Monday 21 January 2013

Poetic Purging


Rewards of Poetic Purging
I was reading my Roots Book and as I was going through my poetry corner, I was surprised to find it read like a diary.  I remembered the times  I had written the poems and the circumstances that inspired them as I read each line. I especially recall writing the poem "Gloom" for instance.  I was riding on a bus heading for Winnipeg where I was going to catch a flight to Toronto to visit my daughter.  Things had not been good at home that fall and as I  rode in that bus my depression was overwhelming.  To alleviate the oppression, I took out a small notepad from my purse and purged my emotions onto the paper.  (I have often done that, still do it now, in fact.)  Purging is a great catharsis.  It helps to put things in perspective; helps to put the problem out there where you can look at it, analyse it and often even fix it.  It definitely makes it easier to live through the bad times and it definitely helps you come out on the other side of the problem. 

Poetry is more comprehensive than prose for some reason.  It tells much more in much fewer words.  The blue poems seem to be the ones that “tell” the biggest stories and carry the most emotions.  The other poems “tell stories" as well and they also take me back, they make me recall special moments too.  But the blue poems are so much more poignant with the memory, (at least mine seem to be). Somehow prose just fails to convey emotions the same way.  But I realize now how the important writing that poetry was to me.  It helped me through the bad times.  It still does.  It gives perspective, clears the mind and lets you get past things, times that are not worth dwelling on.  I’ve had people tell me that they like my poetry because they can “relate” to it.  Perhaps it is because all of us have had “blue times” some time in our lives.  Some people express it in music..  I express mine in poetry.  Others have still different methods.  But whichever method you use, it is better than drugs , alcohol or some other form of self-mutilation and poetic purging is certainly much more productive and rewarding!

Friday 18 January 2013

Passions and Hobbies

Icing on the Cake

There is something to be said about "running with the pack".  I miss it, I realize.  I used to belong to Writer's Clubs, but I got so busy with other things plus the publication of my books, that I gave up the writing groups. I now realize how much I miss the camaraderie of other writers.  Oh, it's not that I don't have other friends, people I can share things with. They are special too.  But having someone with whom you can share a "special passion", those are not that plentiful.

Whether your special passion is sports, hiking, cooking, baking, painting, woodworking, collecting, reading, writing or whatever your particular hobby is -  being able to share that passion with someone that has that same interest is always gratifying and particularly rewarding.  Only someone that shares your passion can understand how you really feel. Others  just "don't get it" no matter how special a friend they are or how hard they try to empathize. My life just lacks that "icing" on the cake of life without my writing buddies. The cake itself is delicious but the icing would just add to that special appeal.
I need to rejoin my Writing Groups!

Monday 14 January 2013

Second Chance

Second Chance

Today is the Ukrainian New Year's Day!.  Today is the first day of my  new year!.  I didn't finish the last year like I would have wished.  I didn't start January 1st, 2013, off right. But being Ukrainian, I have a second chance.  Ukrainians have that option with Christmas and with New Year's.  That is why we stick so hard to our traditions!  That is why we are proud to be Ukrainian!?!   Never mind, I know what you are thinking, and I am not disagreeing with you.  It is just that, at the moment, this scheme happens to fit my purpose, so bear with me!  Second chances are few and far between and I am not letting this one get away. I want a  chance to start over, and I will risk scorn and ridicule to get it.   This is New Year's  Day so to all you Ukrainians and Ukrainian wannabees out  there Happy New Year!
This our chance to start over.  Let's not blow it!




Friday 11 January 2013

Philosophy for Life


Life's Solutions

Sometimes we hit a snowbank
Sometimes we even get stuck
Sometime we need a shovel
To change our rotten luck.

 It gets so hard to smile again
To  overcome distress
We may need to change direction
To get out of the mess.


So when a thing looks hopeless
When we think we've reached the end
Let’s get the problem out there
Where we can make it mend.


We need a reassessment
To change our whole perception
All problems look less daunting
On clear and close inspection.


Just purging and exposing
And much investigation
Can be a great catharsis
And cease the castigation.


The problem may just shrink in size
When we see its true proportion
It never really was that bad
And our angst demands abortion.


So smiling at our problems
Is a really good solution
It just takes some time to find
A different resolution!

Tuesday 8 January 2013

Vanished Dreams

Vanished  Dreams


My ship of dreams has left the port
It has sailed out to sea
It crashed into an iceberg
Leaving no real hope for me.

I planned so much for that sortie
I’d outlined the whole deal
But fate stepped in to thwart my plan
My vision for to steal. 

It hurts to see my wistful dreams
It wounds my soul so deep
To see them all lie shattered
In a useless crumpled heap.

 I lost the goal to work toward
The star that shone so bright
I drift without a paddle now
Through the darkness of the night.

But somewhere there is victory
Somewhere there has to be
A bright new star to light my way
A  guidepost just for me.

I’ll not succumb to misery
I must fight it all the way
I’ll conquer this dejection
I’ll sing again someday! 



Thursday 3 January 2013

Reaching Too High

Reaching Too High


Sometimes we need to be realistic
Sometimes we need to see
That what we view in Dreamland
Is not what we can be.

 Aspirations are all fine and good
If our goals are within reach
But when we go beyond that
They're but lessons meant to teach.

When goals keep getting difficult 
And stall us in every action
It's wiser to just turn around 
And change our whole direction.

Mount Everest may be the pinnacle 
To which we would aspire
But Manitoba's Baldy Mountain
Is our limit! We can't go higher!

Tis better to just to face this world
And function within our limit
Accept the time within our grasp
And live the life that’s in it!