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

to write or not to write

At the risk of sounding repetitive, it has been far too long since I last posted. A true reflection that busyness has slowly crept in again and stolen the precious moments I spend writing. When will I make time for writing, I ask myself? Maybe once I'm old and retired and perhaps a bit less of a procrastinator. It's a sad thought, for I dearly love to write but somehow minutes turn into days and days into weeks and weeks into months, and before you know it I've lost all inspiration to write.

I heard a professional writer once say that "you can't wait for the moments of inspiration, you just have to write." There will be times when the writing flows easily when the keyboard becomes a piano of melody as your fingers dance across the keys. And then there are times (probably more frequent than the former) when the writing seems a bit less harmonious and the sounds coming from your keyboard resemble two-fingered "chopsticks". Which is more of where I find myself today.

All of that to say, I just need to suck it up and write. Not when I feel like it, but b/c I enjoy writing and on some occasions, I think I'm actually pretty decent at it. So the lesson here (preaching to myself) is that sometimes in order for something inspired to triumph, I have to forge through the uninspired. Much like in daily life. Sometimes, most of the time, in order for God's Love to be felt in my heart, I must first forge through the routine of today with faith & belief held close. I believe though I do not see... I have faith though I do not always feel. And the incredible happens on occasion when head and heart align and I FEEL all that I know to be true. And the hope I have is that one day all will be perfectly aligned... never again disjointed by this sin-stained earth suit I wear. Ah, I can't wait for that day!