THE CORNER 4 WOMEN

Wednesday 8 May 2024

THE FIGHT by Becky Hemsley

"THE FIGHT"
by Becky Hemsley

They’d heard she was a warrior.

And so they pictured her fresh from the fight - with flowing hair and dirt etched on her face. With fitted armour and a sword in her hand.

What they hadn’t realised was that she looked like the woman stood next to them in the supermarket. With messy hair and hurt etched on her face. With creased jeans and a coffee in her hand.

Because she’d been fighting a battle they knew nothing about. And even though it didn’t look like much of a victory to them, it really was.

That she was there. She was fighting. She was strong.

And no matter what she, or the battle, or the victory might have looked like to anyone else,

the fact remained…

She was a warrior.

******

Words Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful artwork from a piece by Ksenia Kondyleva (@humid_peach on Instagram)

'The Fight' is from my fourth collection here: https://a.co/d/iuz9E5M

Brought to you by https://thecorner4women.com together with our sister website http://www.nicheebookcollections.com and our growing e-book library available FREE, through our Newsletter sign up page here:-

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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

Tuesday 7 May 2024

DATE NIGHT by Becky Hemsley

"DATE NIGHT"
by Becky Hemsley

I met the moon for coffee

It was Friday night I think

When she watched me hardly sleeping

And invited me for drinks

We found ourselves a table

In the middle of the night

And the constellations twinkled

Like a thousand fairy lights

She asked me how I’d been

As she poured coffee from a pot

For she said she’d watched me

Waking up at midnight quite a lot

I said my brain was far too full

My mind was always on

And when I woke it felt as if

I was the only one

The only one who lay awake

Whilst I sat on my bed

With thoughts that raced at lightning speed

Around my busy head

The only one who watched the clock

Tick one and two and three

Who laid awake and worried

Whilst the world was fast asleep

My thoughts were stuck in orbit

And I couldn’t pull them back

As they preferred to swim against

A sky so vast and black

The moon said simply nothing

But she opened up a book

And I saw it was a diary

So I took a closer look

And listed there were names of people

All around the world

And all the thoughts and worries

That the moon had overheard

Just then, my eyes were drawn towards

The name that was my own

And that was when the moon said

“See, you shouldn’t feel alone”

And then she pulled me close

Using the night sky as a blanket

And said “I know you sometimes feel

So lonely on this planet

But when you cannot sleep,

Get up and watch me from your room

And you’ll see so many others

Having coffee with the moon”

******

Becky Hemsley 2022

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Stunning artwork by Sabrina Alvar (sabrinaalvar.de)

"Date Night" is from my second collection https://a.co/d/eXEdgYT (and there are also prints of it on my Etsy store)

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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

MY DOGS LIVE HERE

"MY DOGS LIVE HERE"
(author unknown)

My dogs live here, they're here to stay.

You don't like pets? Be on your way

They share my home, my food, my space

This is their home, this is their place.

You will find dog hair on the floor,

They will alert you're at the door.

They may request a little pat,

A simple 'NO' will settle that.

It gripes me when I hear you say,

Just how is it you live this way?

They smell, they shed, they're in the way.

WHO ASKED YOU? is all I can say.

They love me more than anyone.

My voice is like the rising sun,

They merely have to hear me say,

'C'mon, time to go and play."

Then tails wag and faces grin,

They bounce and hop and make a din,

They never say, 'No time for you,

They're always there, to GO and DO.

And if I'm sad, they're by my side.

And if I'm mad, they circle wide.

And if I laugh, they laugh with me.

They understand, they always see.

So, once again, I say to you,

'Come visit me,' but know this too..

My dogs live here, they're here to stay.

You don't like pets? Be on your way.

They share my home, my food, my space

This is their home, this is their place.

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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

AN ANGEL ON THE SHORE by Joanne Boyle

"AN ANGEL ON THE SHORE"
by Joanne Boyle

There was stories of an angel

seen with a shining light,

on the sandy shores

in the darkness of the night.

Some people went and sat,

in the hope that she'd appear,

but the angel only came

when no one else was near.

Those that sat and waited,

all left feeling strange.

They really didn't know,

their lives were about to change.

Each of them was drawn

to the hope it was their love.

Each of them believed

she had been sent from above.

Each of them had cried

and shouted many names.

Lost in their own grief

their worlds were up in flames.

Some had sat for weeks.

