One Rose…

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one rose strong against the wind
you think you stand alone
but you are surrounded
by other generations
in every stage of bloom.
they stand with you till
their luscious petals drop
to the ground along the way
together in the garden
alone on your stem
your thorns attempt
to keep the pickers away
life prunes and trims
until you feel
as if you are gone
cut away
but that isn’t so
every leaf grown
from your limbs
reaches for the sky
they keep your blooms alive
so bloom for them my rose
and thus your sweetness
continues to live on and on
and you will never die.

 

I Believe…

The Milk Carton

women who think too much's avatarWomen Who Think Too Much by Jeanne Marie

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Have you seen this child?
She was lost thirty-five years ago
She simply disappeared.
Her present status, I don’t know.
Should we put her on a milk carton
Or leave her to find herself?
Perhaps she is dead and buried or
Baking cookies with the Keebler elves.
Perhaps she dances with wild gypsies
Wild swirling dances that cover her defeat.
Are they bewitched by her radiance
Delighted by her naked madness,
Struck speechless by her insane
Howling beneath a winter’s moon?
The years have surely taken her
I don’t know where she went.
She used to live in my closet
Curled under the heater vent.
She was such a frightened girl
She seldom ventured out.
Could it be that she still exists
Although hidden from clear view?
You might catch a glimpse of her
When I smile at you.
Call her softly, do not shout.
She might dare to laugh…

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Butterflies kissed my face today…

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Butterflies kissed my face today
They flittered and they fluttered
all through my hair.
They whispered do not give up
you are loved, you are loved
we are here
to tell you, you are loved.
So many butterflies
surrounded my shoulders
I laughed and I smiled
as I danced
through the grass
with butterflies around my feet.
I felt like a child
no longer older
my spirit so light.
I stayed outside and played
watching my sweet
butterflies in flight.
Butterflies kissed my face today.

I Don’t Believe You

Letting go of your hand

although you tell me

I cannot stand

unless you are by my side.

You mixed your lies…

truth, shaken and blended

to create a sweet disguise

under your mask I did not peek.

No, I will not behave.

No, I will not be quiet.

No, I will not be a slave

to lies I once believed.

Tell me this…

where is the woman

I used to know?

Where is she now

where did she go?

Trying to leave

you beg me to stay

weak in the head,

I must be, because

suitcases are unpacked

clothes are put away.

Breathing ain’t easy

when you’ve been

crushed by the muck.

Leaving is hard

but it’s the staying,

oh ya, it’s the staying

that sincerely sucks.

 

Tasting Free…

1b

Like a caterpillar,
I shed my skin.
Peek out at freedom
flutter my wings
then try to crawl
back inside again.
The light’s too bright.
It’s gonna rain.
Will it hurt?
Where will I sleep?
I am afraid.
Will there be pain?
My wings I test.
Oh yes, they work!
I crash into myself
flying away from
a life that hurts.
My sister has flown solo
touching stars all night.
She helps me up
she dries my tears.
“You ARE a butterfly.
You have strong wings
and just like me,
you’ll be alright.”
Still, I bury the torn larva
under a weeping willow tree
just in case…I hate free.
My sister is glowing
as she whispers to me,
“You can’t climb back
inside your cocoon
once you have tasted free.
Spread your silly wings
my precious sister
and come touch
the stars with me.”

Jeanne Marie, 2014

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Learn more about butterflies!  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/allabout/

Two…

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Every evening two broken women

Stumbled down a lonesome road

Passing each other on their way home

Silent, not a single word was spoken

Strangers they might have stayed

But one night the wind was howling

The lightening was crackling white

The black thunder roared

The icy rain drops pelted the ground

Beneath an old bridge they huddled

Two broken women hunkered down

Waiting for the storm to pass their town.

The Mountain of Sand

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On the mountain of sand
trying to stay balanced
holding breath because
one tear splashing
and it could crumble.
Not moving but
it doesn’t matter
the giant ants below
doing their work
one grain of sand
by one grain of sand
her fate will be decided
by others at the foot of
the mountain of sand.
On the ground distant
rescue teams and daughters
shout, JUMP, JUST JUMP!
Take a chance and JUMP!
Busy trying not to crumble
a mountain of sand today
it’s clear she doesn’t listen
doesn’t even look their way.
Rescue teams and one daughter
give up in disgust and walk away.
One daughter refuses to leave
running alone beside
the mountain of sand
she waves, arms open wide
screaming in the wind,
“Take a chance and JUMP!
JUMP, JUST JUMP!”
Holding breath
she is standing still
on the mountain of sand
and it is plain to see
there’ll be no jump today.

