From one girl to another,

She says, “Ooh, sorry. I’m always in the way.”

Perhaps she is joking, or it’s just something she likes to say.

She is not a burden, nor a speed bump on a racecourse.

She is intelligent, inspiring, a force.

She was not created to please mankind.

She is up and at em’, straight to the grind.

She knows what she wants and will not settle for less.

She is worthy, and always gives her best.

She does not tiptoe around and can come off too bold.

Society needs to adjust to this, and not just be sold…

the same old song and dance that she should be quiet, and smile.

She’s earning her stripes; she’s walking the mile.

While it’s always acceptable to be polite,

She is not in the way; she should not dim her light. 

Her inner voice is not always so kind.

She’s hardest on herself to stay in line.

Held to impossible standards to meet,

She faces each day and will not accept defeat.

So, keep being fierce and tackling goals,

Give yourself some grace, you are owning your roles.

Share this with other women you think of today.

You are enough, and you are not in the way.

I did not wait

I could not leave it up to fate

At first sight I was blind

At second glance I see I’ve missed you this whole time

I changed the course I had planned from the start

To keep you closer to my heart

I would have rather been alone

Than to have never ever known

Though it is early yet

I have not a single regret

You are both my strength and my weakness

My world lights up when we kiss

Soaking up this point of view

I’ve fallen so in love with you

Emotions storm about what is to come

As we write our story from page one

What’s a good story without history

The future still a mystery

So I hold tight to moments now

And anticipate what’s on the bow

It is not unscathed

It jumps from play to play

Unsettling and loud

Obnoxious and proud

No one dares to mention

Which creates a ton of tension

Fingers point in all directions

Not at the elephant in the room

At times we can only see our own

Or others see ours while on we drone

The trail to success

Is often full of mess

Not without ample distress

A sore thumb has nothing on

The elephant in the room

There have been many times where I have thought, “I wish someone would address the elephant in the room.” Until I started asking myself, “Do I have any elephants?” Do I have any loud situations going on that other people think are so obviously in need of correction, change, or help? The answer is almost always yes. We all have 🐘. Be very careful to think of your own loud situations before being truly comfortable approaching anyone else’s.

She was 18 and baby 2 on the way
Just shy of 7 months pregnant on her wedding day.

It goes so fast so many changes in her world
Barely walking, bright and cheerful was her little baby girl.

Gaining a wife and her blue eyed baby miss
He wondered who they’d meet in 2 short months but first I do, and a kiss.

The bride and groom had some planning to do
Would this next bundle be pink or would this one be blue.

Blue, a beautiful baby boy

Born in july brand new

With the biggest brownest eyes

Life wasn’t easy in fact it was down right tough

She stretched herself so god damned thin and still it was never enough.

They loved their babies but they took the bumpy road

And when they made it to adulthood, their first boy was into dope.

Greedy and feverishly looking for his next high
A former shell of his young self, he’d manipulate, and lie.

Sometimes she thought he’d be better off unrevived
Finally at peace the struggle ending no more fighting to survive.

She found him Blue

His big brown eyes

They didn’t move

He couldn’t hear their cries

They fought hard to bring him back and when he came around
He was so mad he lashed out quickly not aware death had him surrounded.

There is no ending to this cautionary tale
No ending to the suffering they’ll all continue to entail.

That makes them blue

Helpless and alone

It’s life they choose

He has to do this on own.

#addiction #overdosing #endthestigma

I found Claire Kelly on Songfinch and she sang this for me. It came out so good!!! https://www.songfinch.com/stories/d65d2612-bdbc-4c53-b2be-ee07e0e3511b

There’s the girl with oodles and noodles of long blonde hair,

She meekly glanced around, does she catch your stare?

Small and determined, his truth turned to dare,

A boy sneaks to Great Wall for a .25 cent gumball ring in despair.

A high pitch cackle, the ring sails through the air,

Landing in the rubbish bin with not 1 care.

She snarks, chuckles, a small vein glare.

His choice to come forward is foreign, undocumented, she made this clear.

Essential to the process though, the story ended there.

A boy lives through his first “no” from oodles and noodles of hair.

Albeit my vision certainly isn’t perfect, I see color just fine. In a time where we are becoming so divided amongst each other’s “fight for what’s right”, one of the most common, pacifying posts, I see as I scroll through social media is, “I don’t see color, I see people and who they are as a person individually.” I get it. You are maybe trying to say that you don’t make snap judgements based on skin color/ethnicity. Alright. It’s a good start but there’s one thing missing. We are different. Our differences don’t make us into stereotypes. They don’t define who we are that much is clear. This doesn’t mean we have to be colorblind. Try instead to see the colors and shapes and sizes and find something you appreciate about it. When you meet and interact with someone you feel looks so different than you don’t be afraid to express what you might find visually interesting or appealing. Try using some tact with that advice. “Wow I really like your freckles.” Or don’t say anything at all. We can talk to someone who looks different without pointing it out AND without ignoring it all together. Going forward is going to be sticky. A lot of people are feeling alienated and are getting defensive. It’s not productive. Surely we won’t move forward faster with our eyes closed.