When sagging under the weight of words

When too prosaic appears prose

Then explore the realm of verse

Prose writing would  appear morose..

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