THE CORNER 4 WOMEN

Sunday 28 January 2024

UNSTOPPABLE by Becky Hemsley

"UNSTOPPABLE"
by Becky Hemsley 2022

Today you are stubborn,

My patience is thin

Today you’ll persist

Until I will give in

Today you are wilful

You’re strong and you’re bold

Today you’ll refuse to do

Things you are told

Today you will follow

Wherever I go

Today you will scream

When my answer is no

Today you are fierce

And today you are wild

Today you’ll remind me

That you are a child

Today every minute

Will seem to last hours

But over the years

I will realise your power

I’ll realise your stubbornness

Means you’re determined

And I’ll admire how you have

Learnt to stand firm and

How you know when

To sit down or step up

So full of conviction,

Self-worth and self-trust

So today you’ll be stubborn

Today you’ll be fierce

Today you’ll have spirit

That must persevere

Today you’re determined

Today you’ll be loud

But tomorrow you’ll lead

From the front of the crowd

And where once you were wild

I want you to stay

I don’t want you quietened,

Silenced or tamed

‘Cause yesterday’s bold

Will soon one day I’m sure

Be a force that our world

Has not known of before

And today you will talk

Of the impossible

But tomorrow I know -

You’ll be unstoppable

******

Becky Hemsley 2022

Photo from Canva

'Unstoppable' is from my second book:

https://a.co/d/iJ3bgdA

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FINDING LOVE by Joanne Boyle

"FINDING LOVE"
by Joanne Boyle

I paddled in many tears.

Alone, but not unseen.

I drifted in the sorrows

of somewhere in between.

I strolled amongst the lost,

underneath a mixed blue sky.

I swam with an empty soul

no reason to get dry.

I played with others evil.

It seemed that love was lost.

I whistled a forgotten tune,

as I questioned a life's cost.

I closed my ears to anger,

and my eyes to all its pain,

and when I thought of giving up,

there you were again.

Swimming in my tears,

alone but definitely seen,

turning sorrows into laughter,

remembering who I'd been.

I now walked towards the found,

under a shining Sun.

I swam with a full stomach.

I had reason to find fun.

I played with future dreams.

It seemed that I'd found hope.

I whistled a merry tune,

as I knew that I'd now cope.

I opened up my ears,

and my eyes to all that's kind.

I hope everyone 'finds love'

and it brings peace to all mankind.

Joanne Boyle

https://www.facebook.com/poeminabottlle

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

Art by Steffi Krenzek

Saturday 27 January 2024

OLD PEOPLE by Journey of Life

"OLD PEOPLE"
by Journey of Life

Old people don't seem to have much of a place in society. There are jokes about us that portrays us as 'old fashioned, ugly, having stupid ideas, no taste, not modern enough, just a million other things. Young people don't want our furniture or anything that belonged to us. They make fun of us...not just young people but anyone under fifty.

So, I got to thinking...days go by fast and then years...someday the young people's music will be scoffed at, their ideas made fun of and no one will want their furniture. They will be thought to have had no taste and their music was awful and their clothes ridiculous, not to mention hair styles! If you live long enough you will be disrespected.

Think about it. The furniture that you make fun of was modern once and the music was great! The clothes were the latest. In the sixties the young people used the word 'cool' all the time, stainless steel was popular and the furniture that is modern now with the rectangles and so on, was modern then too. The colour aqua that so many love now was a favourite then. I believe it is called some other colour now but believe me it is plain ole aqua.

Painting furniture was popular too. Your grandparents were young once, handsome and beautiful. Like you they loved and probably did many of the things that you do. Take the time to listen to the old people and see them as people. You will be glad you did...

https://www.facebook.com/MisthyLifeRides

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

AFTERPARTY by Becky Hemsley 2023

"AFTERPARTY"
by Becky Hemsley 2023

I held a party the other week and grief came.

She wasn’t invited but she came anyway - barged her way in through the door and settled down like she was here to stay.

And then she introduced me to the friends she’d brought with her - Anger. Fear. Frustration. Guilt. Hopelessness.

And they sang in the loudest voices, took up space in every corner of the room and spoke over anyone else that tried to talk.

They made it messy and loud and uncomfortable.

But finally, they left.

And long afterwards, when I was all alone,

I realised there was still someone here.

Quietly clearing up after the rest.

I asked who she was and she told me, “Love.”

And I assumed that’s why she looked familiar - because I had met her before.

“Or perhaps,” she said, “it’s because I’ve been here the whole time.”

And I was confused then because I hadn’t seen her all evening.

But when I looked more closely,

when I looked into her eyes,

I realised quietly that she had been here.

All the time.

She’d just been dressed as grief.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

Image created in Canva

Sometimes it helps to remember that underneath our grief, there is love. It was there before, it’s there now and it will still be there afterwards.

I share this poem a lot because I think it encapsulates that idea of grief simply being love in disguise

‘Afterparty’ is from the book When I Am Gone

https://a.co/d/35WJcRh

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

Thursday 25 January 2024

An Affirmation for a Misfit by Tahlia Hunter

"An Affirmation for a Misfit" by Tahlia Hunter

Though I may feel like a misfit,

in truth, we are all misfits,

for no two people

who walk the Earth

see life

in an identical way.

Though I may feel like an outsider

and struggle to fit in with others,

this does not make me inferior,

for it is simply because

I am surrounded by those

who see the world

so vastly differently from me

that they fail to understand or appreciate me

and I am simply in need

of finding the spaces and places where I belong,

whether that be among people, animals or nature.

When I find myself feeling low,

or questioning my existence,

I may go out into nature

and look at all of the plants, animals and trees

and remind myself

that just as each of them is essential to life,

Life itself

would be incomplete without me

And like all whom have walked the Earth,

I am no lesser or greater than another

and my life is no less precious than another’s.

And while my purpose here

may not always be understood easily by others

it is no less magnificent than another’s.

And in feeling misunderstood,

I am connected

to all who have come before me

who have felt similarly isolated and rejected

yet, nevertheless, found their way

And I too, shall find my way,

for I am not the first

to walk this Earth

and feel like an outsider,

nor will I be the last.

But I may live my life in such a way

that those who come after me,

will feel less lonely and isolated,

for I have left it

a more loving and accepting place for all.

And on the days that I feel discouraged,

I will remind myself of this truth:

“I may never be accepted by others,

but I may always accept myself,

and the one that created life accepts me.

And that is the only acceptance

that I will ever need.”

Words by Tahlia Hunter

https://www.facebook.com/TahliaHunterBlog

Artwork by Katarína Vavrová Artist

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

Still I Rise BY MAYA ANGELOU

"Still I Rise" BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise.

https://bit.ly/48MAjdt

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

I AM GRATEFUL by Joanne Boyle

"I AM GRATEFUL"
by Joanne Boyle

I am grateful for every good morning,

for every smile I see.

I am grateful for the home I have,

I am grateful I am me.

I am grateful that I am thankful,

for everything around.

I am grateful I can see,

and hear every sound.

I am grateful for such kindness,

in any shape or form.

I am grateful for the sunshine,

and surviving every storm.

I am grateful that I care nothing,

for power or for wealth.

I am grateful I care for happiness,

and for that of health.

I am grateful I'm not competitive,

I don't ever want to win.

I am grateful that I'm honest

to lie would be a sin.

I am grateful for my family,

for every message I receive.

I am grateful for my passion,

and that I will not deceive.

I am grateful for another day,

and if I make it to the night,

I will be grateful for that too,

and for everything in sight.

Joanne Boyle

https://www.facebook.com/poeminabottlle

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

Art by Steffi Krenzek