Some just came and went

but no one ever saw the angel

that the Lord had sent.

The light that she came with

was there for all to see

but their visions were so clouded

by a heart-breaking memory.

It wasn't until they left

that the visions would be clear.

and they realised that their angels

and their lights were always near. ********

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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

WAITING BY THE WINDOW by Becky Hemsley

"WAITING BY THE WINDOW"
by Becky Hemsley

We waited nine months to meet you.

We waited to see you smile, to watch you walk, to hear you talk.

And I'm not sure you realise this but we now wait at the window every day for you to get home.

A home that is filled with all of your things, all of your noise.

But one day we will walk into your bedroom and there won't be clothes all over the floor.

There won't be snacks that you've abandoned in every room and there won't be the noise of some obscure TV show echoing through the house.

Yes, one day our nest will be empty.

Quiet.

Tidy.

You will not need us anymore like you do now.

And that will mean we have done our job.

It will mean we have succeeded

in helping you grow your wings and in teaching you to fly.

And we will enjoy the quiet and the tidiness,

knowing that this is how it is supposed to be.

But we will also miss you. We'll miss the noise and miss the mess that tells us you are here.

So I hope you'll know that you can fly back whenever you want to.

Need to. Wish to.

That you can call us and tell us to put the kettle on

and open the snacks because you'll be here soon.

Because I'm not sure you'll realise this but we'll be here,

waiting to watch you walk through the door with a smile on your face.

Waiting to talk to you about what you've been up to.

Yes, even when you've flown the nest, we will be here.

Always.

Waiting by the window

for you to get home.

******

Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful image by Anna Fila

'Waiting by the Window' is from my fourth collection: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CHL9MZC1...

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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

Monday 6 May 2024

STANDING WITH MY SON AGAIN by Joanne Boyle

"STANDING WITH MY SON AGAIN"
by Joanne Boyle

Philip put on his best suit

and as I straightened his tie,

I swear I saw a tear

falling from his eye.

An Angel was awaiting,

holding up my gown,

beside her was another,

polishing my crown.

We are going on a journey

to see our Son again.

A Coronation had been planned

since Charles began his reign.

A cloud awaited in the midst

of the light of eternal glow.

The Angels lined the heavens

so they could watch us go.

When we reached the cloud,

I turned and waved my hand.

The glow from eternal light

transported us to land.

We are now surrounded

by the faces of the great and good.

Gazing toward the place

where I myself once stood.

Memories from a time

when my reign began.

When Charles was only four,

but now here he stands a man.

Standing with my Son again,

a Queen beside a King.

Philip and I unseen

but felt from deep within. ********

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt Illustration by River Swan of Avon The Author and illustrator of the book Queen.

******

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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

THE STORYTELLER by Becky Hemsley

"THE STORYTELLER"
by Becky Hemsley

The pub I was in smelt of wine and cigars

When I saw two old men who were sat by the bar

One was surrounded by laughter and cheers,

The other was sitting alone with his beers

I felt really bad for the man all alone

So I walked up and pulled up a stool of my own

And that’s when I noticed the stuff on the floor

The holdalls and trunks and suitcases galore

“What’s in them?” I asked, and he shrugged with a sigh

“Just things I thought mattered - the things I could buy.”

Then he drank up his drink and whilst shedding a tear

He smiled at me sadly and then disappeared

And nobody noticed...

'cause all he had left

Was the stuff in the boxes, the trunks and the chests

Then I looked to the group where the other man spoke

And they laughed ‘til they cried as he told them a joke

So I took myself over and stood at the back

And noticed he hadn’t got cases or sacks

But the stories he told of the oceans he’d sailed,

The countries he’d seen and the mountains he’d scaled

His stories were epic, his life had been full

Then he tapped on his glass and he said to us all

“It’s time I must go but I’ve loved growing old

And I know I’ll live on through the tales that I’ve told

Please believe when I say that to live is enough

Your life should be measured by memories not stuff.”

Then he rose from his chair and we all shed a tear

As he held up his drink to us...

then disappeared

*****

Becky Hemsley 2020

Wonderful artwork (entitled ‘The Last Sup’) by Chris McMorrow

'The Storyteller' is from my first book, Talking to the Wild https://a.co/d/egHaAyF

https://tc4women.nicheebookcollections.com/NEWSLETTER-EBOOK-LIBRARY-SIGNUP.html We now have over 1700 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