2 FRAYED, I BREATHE

Frayed, I breathe  

I feel at the end of my rope

like my hands are balled tight as I hang on,

to manage my stress …

I breathe to sooth the zing in my mind

I am fed up, frustrated and annoyed beyond compare

My muscles tightens as I clench my teeth and growl,

To manage my stress…

I breathe, nose wrinkled in an irritated frown

I breathe…

I am fucking aggravated with people who complain incessantly but refuse to rise up

They never part of the solution, won’t ever rise to the occasion

Except…

To cause drama

Evade accountability

to ...

create noise to disrupt and distract others from seeing their deceitfulness

A growled rises from the back of my throat

To manage my stress…

I have to breathe to be still

I count to 10 and back again ...

I breathe and contain myself remembering life lessons and values

I think, ‘this is why God is God.’

I wonderingly ask, ‘God, how do you tolerate the arrogant, underhanded conceited malevolence of humankind?

I pray…

Teach me Lord…

Guide me, show me, in the right way, by your will, in precisely the right time with right support and evidence.

I breathe…

I think, ‘this is why God is God’ but, I am not God I debate

I growl

I pray for guidance,

I pray for tolerance,

I pray for strategic maneuverability,

to navigate and out maneuver the enemy

I breathe …

I let go,

I am less weighted

I am lightened

I'm on track again

I breathe …

for reinforcement, for encouragement.

I'm ready to deal

At least I think I am

Lord …

Lord,

I need Jesus.

D.S.B.S.Rhapsody Phoneix

---

 [DBS1]

4 BURY ME IN A FREE LAND

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 1825-1911

I don't often read poetry per se mostly because I don't necessarily like a lot of it. However, every once in a while, I come across one that moves me. Bury Me In A Free Land written by abolitionist, activist, author and poet Frances Ellen Watkins Harper is one such poem. Perhaps the depths to which it moves me has to do with the horrific truth from which it's derived. In honor of Mrs Frances Ellen Watkins Harper who lived till the age of 82, I share her words...

Bury Me in a Free Land

By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper 

Make me a grave where'er you will,

In a lowly plain, or a lofty hill; 

Make it among earth's humblest graves,

But not in a land where men are slaves.

I could not rest if around my grave

I heard the steps of a trembling slave;

His shadow above my silent tomb

Would make it a place of fearful gloom.

I could not rest if I heard the tread

Of a coffle gang to the shambles led,

And the mother's shriek of wild despair

Rise like a curse on the trembling air.

I could not sleep if I saw the lash

Drinking her blood at each fearful gash,

And I saw her babes torn from her breast,

Like trembling doves from their parent nest.

I'd shudder and start if I heard the bay

Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey,

And I heard the captive plead in vain

As they bound afresh his galling chain.

If I saw young girls from their mother's arms

Bartered and sold for their youthful charms,

My eye would flash with a mournful flame,

My death-paled cheek grow red with shame.

I would sleep, dear friends, where bloated might

Can rob no man of his dearest right;

My rest shall be calm in any grave

Where none can call his brother a slave.

I ask no monument, proud and high,

To arrest the gaze of the passers-by;

All that my yearning spirit craves,

Is bury me not in a land of slaves.

To read more on Frances E.W. Harperg go to,  https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frances-E-W-Harper

16 LOVE

LOVE

Love is love

The commitment to love is work, 

it is choice - daily, 

It is building a foundation, 

maintaining and sustaining that foundation, 

making love deposits, 

nurturing, 

solidifying, 

Inspiring 

empowering together, 

one hand cannot clap because it elicits no sound
the only way it elicits sound is from being slammed against something. 

Love does not flow from force,

It flows from freedom of will united with expression that's 

honored, 

upheld, 

embraced, 

unencumbered by petty jealousies, 

weakened by physical emotional psychological spiritual degradation. 

Love is willing choice expressed without manipulation.
Love is not tricky and treachery
Love is willful giving 

Love is ...

a gift, 

to cherish, 

to hold, 

to breathe in and expelled with gratitude and graciousness. 

Love

D.S.B.S.Rhapsody (c) all rights reserved

10 Love - It starts within

Biggest lesson I have learnt in life thus far – to stop wishing and waiting for someone to do for ME what I can do for MYself. Being small, invisible and insignificant does not serve you in becoming the best you. Be your own Champion

Learn to give to yourself that which you wish others would give to you

Compassion

Forgiveness

Understanding

Acceptance

Tolerance

Encouragement

Inspiration

Motivation

Direction

Knowledge

Advocacy

Validation

Honor

Respect

Truth

Love

Unconditional love

It starts within

Do the work

Set the standard

One day at a time

Moment to moment

Second by second

You are well worth the time

Be that which you desire

Be

Love

Live

Accept

D.S.B.S.Rhapsody©All rights reserved.

