poetry top ten 2018

Every year, I round up all the stats for what you, my wonderful readership, have enjoyed the most throughout the previous year. And, every year, it brings me such surprise. Some poems were absolutely taxing to write, yet I felt as if I needed to put forth the effort, and then I see how it reaches some people, and I understand why. Something I loved about this year is that a haiku made it in. So wonderful.

As always, I am thankful for you. Having readers who support my writing proves to me that poetry is not dead no matter what some people might say. I look forward to sharing more of my inspiration with you in this new year, 2019.

Enjoy!

Top Ten Poems for 2018:

1. Lost

2. The Crack of Noon

3. Let's See

4. A West Texas Boy

5. Where I Live Now

6. Their Love

7. Never Thought

8. Treasured Relics

9. A Piece of Peace

10. slipped


Honorable Mention: Elegant Warrior

grief bonding

Grasping for words, I call it grief bonding for lack of a better term, so if anyone reading this has something better, please let me know.

I'm talking about that friendship, kinship, and even love that grows between even strangers when coming together to grieve the passing of someone's loved one. It doesn't even have to be your own family or friend who has died, really, if you are grieving for a friend's loss. Mourning is not exclusionary.

Last week, I went to a friend's mother's funeral. I didn't know her, but I wanted to show support to my friend as I understand too well how difficult it is to lose your mother. It's taken a very long time for me to understand my grief, but as I have, I try even more to reach out to help anyone whose parents pass away. As I listened to the tributes and music, I became aware of the similarities in our mothers, and I grew to love someone I won't ever meet.

I also began to contemplate what others might say of me when I die. That's possibly something everyone has considered. Have you? Or maybe I'm weird? But seriously, I wonder.

The experience has left me with much to think about and a new layer of love in my heart for my friend.

humility

So much happened and changed last year that I realize I began being humbled early on. It was too noticeable to avoid actually, but I'll add that it has been a good thing (now that I have a little distance from all the trauma). However, as we got closer to the new year, I had a feeling I needed to wrap my heart around humility further. I kept thinking about the happy side effects of cultivating a more humble attitude and outlook, the calm it brought to my life—after first feeling hurled down a terrifying roller coaster one cannot get off.

Another, very random thought I had when selecting this word was how dull humility sounds as I read about other people's ideas for their one little word/word of the year. So many people I know have action words and fun words and interesting ideas for how to sew their words into their lives. My word is not any of that. It is one of waiting for opportunities to do slow down and listen and pondering the aftermath of my choices and watching for my heart to turn into something new. Putting it that way, I now feel a morsel of excitement. This feels special in a way. I do so want to become a more understanding and loving person, and I believe more humility within myself will help this.

Humility might not be enticing or even exciting in itself, but I'm pretty sure it's what I need to learn and cultivate further in order to have more joy in my life. I hope you'll join me in my journey with this word for 2019.

public shaming

A couple of years ago, I was part of a discussion involving public shaming. Long story short, it involved a special education teacher blowing off some steam because her students had been mistreated while on a field trip. There were numerous enraged responses to the story. People calling the mom and her children horrible names and hoping that the post would make its way around, and she'd end up seeing it and feel embarrassed for her actions.

What no one is remembering is that this snapshot of a parent (regardless of their actions) was taken without their consent and many people are judging actions they did not witness.

Here's a hypothetical: What if they were simply having a terrible day and that's why they were out at the venue, and the mom was having a horrible lapse in judgment? It is no excuse, but objectifying people and publicly shaming has become acceptable somehow, yet it opens the door to becoming what you abhor: a bully.

Am I the only person questioning this method of intolerance? I don't see how public shaming isn't simply another form of mistreatment, which I typically label as bullying. 

Another big issue is that the post was probably not the most effective nor professional method of educating the public about SpecEd. I believe advocating for the student on site would have been the more effective approach and least potentially legally damaging. When out with my own special needs daughter I deal with people directly when there have been public insensitivity incidents. It can get infuriating, but the main point is to educate and hold people accountable in a proper way, so they can learn from the situation.

I'd like to know what you think could be some alternate solutions to such incidents. 

2019 better be good

I know and know of too many people who say 2018 was a rough year to think I'm special. It was chock-full of change, both hard and happy, but so much, too much. I don't necessarily long for status quo, but man alive it would be nice to have a chance to breathe for a bit.

Resolutions are not my thing, but I do love to work on improving myself regularly. So this year, I'm looking toward the future with an expectation of garbage loads of change and working on my perspective toward it. I want to take it in stride instead of crying or getting resentful. I want to see how far I can go without giving in to negativity.

One thing I also hope for in this year we have in front of us is for my family to grow in love. I am very hopeful for this year to be the one where we have so much positivity and love that we never doubt that we care for one another. I want to have so much love and kindness that other people can see how much we love each other.

I have high hopes for this new year, 2019. Don't let a lady down.