Happy New Year!

Tags

2015, appreciation, blogging, blogging experience, elaine orange, New Year, pleasure, thanks

I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! Also, I want to thank everyone who has made my blogging experience such a pleasurable one. This has been my third month of blogging and I’ve been touched by everyone who has liked, followed and/or commented on my blog. I’ve amassed 50 followers – you know who you are! Thank you so much! I haven’t had huge amounts of comments, and I’ve been secretly really jealous:) when I’ve viewed other blogs and they have hundreds of comments, but I guess I’m new to this and it takes a while to build up a blogging relationship [so WordPress tells me]. It may be that what I write doesn’t engender comment, so maybe I have to come up with more exciting stuff!:) I’ll be working on this in 2015! I’ve been privileged to discover so many talented and creative bloggers – I just don’t have enough time in the day to read you all. There has been so much amazing poetry to read, art to view etc etc. It is incredible the amount of talent out there and I’m so pleased that I’m able to share it.

Once again, a very Happy New Year 2015 and here’s to many more blogging years!

Marie (aka Elaine Orange)

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Sandy shore

Tags

father, FGM, French poems/poetry, love, memories, poems and poemes

Undeniable poetic and emotional eloquence in these words …

In The Valley

Tags

blog, blogging, depression, friendship, hope, karenzai, light, mental health, mental illness, pain, poems, poetry, re-blog, sadness, shining, valley

I have not reblogged the whole post, but have taken this paragraph from Karenzai’s blog to illustrate my poem’s message which is to be there for those who are depressed, sad, call it what you will. Be there if you possibly can. It really helps.

“Under Reconstruction”
“Musings on mental health, urban education, the sanctity of life, and other things I may come to care about.” http://karenwriteshere.com

“You don’t need empathy to support a depressed person”
“And yes, I wished I had people in my life who fit the above descriptions, and I was indeed blessed with at least one such individual, but it didn’t erase the deep pain of being “left behind”. And one thing I’ve come to realize over a few cycles of depression is this: depressed people don’t need you to empathize; they just need you. A depressed person would rather have you say all the worst possible things, rather than not have you at all.”
~ karenzai

In The Valley

Where the cold winds blow
Down in the valley
That’s where she lay
for a night and a day

She hoped that someone would
come looking in the valley
where alone and lost she lay
for a night and a day

It was hard for her
to communicate sadness
Lost in the valley
all alone in the valley

For those in the valley
All hope can seem fleeting
Shine your light on them today
Be the beacon to light their way

Down in the valley
Empathy is not needed
Sympathy is superfluous
You are all that’s needed
down in the valley

~ Marie Williams

Angel Wings

Tags

angel wings, angels, co-incidence, comfort, poem, poetry, protection, shadows, sunlight, thoughts

This morning, I woke and glancing at the ceiling, I thought I saw what looked like an angel wing on my bedroom ceiling.  I tried to convince myself that it was the way the sun-light shone through the window reflecting the pattern of the curtains on the ceiling.  But it was such a perfect shape of a feather and had me mesmerised that whether it was the light or whether it was a feather-shaped angel wing did not matter.  What was important was that it made me feel very good and very comforted.  I needed to put this feeling down on paper. Incidentally, when I switched on my pc this morning there was a poem called Angel Wings nestling between my emails – coincidence? The other thing is I meant to put this on my riceandpease website, but somehow it appeared here – so maybe that’s where it is meant to be!

Angel Wings

Softly glowing
shadows
bright
fill me
with delight

Patterns dancing
shaped like
feathered wings
protect me
feeling safe

I believe
Angels watched over
Me
last night

~Marie Williams

Violence Is Never The Answer

Tags

abuse, awareness, blogging, child abuse, compassion, cruelty, damaged, heart, prose, reblogged, spanking, violence

Stephen D Jennings post “Violence is Never the Answer” has prompted me to reiterate and reinforce my view. My best Christmas present of all would be to know that everyone would subscribe to this. This and my last post are really depressing, I know, especially as this is a time when we’re filled with anticipation for good times over the festive season. But I hope everyone will see that my heart is in the right place. We need to keep sending this message until it is finally heard.

