THE CORNER 4 WOMEN

Saturday 15 June 2024

FRIENDSHIP by Becky Hemsley

"FRIENDSHIP"
by Becky Hemsley

Friendship is the type of love that chooses you.

It is a love that chooses you

when there is nothing to make it stay.

A love that says

"I have seen you at your lowest,

I have seen you at your highest

and I will persevere.

Not because I feel obligated to or because we signed a contract

but simply because you are you. Because you matter to me."

Friendship is the kind of love that doesn't need a lot of grand gestures

but it's the kind that chooses to make small gestures that mean a lot.

It drives out of its way to drop off treats at your door when you're not feeling well.

It sends surprise notes in the mail to say "I'm thinking of you."

It sends messages without needing a reply when you're going through a tough time. Because it knows that you might not have the energy to respond.

But it wants you to know that it's here.

Yes, friendship is the kind of love that chooses to exist.

The kind of love that chooses you for no other reason than the fact that

you are you.

And that's why

it is so incredibly special. ********

Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful artwork by Kürti Andrea

'Friendship' is from the book Letters from Life

https://a.co/d/5a49vL6

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FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR FATHER by Becky Hemsley

"FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR FATHER"
by Becky Hemsley

As the world around you gears up for a 'Happy Fathers' Day' tomorrow, you are reminded that someone is missing from yours: from your day, from your happiness.

From your world.

The break in your heart and the empty space in your life are magnified. And so is your grief.

And it’s a grief perhaps made even more complex by the fact you’ll be celebrating other fathers in your life: yourself, your partner, your children.

How can you grieve and still feel pride and joy?

How can you celebrate when you are sad?

Well, because you are human.

Because you can't ignore that the rug has been pulled from beneath you and you don't have to. It is more than ok to acknowledge that you stand on shaky ground whilst cheering others on.

But maybe as you cheer, you will watch those others and recognise the legacy that a caring father leaves; the legacy your father left you. One of love.

So whilst it will hurt that he isn't here, take comfort in his legacy. And know that you can still celebrate him.

You can still honour him.

And you can always, always love him.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2024

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Artwork by Akira Kusaka Illustration

Sending love to anyone who is apprehensive about tomorrow, FATHER'S DAY in the UK

PICKING FLOWERS FOR MY NANA by Joanne Boyle

"PICKING FLOWERS FOR MY NANA"
by Joanne Boyle

I picked you a flower Nana

to show you how much I care.

It shouted out "I love you."

The words I seldom share.

I picked it from a field.

It stood out just like you.

It was shouting come pick me

as I waded my way through.

I picked you a flower nana.

I wish I had picked you more.

But quantity doesn't matter

as much as what it's for.

This flower cost me nothing.

Just like my love for you.

But for you it is now priceless.

Its pure gold right through.

A nan loves her grandchildren.

Every scribble on a pad.

and the simple things become

the best gifts she's ever had.

********

Author Joanne Boyle Heartfelt

art by Steffi Krenzek

THE WOMAN WITH LINES ON HER FACE by Becky Hemsley

"THE WOMAN WITH LINES ON HER FACE"
by Becky Hemsley

I once knew a woman

With lines on her face

Who’d lived most her life

In a much different place

A place where those lines

Were respected, revered

Where it was known

They held the wealth of her years

And here, in a place

That was scared to grow old

She made us all realise

The beauty age holds

For one day she stood

And attracted a crowd

She started to speak

As we all gathered round

And we hung on each word,

We were all mesmerised

For her voice was so powerful,

Knowing and wise

She smoothed down the crown

Of her hair on her head

Then she lifted her chin

And her voice as she said

“These lines are not something

To hide or to fear

But something that says

‘I have lived, I was here’

They’re not to be counted

Like bars of a cage

But like rings of a tree

That grows stronger with age

Grounded and grand

Persevering and proud

I’ve earned every stripe

So I’ll wear them out loud

And though you might think

I’d look better with none

Just wait til you learn

How I earned every one

Because I’m much more

Than the way that I look

And these lines on my face

Are like lines from a book

That holds all the tales

Of the things gone before me

So come, take a seat

And I’ll tell you my story”

*****

Becky Hemsley 2024

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful artwork by Autumn Skye ART

Friday 14 June 2024

IMAGINE by Becky Hemsley

"IMAGINE"
by Becky Hemsley

Imagine a tree that has leaves all of gold

Imagine a dragon that's pink

Imagine how small and how tiny you'd be

If one day you were able to shrink

Imagine a rainbow - but just black and white

In a sky full of marshmallow clouds

Imagine a house where the floors are the ceiling

Because it's been turned upside down

Imagine an elephant with twenty trunks

And a spider with only one leg

Imagine a cat that is walking a tightrope

And balancing plates on its head

And you are now picturing all of these things

'Cause of one brilliant part of your brain

And the best thing of all, is it doesn't run out

You can use it again and again

Because there's no limit to what you can dream

And to all of your thoughts and creations

You just need that brilliant part of your brain

That's known as your imagination

And maybe, one day, you'll imagine a story

A tale and adventure to tell

And maybe you'll write it all down in a book

So that others can imagine as well

*****

This is the poem I read when I go into primary schools to deliver workshops, to remind the children that our imaginations are limitless and that our own dreams and ideas can inspire others.