41 IN MY PUDDLE

Some days my puddle is just a puddle

Small, insignificant, barely existent much like a tiny drip

Other days it enlarges and grazes the souls of my feet

Barely enough to touch my toes

Shielded by the barrier of my shoes however…

More noticeable, shimmering

Reflecting, mirroring my denials

Forecasting stubborn unfinished truths

Putting me on notice

In those moments when the truth refuse to be denied

I gaze resign and anxious at my puddle’s transparency

Almost mocking in its exposure

Revealing everything beneath

Pure truths, stark naked and unbending

Shamelessly moving through a rancid path from yesterday into today

Suffocating

Transfixing

Stealing away my confidence

Leaving flakes of sadness and poisoned laughter

Clinging bitterly to my throat

Some days my puddle is my coffin

Overpowering, strangling hope,

Dismantling dreams

From its nonstop dreadful stink of yesteryear

Round in the belly of my psyche

Other days my puddle shifts

From beneath my feet

To huddle in my nose

Stealing my breath

Blurring my vision

Pushing me maliciously toward despair

But stubbornly I reposition myself

Poised and filled with a robustness birthed at the feet of anguish

That merged and morphed through the ages of tribulations

Defiantly I blow it out

Triumphant and euphoric

I reduce my puddle to just a puddle again

A tiny speck

Barely discernible

That for the most part

Goes unnoticed

Written by D.S.B.S.Rhapsody(c) all rights reserved. 

Wallpaper image from http://hampix.blogspot.ca/

32 A ROUGH DAY

Taking a step back today drawing on the energy of yesterday, enjoy.

A rough day

A busy, grueling fast past day

I breathe deep, hoping to exhale the trials away

Riding the weary tired on a sigh

I look up seeking solace.

I was transported by the vast orange hues,

Lit underneath by vibrant yellow rays

Intertwined and enveloped by the blues

A kaleidoscope sitting comfortably upon deep brown/black silhouette trees shouldering it all effortlessly

Effectively collapsing my decayed day away

D.S.B.Rhapsody©All rights reserved.

24 SILENCE–BE STILL

I am here, in a reflective place, a self-imposed valley chosen specifically for thinking and being.

 

I am in silent, observing silence, it’s tenets, seeking truth in the echoes of what was, what is and the foreshadowing of what is to come. 

 

I am poised with an open starved parched mind ready to capture, nourish and quench my being and in so do I share again the poem Silence.

 

 

Silence

Silence, it is required when one stops learning.

When growth is stunted,

Muted into stagnancy,

Clogging the ears,

The eyes,

The heart.

The stench of incessant noise decays,

Contaminates the mind

Suffocating oxygen,

Rutting comprehension,

Disconnecting and misdirecting,

Bleeding the psyche

Impregnating insidious callousness

An internal, external death

Shhh……

Be silent

Be still

Listen

Do some introspection

Heal the disconnection.

Get some direction

shhh...

Be still

Be silent

Get the lesson

Grow

Transform

Be

 

DSB Rhapsody © 2007 - 2015

14 IN THE MIDST

 

I sit, I stare

Not in despair

There are no tears

No fears

No melancholy

I simply …

Sit and stare

Observing the world around me

Looking everywhere and nowhere

Thinking about everything and nothing

I sit, I stare

Without care

Enjoying

Being

So

I sit and I stare

 

D.S.B.S.Rhapsody©All Rights Reserved.

24 Be Humble, Be Thankful, Be Still

When you’ve had a rough day

And you are feeling down

Because it feels like nothing has gone right,

That whatever could go wrong has gone wrong.

Be still.

Look up,

Let go….

And breathe,

Take a breath,

Take two,

Let go….

Accept the things you cannot change (you don’t have to like it)

Just accept,

Be humble,

Be thankful,

For each breath

For the ability to see (even to bitch and mourn and complain)

For the right here,

For the right now,

For this moment of stillness.

Take the time to …

Enjoy it

To take in the kaleidoscope of colors above you (yes, even the gray)

The array of clouds,

The marvel of…

The sunlight,

The moonlight,

The starlight

All greeting you unprejudicely

Embracing you with open arms,

No judgments

No condemnation

Just peace ….

Just Acceptance

Breathe

Take it all in

Capture the jewelled moment

And know

You are more that a bad moment

You are more than the sum total of bad moments

You are blessed,

 in spite of all that has happened

you are, a blessing

And let it all be a reminder that….

Even on the worst days

The dark days,

The murky days,

The turbulent days,

Beauty can be found,

And it surrounds.

 

 

 D.S.B.S.Rhapsody©All Rights Reserved

14 NO “It has Worth & Power”

NO.

It’s not a bad word.

Have you ever heard it?

Has it been spoken to you?

Can you speak it?

Can you mean it?

Can you teach it?

Can you respect it?

Can you stand hearing it?

Can you see it?

Can you forgive it?

Can you honor it?

Can you understand it?

Do you know when to use it?

Can you be satisfied with it?

Can you live with it?

NO

It’s important

It has its value

It has its place,

It is not a tool by which you take your measure

It is not a tool by which you determine their worth

It is a word meant to teach

It is a word in its brief abruptness, expands the communicative expressions, if one is listening

NO.

It is not a bad thing

It is not a bad word to know.

It has its worth

It has its power

Learn the importance of NO.

Understand the power of NO

Get familiar with it,

Learn how to use it

When to use it

Why to use it, in the appropriate time in the appropriate way

Use it to empower

Use it to enlighten

Use it to honor

Use it strengthen

Use it to grow

Use it to learn how to hear, how to listen, how to pay attention to the unspoken

NO

It’s not a bad thing.

It has its worth and power

D.S.B.Rhapsody © All Rights Reserved.