January 30: To the stranger

I was yanked out of sleep this morning by the need to write.  I awoke thinking of impressions that I had of the people I met yesterday and of the impression they may have had of me.

 

While I let those thoughts roll around my mind, I logged on and was happy to read the blogs of Barbara & Vivian.  I love that we're on this journey together, and though I couldn't figure out how to leave comments for them, with luck they'll read my blog, too, and know that they're already inspiring me and making me smile.

 

And when I got back to What Wanted To Be Written, I discovered that it was my version of a poem.  My poems don't rhyme, they don't have meter or structure.  My poems may not be even be poems at all.  But I like the look of them, each thought standing on its own, on a separate line, intentionally capitalized to my liking.

 

To my Stranger

I am fat,

I am lazy,

I am stupid,

I am weak,

I am greedy,

I am what I eat: junk,

And I am deserving of ridicule.

 

To my Known

I have lost weight (even a roll of belly fat!),

I work hard in ways seen and unseen,

I strive to listen and to learn,

I have been bruised and battered and have picked myself up again,

I have learned boundaries,

I enjoy plants, dairy, and the occasional meat (always consumed with a prayer of thanks to the life),

And I am human and deserving of love.

 

Of my Within

I am Flame that burns with eagerness to overcome Challenge.

I am Seed, tremulous and patient for light and water from without for the plant within.

I am Student, immersed in lessons beyond words.

I am Eyes that hold steady and set, watchful, hopeful, and determined.

I am Glutton for Life, for breath, for wind, for rain, for snow, for sunshine, for shade, for warmth, for strength, for support, for the hugs of my family, for every good and wonderful thing, for every resolved conflict, for every soul-strengthening moment of sorrow.

I am Nourished by kindred spirits, by strangers, by respect.

I am gloriously Imperfect, Alive to fail and to try again.