THE CORNER 4 WOMEN

Friday, 2 February 2024

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

"WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING"
(author unknown)

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and it made me feel so proud and inspired that I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and it taught me that it’s important to be kind to animals, even if they’re not our own.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make my favourite cake for me, and it showed me that the little things in life can be the most special.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I heard you say a prayer, and it gave me comfort to know that there is someone who is always there for me to talk to.

When you thought I wasn’t looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and it taught me that we all have a responsibility to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and wanted to say,’ Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking

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HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS

"HOME IS WHERE YOUR HEART IS"
(author unknown)

When you grow up, all you ever do is leave. You leave people, situations, and places. You often wonder where home is because you always feel like a fish out of water wherever you go. You make a home for yourself in the city. You decorate it with plants, posters of a treasured rock band, and furniture that you got from the flea market. Sometimes, it gets awfully quiet; other times, it's filled with the voices of your new favourite people. When it gets too silent, you call your Mother 1200 miles away and ask her about her day. You like to listen to her sometimes, but when she asks about yours, you gabble and say you're okay and then bid goodbye. You don't want to trouble her with your issues. It never completely feels like home because you are always missing something—your school friends, the old town roads, your Grandma's pickles, your cousins, evening drives, the smell of your room, and your family.

And when you return to your hometown, you miss the comfort of living in your own place, Sunday brunches, your new friends, going on random trips, meeting strangers, and the view from your balcony. The silence that used to bother you in your new home is something that you crave when you return. You realise that this will never be over, the way that you are feeling. Maybe, you will get used to it when you get older. But right now, you are in your 20s, and life is already hard. And no matter how much you want to feel at home, you often end up missing things you're far away from.

You think that maybe the romantics are right. Maybe, you will find home in some other person, a better half. But the truth is that you will find a piece of you in every place you have ever been, in every person you have ever loved. You paint your nails the way that senior in your school did when you were 12 years old. And there's an album in the corner of your room that your first kiss suggested for you to listen to, and that's how you discovered your favourite rock band. You find your habits lingering in the way your brother arranges his books—separating hardcovers from paperbacks and organising them by colour. Nobody does that, you think.

You realise that blueberry yogurt on toast and little flowers of butter and orange jam isn't your recipe; it's the way your Mother used to make toast for you when you were five. You notice that your best friend still plays your road trip playlist when she drives, and you cook chicken the same way your roommate in college taught you. You share your habit of clicking pictures of flowers by the roads with your Dad, and like your ex, you always check traffic on maps before leaving. Even if you don't talk to them anymore, you will always have tenderness in your heart for people. You will realise that so much of them is you, and so much of you is them.

You realise that's why you can never feel completely at home because a part of your heart is always wandering in some other memory, in a different place that you used to call home. Your love spreads endlessly, and you realise that this is what happens when you have the joy of experiencing so many different kinds of loves and friendships. As you mature, you learn that departing isn't merely about leaving; instead, it's about carrying a piece of others with you and leaving a part of yourself behind. It transforms you into a magnificent collage, a gem woven from the threads of all those you've loved, of all those you are ever going to love.

And someday, that feeling will be home enough.

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BATTLE by Becky Hemsley

"BATTLE"
by Becky Hemsley

When life feels like a battle

In the middle of a war

And your battle cry’s a whisper

‘Cause your voice has lost its roar

When the shield that you carry

Can’t protect you like it should

And you’re struggling to fire your arrows

Like you normally would

When your armour weighs you down

And you are battered and you’re bruised

When the enemy’s advancing

And you’re sure you’re going to lose

When battle feels exhausting…

Put down your sword and rest

Save your energy

Because the war’s not over yet

But also look around you

To the others in the fray

And listen for the army

That is calling out your name

Tell them you are wounded

That you stumbled and you fell

Because beneath your armour

There’s a chance they cannot tell

Let them cover you

Say that you’ll do the same for them

When they are hurt and wounded

And your strength returns again

For now, retreat a little

From the weariness of war

But remember, you’ve survived

Each battle you have fought before

So give yourself some credit

‘Cause you’ve made it all this way

And I promise you are strong enough

To fight another day

********

Becky Hemsley 2021

Stunning artwork by Monika Skrzeta

'Battle' is from 'What the Wild Replied' https://a.co/d/0FETvAC

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Thursday, 1 February 2024

WHEN I AM GONE by Becky Hemsley

"WHEN I AM GONE"
by Becky Hemsley

When life feels suffocating

And the way ahead too far

Then breath by breath by steady breath

Just stay right where you are

When morning comes in blazing

Threatening to burn the day

Just let the sun in gently

Ray by ray by steady ray

When night intimidates you

And the silence tries to scream

Just rest against the darkness

Dream by dream by steady dream

When life is just too much –

It’s far too loud and far too bright

Then live little by little,

Day by day and night by night

See, I know it all feels heavy

Like a load you cannot lift,

A race you want no part of

And a weight you cannot shift

But when the road ahead is long

And overwhelming you

Don’t push yourself too quickly -

Slow and steady gets you through

******

Becky Hemsley 2023

Image by rawpixel.com

This is from the book 'When I am Gone' but I think it can apply to any difficult day xx

https://a.co/d/42Eeza6

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IN THAT SPACE BEYOND THE DOOR by Becky Hemsley