Words by Jeanne Marie
Photo by Rick McClellan

Imagine…

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Imagine a forest where the colors run free

you might see a pink and blue hibiscus

and you can rest under a lavender tree.

Purple lace drapes the branches above

as you stroll through the violets and lilacs

happy forever, dancing in a forest to love.

Imagine a forest where the colors run free

where the rain drips pink marshmallows

and Swiss Hot Chocolate always is free.

A little house you could call your own

with thousands of books waiting to be read

and never, ever, the sound of a ringing cell phone.

Imagine…

2014

Imagine…

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Imagine a world
where the flowers are blue
the sky is Cinderella pink
and your heart is brand new.
Heart never been broken
never kicked to the ground
a home built on rainbows…
awesome flowers surround.
Tears are never shed and
willow trees do not weep
when you close your eyes…
your soul He does keep.
Imagine a world
minus cursing and screams
imagine a world
where kindness beats mean.
Rose colored angels
waltz through your dreams
while dainty butterflies dance
on clouds of whipped cream.
Imagine…

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Words & Pictures: Jeanne Marie, 2014

Petals Fall

 

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Proud and bright
you hang.
Petals, firm and strong.
Then, one by one,
damaged petals
start to fall.
One by one,
till blooms
form a mountain
of red petals on
the cement floor.
Petals fall
as lovers argue
destroyed by
neglect and time
until love’s light
goes out
and velvet petals
wither on the floor
as quietly, they die.
A little water
a little kiss
a smile, a hug.
Nope, didn’t happen.
So one plus one
who once were two,
are now alone.
Each too proud
to clean the mess
or to pick up
the phone.
Petals fall,
o
ne by one
by two.

by Jeanne Marie

 

 

When pictures fall…

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When pictures fall
chills sliver up my spine
I try to catch the frame
before it hits the floor.
Catch it! Catch it!
Don’t let the glass smash
slicing paper memories
from when we believed
that our love would last.
How will I remember
what is supposed
to be mine, unless it’s
hanging in its frame?
Catch it! Catch it!
When pictures fall
memories are shattered
and in tears, I wonder…
why does it take disaster
to make me remember
just how much I love you
after all?
 

Jeanne Marie, 2014

 

In Loving Memory…I See

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Most often…

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When you think

I have forgotten

about you…

When your phone

doesn’t ring

when your text

doesn’t flash

when I’m not posting

any PINK Bling…

That’s when I’m

thinking of you

most often.

As I wander

through my flowers

flitting around

just a blue

butterfly orphan,

my only

nourishment

the flowers I walk in…

That’s when I’m

thinking of you

most often.

Jeanne Marie, 2014

 

Butterflies and Other’s Eyes

thinkingpinkx2's avatarthinkingpinkx2

2b
Butterflies kissed my face today
They flittered and they fluttered
all through my hair.
They whispered do not give up
you are loved, you are loved
we are here
to tell you, you are loved.
So many butterflies
surrounded my shoulders
I laughed and I smiled
as I danced
through the grass
with butterflies around my feet.
I felt like a child,
no longer older
my spirit so light.
I stayed outside and played
watching my sweet
butterflies in flight.
Butterflies kissed my face today.

Butterfly Kisses For Belinda from thinkingpinkx2.

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Lost In Love

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Lost in love
what is my name
I am you
and you are me
we are the same.
Lost in love
no one is here
to answer the phone
the banging on the door
lost in love, lost in love
but love, love doesn’t
live here anymore.

and

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If I could…

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If I could live in the words I write, I’d write a story where my heart was never broken.

Not Beaten After All

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This yellow hibiscus
has been rained on
and it has been beaten
senseless by the wind.
It has been bent
almost to the ground
and it fought storms
to stand back up again.
It stands proud and
yes, it stands tall.
It was shaken
and it was bruised
But not beaten after all.

