THE CORNER 4 WOMEN: June 2024

Sunday, 30 June 2024

"THE LAST BATTLE"

"THE LAST BATTLE" (author unknown)

If it should be that I grow weak,

And pain should keep me from my sleep,

Then you must do what must be done,

For this last battle cannot be won.

You will be sad, I understand;

Don't let your grief then stay your hand.

For this day more than all the rest,

Your love for me must stand the test.

We've had so many happy years -

What is to come can hold no fears.

You'd not want me to suffer so;

The time has come, so let me go.

Take me where my needs they'll tend

And please stay with me until the end.

Hold me firm and speak to me

Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time that you will see

The kindness that you did for me.

Although my tail its last has waved,

From pain and suffering I've been saved.

Please do not grieve - it must be you

Who had this painful thing to do.

We've been so close, we two, these years -

Don't let your heart hold back its tears.

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More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

"WHY NOT" by Julia Fehrenbacher

"WHY NOT" by Julia Fehrenbacher

If death is inevitable, if it is a sure

thing that this face, these hands,

this body that holds a lifetime of this living,

will, someday, no longer be here,

if you don't get to take a single thing with you—

then

why spend a moment more refusing,

worrying about who might disapprove,

measuring every move

as if there is some fixed formula you must

find? Why hold tight to anything?

Why not, instead, love every honeyed drop of yourself,

why not leap into life—belly-laughing

and light, light like the soft kiss of moonlight,

light like the light that you are,

have always been, will always be—

why not take this quickly passing day

by the hand and dance

like there's no tomorrow? And if you're too tired

to dance, why not rest lightly here

just as you are?

*********

words by Julia Fehrenbacher

Art 'Firefly' by Jimmy Lawlor

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

"QUIETLY" by Becky Hemsley 2024

"QUIETLY"
by Becky Hemsley 2024

I missed you quietly today. So quietly that no one noticed.

I missed you as I climbed out of bed and as I brushed my teeth; when I waited at the lights on the drive into work and as I heard the rain outside my window.

I missed you as I ordered lunch and as I kicked off my shoes when I got home; as I switched off the lights and climbed into bed for the night.

I missed you without tears or noise or fanfare.

But oh how I felt it.

I felt it in the morning, at lunchtime, in the evening and at night. I felt it as I woke, as I waited, as I worked. I felt it at home, on the road, in the light, in the dark, in the rain.

I felt it in every one of those moments, each one sitting heavier and heavier as the weight of me missing you kept growing and growing.

Yes, I missed you so quietly today.

But I felt it so loudly.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2024

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Artwork by Lilymoon

‘Quietly’ is a newer poem but there are similar in my book of grief and loss poetry https://amzn.eu/d/ePSd4yb

This is also available as a free download on my website, as a print on my Etsy store and I have just ordered some postcards of it to stock on Etsy as well. They should be here by the middle of this week xx

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

Saturday, 29 June 2024

"I CAN'T SAY I LOVED YOU" by Becky Hemsley

"I CAN'T SAY I LOVED YOU"
by Becky Hemsley

I can’t say I loved you. I just can’t

Because it makes it sound as if my love is past tense. Gone, finished, ended.

And that is so far from the truth.

My love is not in the past. It will never be gone.

I love you now. Still.

You didn’t take all this love away with you. It stays. It lingers.

Some days it jumps up and hits me in the face just to remind me that it is still here. Still persevering.

Some days it nudges me. Challenges me to keep going. Daring me to find the strength to get through the day.

But mostly, it just resonates inside of me with everything I do. With every step forward and every glance back. Every close of my eyes. Every breath.

My love is not dependent on you being here.

There is nowhere far enough,

and nothing permanent enough

to stop me from loving you.

So I will not say I loved you.

Because I love you.

