Free stock image: Unsplashshe can be the phoenix
rising from the ashes
the knees uncurling
to stand again
the heart— all beaten
slowly mending
give her a crown of thorns
she’ll be pain’s forebearer
“Break the glass, please, and free us from all these damned rules, from needing to find an explanation for everything, from doing only what others approve of.”
― Paulo Coelho, By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
I shared a shortened version of this quote in my recent post, Book Review: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept by Paulo Coelho. I love the simplicity and the reality of this line, and it is something that strikes a chord within me. I hope we all find courage in our hearts to be who we are, do what we want, and go wherever we want to be. Carpe diem!
She basks in the honey-tinted sunshine. Her hands carefree, her heart light.
Today, I want to tell this beautiful soul that I love her. Not through poetry or paperbacks. Not through comfort food or a good sleep. Not through self-care. Not through deep breaths. I want to hug her and hand these three bold words: I LOVE YOU.
For fighting the battles from within and without. Even if some wounds are self-inflicted.
For trying to figure out the unknown. Even if answers seem nowhere to be found.
For keeping the faith in life. Even if sometimes hope is eclipsed by doubt.
I want to kiss this unsung heroine — gather all the many selves that reside in her little body and give her a hero’s welcome. Because she made it through. Day after day. Night after night.
Today, my country celebrates National Heroes Day. As I commend the great men and women of the past and present, I would also like to take this time to thank the one constant hero in my life. Love you, self. 🥺
“Make yourself happy—
not to validate people but
because you simply want to.”
I hope you learn to enjoy the company of yourself first. To not cringe at the thought of being alone. To have the best days of your life in solitary walks. In sunrises and silence. Moonlit nights or perhaps lazy afternoons.
I’m not talking about the I’m-fine-being-alone-I’d-rather-be-by-myself kind of solitude either. I heard you countless of times. Still, I keep seeing that sad look in your eyes. That feigned smile.
Solitude is beautiful and you need not degrade it. It is a choice, not a defense mechanism. So go on and do what you’ve been itching to do. Make yourself happy — not to validate people but because you simply want to. Gain so much that by the time solitude leaves you at bay, you have a lot to give away. To them. To him. To her.
Dead-reckoning
With a languid gait, she walks towards the stream. The scent of fall leaves hang in the air as her feet press the ground. She is a natural beauty, that’s what they say. But before her reflection, she only sees sadness hiding beneath a feigned smile. Her face embedded with years of self-doubt. The water feels like a looking glass and she dives into the labyrinth of her gritty past. She swims into the muffled silence, recalling her feats and defeats, descending to the very beginning of her life. And she surfaced proud. Today is her dead-reckoning.
Rivers of the past
Coursing through her memories
Running wide and deep
In response to MindLoveMisery’s Menagerie’s Wordle #168 hosted by Yves. Photography by Alessio Albi
This week’s words are: Feign, Gait, Torn, Press, Left, Labyrinthine (complicated, torturous, resembling a labyrinth), Look, Embed, Malformed, Gritty, Natural, Dead-reckoning (In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating one’s current position by using a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time and course.)
Head over here to join the fun:
In The Quiet Of The World
The world can scream to my ears
That I have the wrong kind of skin
That I have the wrong kind of love
That I am never enough
But there is madness within me
That long to be set free
No more casket for my worries,
Hiding a heart on a sleeve
I will plunge underwater
Where noises are muffled
And in the quiet of the world
I shall find my voice
© 2017 Maria. All Rights Reserved.
Photography by Natalia Fadejeva
In response to MindLoveMisery’s Menagerie’s Photo Challenge #171 hosted by Nekneeraj.
Head over here to join the fun!
Rock Bottom
She stopped letting the world fill her in
And found comfort in solitude instead
No more do this and that; you can’t and you must
Just the resounding beat of her heart
Unfurling she finally realized
Where the world has ceased, she has begun
And this rock bottom that she was in
Turned into her very stepping stone
2017 Maria. All Rights Reserved.
Artwork by Elliana Esquivel
In response to dVerse’s Poetics: Poems that could save your life hosted by Kim.
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Quest
Sunrays breaking through
The drips and drops
In the midst of puddles—
A skip and a hop
Confronting life’s quest
With half a smile
I see through your deep breaths
And untold sighs
© 2017 Maria. All Rights Reserved.
Still trying to catch up, now three letters behind, here’s a late entry written for A to Z Challenge: Letter Q.
Because sometimes a sigh can tell a story better than a smile…
Today’s photograph is entitled I See Through You by Reylia Slaby. You can find more of her works on her Facebook Page and Instagram account.
YAY! Let the challenge commence!
Read more 2017 A to Z Challenge entries here!
The only thing I have to fear…
The only thing I have to fear is living a life with my soul tethered to a thread of lies. That in each move I make, each path I take, the strings crisscross. That without me knowing, I have weaved a delicate fabric of pretense.
The only thing I have to fear is not having the will to cut the thread. That I get at ease with the charade, and life, in its most cunning way, has tied the strings tighter. That I am left clothed with a skin-tight, glossy façade.
So here I am, trying to befriend my weaknesses, tending over my scars. Here I am, cherishing my passion, reaching out to my zeal. For the only thing I have to fear is living somebody else’s life while throwing away mine.
The wind’s kiss reminds
To live an untainted life—
Be yourself and smile
© 2017 Maria. All Rights Reserved.
In response to dVerse’s Monday Haibun: The only thing we have to fear… hosted by Toni and MindLoveMisery’s Menagerie’s Photo Challenge #161 by Nekneeraj.
This stirring photo by one of my favorite surreal photographers, Oleg Oprisco, reminds of my fear of living a life pretense. I will forever be a work in progress but I am glad to say that the thread has started to loosen. 🙂
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DoodleScribbles 