I REMEMBER…I KNOW

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I REMEMBER
Remember when you used to bring flowers home for me?
You would walk in the door after work with that sexy smile
Holding a dozen yellow and pink roses, for no reason at all.
Lunch box in your right hand, my flowers in your left
“Baby, Honey, Sweetie?” Names for me you would gently call.
I REMEMBER
Remember when we took a nap before dinner
Because we were too needing to wait for bedtime?
Sometimes all we did was giggle, snuggle and kiss
Sometimes the snuggling led to so much more
Loved your kisses, most of all, that’s what I miss.
I REMEMBER
Remember when we danced, how you held my body close?
So close my mama said it was indecent, your hands caressing
My back all the way down to my…well you know.
All my friends were jealous because with every move
With every touch, it was obvious you loved me so.
I KNOW
I know it is those memories that keep me trapped here
Because for years no loving touch have you been showing.
Years and years of silent and lonely days, dark and empty nights.
You buy me anything you think I want, when all I want is you.
Now, I cry myself to sleep, alone, after each mean and crazy fight.
I KNOW
I know we had something so intense, so strong
A love only one of us could have destroyed.
I know, dear God, I know, the exact moment it happened
Exactly when my handsome hero, my Marlboro Man,
Became a man who left me hanging over a black void.
I REMEMBER
Remember all the times I left our house, boxes in my hands?
Four times, with all I owned, swearing that this time was the last.
Remember how we both cried; remember how we felt so lost?
So home I came and tried again, to find your love, to find your heart.
Only one leaving left, so if you just sit and watch me hurting  again…
I promise you my last.

Daddy’s Bottomless Black Pit

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Daddy’s Bottomless Black Pit
Clean my face, wipe dripping tears of blood that come from deep within. Born black and blue and forced to pay for my daddy’s kin. He was raped and abused, treated like a piece of shit. Little baby girl born to that unhealed victim, I had no place to grow, to learn or to run. So, I lived beneath the ground cradled ungently, in my Daddy’s arms, no place I fit…except deep down inside my Daddy’s bottomless, black pit.

Codependency

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Codependency

Loved you until I was drained, empty
nothing left of the love as I recall,
refuse to lose my mind, so it is over
bruised brain won’t survive another fall.

Driven quite mad, aching for your touch
spirit crushed by your negative weight
splintering my weakened, damaged bones.
Set free? Set free? Shit, it is too late.

Too late to be an innocent little girl
too late to chase the passions of 17
too late to write that frigging book
but all my floors are sparkling clean.

My womb has left, cut from my body
so, too late to be a better mother
loved ones from my hands I dropped
always ran, hid beneath the covers.

Some other day, some other love
some other life, any but my own
thought I had time to find happy
old came first, please leave me alone.

Hopes shattered and then returned
laid to bleed in my hollow heart
the doors I had no will to open
never found the strength to depart.

Windows I painted closed, proud…
I held my ground…I took a stand
never seeing what would be forfeited
manipulations, I did not understand.

Never added up the sinister expense
of investing in a love already lost
relying on vows of a better tomorrow
never analyzed the enormous cost.

Driven by deceits, the knife sliced deep
guided by the sharp edges of yesterday
writing a check for the lies I believed
emptied the piggy bank, how will I pay?

Another Chance

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A homeless man and I crossed paths today
As he looked hopefully into my eyes
I’m ashamed to say, I looked away.
His angry face, his dirty, tattered clothes
they frightened me, although for all I know
I scared him with my new car, fancy clothes.
Jesus said He is the beggar at our door
He lives among the homeless in the street.
All day I fretted at what I hadn’t done
said hello or shared money so he could eat.
I used to roll down my window at the stop light
and hold out dollars to the countless homeless
and it always felt like doing that was right.
I stopped giving freely a few years ago
after I brought food and blankets to a family
holding signs that said, “We are hungry.”
and they turned my offerings away.
“We can only accept cash,” they said.
so I stopped giving without noticing
to the homeless after that rueful day.
Have I become so cynical and
and is it a million dollar business
as I have read? Maybe. I just don’t know.
A poor excuse even even to my ears
that all should pay for one group of cons
and my habit of giving should flip to no
when I had given joyously for so many years.
This man deserved a smile and kind words
and brave soul that I am, I looked away.
Now, I drive the streets seeking his face
and if I see him, I will do right by him today.

Say Something…

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The past looms ever present, but this moment is God’s present to me. I won’t ignore my present by holding yesterday’s regrets in front of my eyes. I cannot change the past, but today, the present is mine. I will create good memories. I will hold this moment. I will laugh and I will play. I will live today, love me today, appreciate the people who love me today. I will share my present today. Tomorrow, I might take it back. Jeanne Marie

The Past…Someday

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Old low burning flames
memories under the bed
like pieces of an old game
at night, fast asleep
they blister inside your head.
Upon waking, you weep.
pictures of a love lost
broken glass
beneath your feet.
Regrets flash by
on your mind screen
you still pay the cost
but you’re stuck in now
lost…forever it seems.
How can that old love
still make you cry?
Was it a nightmare
or was it a dream?
Is the past ever gone
is it ever wiped clean?
Wake up, clear your mind
push old passions away
get on with your life
because today will be
the past…someday.
by Jeanne Marie