********

Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful artwork by Deb Hudson (www.debhudson.com)

How Ravens Came To Be Black

"How Ravens Came To Be Black" (author unknown) T. Babireski Artist

"Once upon a time and long ago, Odin was walking under the branches of Yggdrasil when two ravens swooped down and settled upon his shoulders. The raven on his left was white as the mists of Niflheim (for back then, all ravens were white), and his eyes mirrored the clouds. The raven on his right glistened in the sun like the snows of Jotunheim, and looked at him with bright clear eyes. And Odin called the raven to his right Hugin, which means Thought, and the other one he named Munin, which means Memory.

As the days passed, Hugin and Munin matched the All-father’s curiosity for everything in the Nine Worlds, flying around and watching and listening to whatever they could, and in the evenings, they returned to him to tell him all they had seen and heard in the long hours of the day. They told him about the slow thoughts of the mountains, the colourful and ever-changing memories of men, and the sound of the song in the heart of everything that lives.

And though Odin delighted in the knowledge they brought, he always felt they had missed something, and he said, “That was much, but not yet enough. Tomorrow you must fly again. Try to rest now.” And the ravens slept uneasily, not knowing what they had missed, and every morning, they flew out again.

There came one of many evenings after another long day when they had once again seen all that Sunna’s shine could show, had listened to all men’s bright thoughts in Midgard, and read their waking memories, when Hugin said to Munin, “We cannot return yet. It is not enough. We must go farther.” And they flew on into the night.

And Hugin flew through the dark dreams of mankind and heard their thoughts which they dared not think during the daytime, not even before themselves. He winged through the black void between the stars where there was nothing at all, and on to the twilight world of the future, where there is equally nothing and everything at once. And when he returned, his feathers, from tip to tip, were black as the night. And Munin flew through the minds of men into the shady corners and cellars where they had hidden all the things they did not like, and locked them away, saying “I do not remember.” He soared through the sightless void of Ginnungagap, and on and on until he arrived at the ashes of Ragnarok which obscured this age from the next. And when he returned, his feathers, from beak to tail, were as black as soot.

The ravens returned to Odin just before the break of morning, when the night is at its darkest, and when they settled back on his shoulders, he knew all that they had seen, and they did not need to tell. And he understood what had been missing, and nodded, and said, “It is much, and it is enough. For tonight. You may rest.” And the ravens blinked drowsily into the first rays of the rising sun which glinted on their now black feathers, tucked their beaks under their wings, and slept very well.

Since that time, all ravens have been seen to be as black as a shadow on a starless night. Very rarely it happens that somebody catches a glimpse of a white raven, and should you ever be lucky enough to see one, you’ll know that you have wandered far off and back into the land of memory, before ravens came to be black."

I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF by Tahlia Hunter

"I MADE A PROMISE TO MYSELF"
by Tahlia Hunter

“Each person has their own dictionary

that has been formed over time

by the stories that were told to them when they were young,

as each second of each day,

we are always writing invisible letters to others

through the words we speak aloud

and those that we speak through our hearts.

And so, the world is filled with people who cannot see how beautiful they are

as they have never been told so

by people who themselves have never been told that they are beautiful.

And so I made a promise to myself:

that I would choose carefully the words within my dictionary

that defined me,

and the stories I chose to retell,

and strive to let no one who entered my life

leave it without feeling better about themselves.”

********

Words by Tahlia Hunter

https://www.facebook.com/TahliaHunterBlog

Artwork by Catrin Welz-Stein

DANCING INSIDE by Becky Hemsley

"DANCING INSIDE"
by Becky Hemsley

“Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass..”

Except that sometimes it is.

Sometimes you are waterlogged.

Waterlogged and wading through flooded waters.

And you are exhausted.

Sometimes you’ve had too much of the storm.

Because sometimes it has taken too much from you.

So you don’t have to dance in the rain if you don’t want to. You don’t have to embrace it if you think it might drown you.

You can sit and read a book.

You can call a friend.

You can close your eyes and sleep.

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.

It’s about figuring out the best way through it.

And sometimes that means facing it,

sometimes embracing it.

And sometimes that means

closing the curtains,

turning the music up,

and dancing inside instead.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

https://www.facebook.com/talkingtothewild

Beautiful artwork by Femke Muntz

'Dancing Inside' is from Letters from Life

https://a.co/d/foOyIWZ