April Love - Day Four: Dear Morning

Dear Morning

We have not always had the best of relationships, you and I. I being a night owl, tend to experience you creeping up on me with the sharp reminder that the night is in fact over. Having spent many years dancing all night, your early light would sharply remind of the reality of day. Staying up talking all night seemed far more intimate than meeting in the morning.

I'm still a night owl and I still greet you pre-dawn but as your first light breaks, I welcome you. I realise now that the serenity that you bring is what probably scared me. I was so lost that your calming presence was a reminder of how out of control I felt and I far preferred to stay up dancing with my demons, raging through the night.

I now get to greet you before first light again but on my drive to work. As the light of day hits the studio, I am in awe of the beauty that you create and how you wake up the world so gently every morning. No matter what happens or how bad my day has been, I know that I can always look forward to seeing you again tomorrow and the comfort of your familiar presence is something I hold on to when I don't want my days to begin.

Thank you Morning for being there, come rain or shine and that you are the first one to wake up the world like the mother we all wish would. Thank you for your patience and for greeting me so beautifully in this incredible life. I'm so thankful that I have come to appreciate you for the beauty that you are.

April Love - Day Three: Dear Feet

Dear Feet

You like so much of the rest of my body have been very much neglected for most of my life. I have this theory that people are either 'mind' or 'body' people in that they either live mainly in their heads (myself included) or they are very much present and aware of their bodies. I think the reason why I tend to not think too much about my body is because it has caused me more problems than I would like. That however is a different matter altogether and this letter is in fact intended for you dear feet so back to the topic at hand.

Thank you dear feet for always doing your job. Despite the fact that you are long compared to the rest of my body and incredibly narrow and have been 'problematic' that you have very rarely caused me pain. I remember as a child going to the shoe shop and being told when having my feet measured that, "You must have been last in the queue when they gave out feet." I remember the embarrassment and shame and wondering why my feet had to be flat. I wondered why I would never be allowed to do ballet or be able to run. Looking back now, I realise that was the first in a series of "CAN'TS". If only I had had the self esteem to not listen to insensitive comments made by adults. But I was just a child and he being the 'expert' made a strong negative impression. Imagine if that man had instead said to me, "Wow, those long feet were made for only the finest Italian shoes", would it have made a difference, I wonder?

We've walked a long road dear feet from the tip of Table Mountain in South Africa, to the green fields in Ireland, to the dusty back roads of Mexico and pebbled beaches of England. You've danced with me all night until the sun came up even when my legs couldn't go any more, we let the music move us. You've indulged me in my high heeled dreams when I bought ridiculously beautiful yet impractical grey shoes that of course I had to take off as soon as I could. I've occasionally adorned my toenails in sparkly nail polish and can't recall nearly enough foot rubs. I even once went to get my feet 'read' and was told those long toes represent an incredible amount of creativity.

Oh feet, I'm excited about the places we still will get to explore together and that one day I can adorn you in those fine Italian shoes. Thank you for always keeping me grounded and getting me where I need to go. I'm looking forward to the many journeys we have yet to walk, climb and dance together.

                                                My Feet: Image by Dr Benway

April 2015 PAD Challenge - Day Ten - A Third Of The Way Done!

Today's prompt for the 2015 April Writer's Digest Poem A Day Challenge is: Write a 'How' Poem.

How It Should Be

Normally I find meeting new people difficult
It’s A Cold World Out There
Of Transactional relationships
Built on Broken Promises and forgotten dreams
But this week
This week, I fell in Love!

Wednesday morning
You arrived right on schedule
Your life began And so did we

With new roles to play
You’ve Broken all our hearts wide open

It was Love at first sight
No questions or analysis
I knew exactly what to do and how to be

No one gets a handbook on this stuff
But the answer is simple
Just Love
No need to run or fight or hide
Just Love
The world looks friendlier
Now that you’re in it

2015 April PAD Challenge - Day Nine - Work

Today's prompt for the Writer's Digest April 2015 Poem A Day Challenge   is work.

Jobs

If we ever meet
Don’t ask me what I do

Potential employers have gazed at my schizophrenic C.V. with one eyebrow arched
But what they won’t see
is that I’ve tried the 9 to 5 in gloomy London
and ended up interviewing my colleagues about their dreams

Flew half away around the world because of love and ended up with heart break

Ran away to the ocean to play videographer at a Shark Cage Diving company for the sum total of One.Whole.Day (A Great White Ate My Camera)

I’ve seen that the rich can’t buy happiness while singing Happy Birthday Dressed As Snow White For A One Year Old’s Birthday

Heard the woes of the lonely, the ignored and the outraged at 3am on late night radio

I felt insane playing a cheetah for Chinese tourists at an African convention as they posed and took photos

I’ve listened to the stories of what it’s like to be Jewish and Irish in Dublin

And made sure that the drunk Dutch Rock ‘n Rollers could sit up straight for their interviews

I’ve helped clear the clutter in people’s homes while they told me all their secrets

And I still don’t have a Degree

So If we ever meet
Don’t ask me what I do

Like it’s supposed to mean something

2015 April PAD Challenge - Day Seven - First Week Complete!

Today's prompt for the Writer's Digest 2015 April Poem A Day Challenge is: A Love Poem or an Anti-Love Poem. As you can see below, I decided to write about Love. I can't believe I finished the first week and that I've managed to write something daily despite myself. Here's to the next 23 days!


Countdown

A family borne from ice
Isn’t one for loving words
Or grand displays of affection
But the thought of you makes me grin
In the Darkness

I find this world
To be one of complications and cruelty
But with you
None of the rules apply

Though we have yet to meet
I know you by heart
It has been a lifetime of longing
And the dragons have started to circle the skies

The wolves are calling your name
Sweet one
It is time
Come home
And take your place

My guarded gates are standing wide open
As I await
Your Arrival

2015 April PAD Challenge - Day Three

Today's prompt as part of Writer's Digest 2015 April Poem A Day Challenge is: A Machine Poem

The Thought Machine
Instructions:
1. Open and Turn On Your Mind
2. Insert Daily Gratitude For Optimum Results
3. Check Feeling Centre – Standard Options apply.
4. Choose To Increase Or Decrease Feeling For Desired Effect
5. Your Machine Should Produce in Excess of 60 000 thoughts per day regardless of Feeling Centre.
6. You May Find Yourself Drifting Between Your Thoughts and Feeling Centre, Check Your Settings.
7. Be Aware of coming in contact with External Stimuli in your environment. This Will Greatly Affect Your Thinking Machine as well as your Feeling Centre.
8. If your Feeling Centre gets stuck, check in with your body settings.
9. If Thinking Centre Shuts Down, Reconnect Your Body.
10. Choose the Breathing Function.
11. You May Find That Your Thoughts Will Slow Down – Give Your Thought Machine A Chance To Reboot.
12. Go Back To Step 1.