Happy Women’s Day (March 8, 2020)

International Women's Day
My phone is abuzz
With wishes
And inspirational messages.
I was feeling
None of it
Why?? I asked myself
I am in a slump
In one of my darkest depths.
Everyday
I wake up and wonder
Why my reality is this
I am not inspired
Nor am I inspirational
Why should this day
Matter...at all??

But then,
I realised, I felt
These wishes are unfair
They should include
Me and women like me
Who feel like failures
And struggle everyday.
What message do WE need??
Not one of goals and achievements
That's for sure!
Maybe
It should be
One that applauds us
For just being us
Without our external
Accouterments
Accomplishments
Maybe
They should be
Wishes
Just for our tired souls
For being brave
For holding on
For letting go
For existing
For surviving
For simply being.

Happy Women's Day
To all of you (us)
No matter who or where
Or how you are
Just for being you.
Wish you a lovely
Peaceful and joyous
Women's day
Not just today
But for everyday
That we keep trying
Hoping, living and loving
For a better tomorrow
For a brighter destiny
For a lighter heart
For a graceful spirit
And a lively soul.

Image Source: Image by Zizitom from Pixabay

Each woman is a unique tapestry of colours and combinations!

Image by Alexandra Haynak from Pixabay

We unite to rise up! We come together so noone getes left behind!

Image: The first suffrage picket line leaving the National Woman’s Party headquarters to march to the White House gates on January 10, 1917.

Image source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_first_suffrage_picket_line_leaving_the_National_Woman%27s_Party_headquarters_to_march_to_the_White_House_gates_on_January_10,_1917.tiff

Once Upon A Sunset

I wrote this two years ago, thinking back to the amazing sunset that I witnessed on the beach of Ostia Antica in Rome. I have never been more at peace than when I was there: on the far away beach of a foreign land, by myself, surrounded by black sand, pebbles, gentle waves and the occasional surfers and airplanes flying across the sunset. Ohhh, you should have been there to see it! It was a spectacle: full of possibilities and joy. There I believed in myself, and I loved myself for who I was and who I was going to be. I hope this poem brings to you that feeling of love and completeness that it brought me.

Somewhere, a long time ago
There was this happiness that I knew
Out of time it grew.

The kind that settles deep within
Breaks ground blooming
Sprouting colors of joy
Amidst the shadows of sky
Golden, blush and purple
Grey, blue and subtle.

Sunsets are a lot like love
Burning passion this moment
Cooler warmth the next
But forever the fulfillment
Of two souls that magically met.

I Cry; and, I Hope!

Just a reminder: to hope, despite everything else. Hope is that scrap of wood that we hold on to, amidst a sinking ship and turbulent seas. Hope saves lives every single day. It could mean a world of difference to someone struggling to get through everyday. So, have hope, spread hope and discuss hope 💚 Pay it forward, people!

I cry
With nostalgia 
With vexation
With barely repressed 
Frustration.

I cry
For the loss
For all the never will be(s)
For my utterly lacking
Current  should be(s).

I pray
To Her
To guide and protect
To save my wretched being
From fading into nothing.

I pray
For us
For peace
For there to be joy,
And beauty.

I wish
To grow
To help
To be kind
In thoughts and deeds.

I wish
For goodness
For courage
For the heart 
That breaks but also heals.

I hope
To wonder
To wander
To dream
Of a world with favour.

I hope
With my soul and spirit
With my strength of will
With all of my stubborn heart
That we shall survive,
And thrive
In the thrills of life.