"IN THAT SPACE BEYOND THE DOOR"
by Becky Hemsley

I once designed a teapot

It was short and it was stout

It had a handle but I didn’t

Hollow out the spout

So when I filled it up

And tried to pour a cup of tea

It didn’t pour a thing

And it was useless as could be

One time I found an empty box

Or empty I assumed

But when I opened up the lid

There wasn’t any room

For me to store the things

I had been saving for so long

There simply wasn’t space for them;

No place where they belonged

And once I found a door

I didn’t know where it would lead

I searched the room around me

But I couldn’t find the key

And so I leant against it

Sad that I could not explore

Whatever might be waiting

In the space behind the door

And as I think about the box,

The door, the pot of tea,

I realise how important

Sometimes nothingness can be

How there’s magic in the space

Between asleep and wide awake

There’s peace within the silence

Of the pauses that we take

There’s joy in quiet thoughts

About the past; of what has been

There’s beauty in the standing still

To see what can be seen

There’s something quite exciting

‘Bout the space between the stars

And in those waiting moments

When a film’s about to start

There’s wonder in a balloon

That fills and rises with the air

There’s such a lot that we can feel

When not a lot is there

So hold the space you need my friend

And don’t apologise

Your space is where your wonder lives

And where your magic lies

It’s where you learn to breathe again

Where dreams can dare to soar

And you never know what’s waiting

In that space beyond the door

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful artwork by Elisabeths gylne pensel

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HOW ARE YOU? by Becky Hemsley 2021

“HOW ARE YOU?" by Becky Hemsley 2021

What time will you get in tonight?

Text me when you’re home

Be careful if you’re driving

Or if you’re out alone

Shout me if you need me

Or call me anytime

Hey, remember when we did that thing

And laughed until we cried?

Take a coat, it’s raining

Or shelter here with me

Let’s watch your favourite movie

I’ve made your favourite tea

I saw this and I thought of you

It really made me smile

Just checking in, I hope you’re well

I know it’s been a while

Have some fun at school today

But wear your hat - it’s cold

And look the road’s got busy now

So here’s my hand to hold”

We always hear and say these things

But rarely do we see

They’re just lots of little ways

Of saying what we really mean

See, if you listen carefully,

You’ll hear them everywhere -

All the messages of “I love you”

“You’re important” and “I care”

******

Becky Hemsley 2021

Image by rawpixel.com

'How are you?' is from my second collection - What the Wild Replied

https://amzn.eu/d/6NrikFd

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WHAT THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY UNABLE TO...by Tahlia Hunter

"WHAT THEY WERE PREVIOUSLY UNABLE TO..."
by Tahlia Hunter

trigger warning: a poem about grief

We grieve those we love who have passed,

feeling that they are lost,

but in the same way that a person travelling far away from us is not lost,

and a person graduating to the next phase of life is not gone,

they are never truly lost,

but rather they are closer to us than before,

as from their higher conscious perspective,

they may see what they were previously unable to see,

hear what they were previously unable to hear,

and understand what they were previously unable to understand.

Words by Tahlia Hunter

https://www.facebook.com/TahliaHunterBlog

Artwork by Bettina Baldassari - BettiPigna

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CRUMBS by Becky Hemsley 2023

"CRUMBS"
by Becky Hemsley 2023

Promise me something…

Promise me that you’ll never let anyone deprive you of the very basics of humanity.

Never let them leave you so hungry that you will accept just

scraps of love

crumbs of respect

and tiny morsels of kindness

People who are starving will eat anything. But that doesn’t mean they should have to.

You are deserving of so much more.

A banquet of love

a whole feast of respect

and a full spread of kindness

So promise me you won’t go hungry. And if anyone tries to deprive you, remember this:

We should all have enough self-love, self-respect and self-kindness to share. So if anyone tries to starve you…

It’s because they are hungry themselves.

********

Becky Hemsley 2023

Image by rawpixel.com

'Crumbs' is from 'Letters from Life': https://a.co/d/1uOkn99

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html