Still.

~~~

Becky Hemsley

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Art by Lori Maloy

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

"A NEW CHAPTER" by Becky Hemsley

"A NEW CHAPTER"
by Becky Hemsley

She asked him how he’d done it

How he’d built marshmallow towns

How he’d met a little poor boy

Who was destined for the crown

She asked him how he knew about

The language fairies speak

And how he’d caught a shooting star

That now was his to keep

She asked him how he’d swum

Right to the bottom of the sea

And how he’d seen a mountain cry

And heard the sunshine speak

She found it all a mystery

He breathed the air she breathed

But he breathed out tales of distant lands

And things she’d never seen

And she saw a world of wonder

When she looked up close at him

And when he spoke his words flowed

Like a poem on the wind

He told her that it hadn’t been

Some wings that helped him fly

And it hadn’t been a net he’d used

To catch things from the sky

It wasn’t maps that led him

To a chest of buried gold

And it hadn’t been a ship

That sailed him halfway round the world

It wasn’t bricks he’d used

To build a castle in the sky

For he told her he had lived

All of these things inside his mind

And he told her she could do it too

For reading’s all it took

And she’d open up her world

If she just opened up a book

*****

Becky Hemsley 2021

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Fabulous artwork by Chalk Twins

'A New Chapter' is from my first collection:

https://a.co/d/4cOFvD5

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

"SEALED WITHIN AN ETERNAL KISS" by Ann Marie

"SEALED WITHIN AN ETERNAL KISS"
by Ann Marie

In the quiet moments after dusk,

When shadows merge and daylight tucks,

Your essence lingers in the air,

A tender echo of the love we share.

The stars above, they whisper tales

Of endless rides and winding trails,

Where once we journeyed, side by side,

Through life's vast lands, with hearts wide-eyed.

Since you've been gone, the days stretch long,

A silent space where laughter thronged.

Yet in my heart, your warmth remains,

A soothing balm for aching pains.

With every sunrise, I embrace

The memories time cannot erase.

Your love, a beacon ever bright,

Guiding me through the darkest night.

On birthdays past, we'd celebrate,

Our souls entwined, a twist of fate.

Now, candles flicker, soft and low,

Casting light on the path you show.

Though you ride now in realms above,

I feel the whispers of your love.

In every breeze, in songs of birds,

I hear your voice, unspoken words.

So here I stand, amidst the pain,

Knowing love like ours won't wane.

For every moment that I miss,

Is sealed within an eternal kiss.

Brian Hyland "Sealed With a Kiss" (1962)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsvTtp-n_a0

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

Friday, 28 June 2024

"SISTERS" by Joanne Boyle

"SISTERS" by Joanne Boyle

Remember when we were small

and we would enter the world of play?

You being the older Sister,

always showing me the way.

We would enter a world of magic.

No one there but me and you.

We'd turn our quilts into flying saucers

and fly off to somewhere new.

We would sit with our dolls

and little did we know,

we were learning how to be Mother's

with a bib and baby grow.

When the nights were cold,

I would climb into your bed.

I would try to get inside the dreams,

that went on in your head.

Now we are both older.

We have children of our own,

but the magic never left us

even now we have both grown.

We just found a different magic.

A one that is more real.

It comes straight from the heart.

It's something that we feel.

The years brought us more sparkle

in the lines upon our face

and we found the flying saucers

brought us to our happy place.

~~~~~~~~

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

Art by Steffi Krenzek

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html

"IN MY SHOES" by Becky Hemsley

"IN MY SHOES"
by Becky Hemsley

“If I were in your shoes,” you say

“I wouldn’t feel a thing

Because those shoes look comfortable

And easy to walk in”

“If I were in your shoes,” you say

“I wouldn’t walk as far

I’d work smarter not harder

And I’d still be where you are”

“If I were in your shoes,” you say

“Then I would not complain

We don’t get anywhere in life

Without a little pain”

But you’re not in my shoes

‘Cause if you were you’d realise

It’s not about the shoes as much

As how they feel inside

You see, for years I did not have

Such easy, comfy shoes

And working hard to just get by

Was all that I could do

So go ahead, climb mountains

With nothing on your feet

Run along through mud

Without a thing to keep you clean

Wade across the river

With no boots to keep you dry

Bare your soles and let them burn

As you run through the fire

And when your toes are bleeding,

When your heels are black and blue

When your soles are weary,

Red and raw and swollen too

Yes, when your feet are blistered

And they’re caked in blood and dirt

Then walk a mile in my shoes

And tell me they don’t hurt

******

Becky Hemsley 2022

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Artwork by Johnny Popkess Contemporary Art

'In My Shoes' is from What the Wild Replied

https://a.co/d/2Ssqxeq

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1900 e-books on our library shelves for your reading pleasure, so do come along and check us out.

More articles by Su DeNyme (our resident writer) & John A Elliott are available here: https://www.nicheebookcollections.com/TC4W/ARTICLES.html