Steven D. Jennings

When is it okay to spank your child, to slap their hand, to pull their hair, or to beat them with a stick?

According to Adrian Peterson, and millions of others, these actions are okay if your child pushes down another child, or misbehaves.

This topic angers me! It is NEVER okay to inflict pain on a child. PERIOD! Spankings are not okay. I don’t care what a child does…there are other, more effective remedies.

Adrian Peterson said he got flogged as a child. So what! That doesn’t make it okay. Now look at him. He’s flogging his child…and could end up in prison for it.

VIOLENCE IS NEVER THE ANSWER.

For all you parents out there, DO NOT hit your child. How could you? How could you hit someone you love sooo much?

Instead, show patience, love, and understanding as you impose effective, non-violent discipline.

Take the time to…

View original post 38 more words

Saying “Sorry” Isn’t Enough

Tags

abuse, awareness, blogging, child abuse, communication, compassion, control, cruelty, forgiveness, peace, season of good will

Stephen D Jennings post on “Saying Sorry is not Enough”

I have reblogged this post because it resonates with my “about” page. I am passionate about spreading the word that violence can never be the answer. It is the season of goodwill, and perhaps at this time more than any other time, we need to know that there many people who will not have a good time because they have a violent partner, parent etc. Rage and violence flares up (ironically) at this “peaceful” time. Sitting here on my pc is not going to solve the issue, but perhaps blogging about it will bring this to our awareness and if one violent person seeks help, I would feel my message is getting through. Forget about the present buying, the consumption of alcohol, the merrymaking for a moment and focus instead on the best gift of all – peace in our homes and our lives. Peace to all at this time and Season’s Greetings.

Steven D. Jennings

Back in 1994, I lost complete control of myself and my actions. Trapped in a self-induced drunken rage, I shot four young men and terrified countless bystanders. The pain I caused does not stop there. My actions also wounded the friends & family of those I hurt directly, and my own friends & family as well.

I take full responsibility for my actions. I blame no one but myself. I realize the magnitude of what I’ve done. I realize what I did was horrific, and to many…unforgivable.

With all my heart & soul, I am very sorry for all the pain that I’ve ever caused anyone. “I am so so so sorry.”

I know that saying sorry isn’t enough. There is nothing I can ever do to change the past, or to make things right. All I can do is serve humanity with kindness, love, and respect. With the spirit…

View original post 137 more words

Heaven

Tags

angels, blogging, flowers, Heaven, poem, poetry, sanity, sea, sky, therapy

There are always going to be days when we find ourselves in situations which can only be described as “heavenly”.  Some years ago I sat on a hotel balcony in Cyprus, basking in the heat of the sun, feeling happy and relaxed.  I glanced around and admired the view and my surroundings and it occurred to me that I was experiencing my heaven.  It occurred to me that heaven doesn’t have to be a far off place, in another dimension.  Heavenly feelings and thoughts can be experienced in simple things – it can be right now, right here …

Heaven

Heaven is not in the sky

Heaven is where I want it to be

Heaven is here on the balcony

Heaven can be there walking by the sea

 

Heaven is to the right of me

Heaven is to the left of me

Heaven surrounds me

I must not go looking

I must not go searching

 

Heaven surrounds me

Heaven is in a beautiful flower

Heaven calls me in a church tower

Heaven beckons me with angelic fingers

Pointing accurately to the shores of infinity

 

Heaven’s door never closes

I can approach it in small doses

Or I can jump in fully clothed

In moments of sanity or even insanity

And bathe in the glorious swell of its tidal wave

 

Heaven chooses me

Heaven doesn’t exclude me

Heaven is where I want it to be

And for that I am thankful

 

© Marie Williams  July 2009