published

I've been writing alot lately, I just have yet to put any of it on here. In fact, if I may take a brag moment, I found out that one of my poems is getting published! I'm sure it's some obscure publication, but I must admit it was kinda fun to fill out the "Artist Profile" that they will include with the piece. It even asked for my "Pen Name". I wish I was as creative as Mark Twain. I thought about something having to do with Ireland, since I have a peculiar affinity with anything Irish....with the exception of Guinness of course. Hmmmm... Brooke Ireland. Sounds like a good, hearty pen name to me!

Anyway, here is the poem. It's the abridged and edited version of a poem I wrote a few years ago. A poem about the gods we bow to...hiding in their shadows...not realizing that freedom is only in the light.


Worlds apart from Truth, we hide our hearts from being known
And comparisons perpetuate the lie that we’re alone
One offers her mind, a life of controlled competence
Pushing aside feminine beauty for things more important
Logic and Intellect, the gods that she serves
Form calluses that harden over desires once hers
All tenderness disregarded in the midst of her capable striving
Facades of independence form walls behind which her heart is hiding

Another offers service, her life void of rest
Never content to just be, exhausting herself to be best
Busyness and Obligation, the gods for which she lives
Defined by all she does leaves her with nothing left to give
Her heart is forgotten in the chaos she creates
But because it feels safe, she prefers to remain
She hangs a no trespassing sign over the longings of her heart
And bids farewell to desires of playing the Cinderella part

And yet another offers simply one more pretty face
Chasing mirages found in magazines, True beauty is erased
But do people really see her or just features that she flaunts?
Accumulating external worth to quiet the inner perception that taunts
Glamour and Materialism, the gods of her choice
Allure her with immediacy, but slowly drowned out her voice

All of them searching for something valuable to offer
And wounded by pasts that distort the image in the mirror
Dying inside underneath masks of illusion
Until Redemption intercedes with an unusual conclusion
Hope begins to unveil the shame they feel inside
And Freedom lifts the veil; they no longer have to hide