Source and Summit

There’s no excuse not to write something for the last day of Just-Jot-It January. 🙂


 

God with us,
Both human and divine,
Remaining until the end of time

God with us,
Emmanuel by name,
"I AM," always merciful, the same

Eucharist,
Thanksgiving for the gift,
Source and summit healing every rift

Hey look, a dog!

I love when I am walking and see a dog. The bad part is, right when the dog gets close, its owner pulls it away, so as not to “bother” me. But it’s like, “No, I want to be bothered by your dog!”

a golden retriever lying on green grass field
Photo by Barnabas Davoti on Pexels.com

I am feeling extra depressed today, so am Just Jotting. Maybe I will go to the coffee shop. Part of my depression is that I’m not getting enough hours at work, but I’m not sure how functional I’d be at work, anyway. I image-searched “sad coffee” and found this:

Images: sad face black and white | Black and white of sad face on mug or coffee cup on wood ...

Brain Exercises

Today’s word for JusJoJan is “exercise.” I don’t so that much exercise but do really like walks and hikes, and I need to stretch out every day, or I get very tense very quickly. Having had an eating disorder, I need to always be careful that I’m not overdoing the exercise and aware of where the desire to exercise is coming from.

Many of my poems seem more like word games or brain exercises to me, rather than works of word-art. For example, today’s Gospel reading was the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), and I wrote about the Beatitudes using several different, non-rhyming forms. Here is one, a type of cinquain:

Meek,
Merciful,
Pure-heart peacemakers:
Poor in spirit shall see grace
Poured

Never Giving Up

I will never throw in the towel when it comes to writing. I may not blog every day (despite wanting to participate daily in JusJoJan), but I write every day, both poetry and in a journal. Also, at this point, I will never throw in the towel when it comes to praying the rosary, as I have done so every day for probably 6 years (thanks be to God). It seems more likely that I will throw in the towel on all of life before stopping those 2 things! Nevermind that giving up on life does sometimes seem likely….but that is a whole other topic!

I am never giving up:
Standing in the storm,
Underneath is solid rock,
Something keeps me warm.

Throwing in the towel is no
Option now for me,
I’ll use it to dry my tears
When sun comes to me.

(Just realized I rhymed “me” with “me” — that’s stream-of-consciousness writing for you)

A Poem From 2020

For Fandango’s Flashback Friday, I have a poem written on this day in 2020. I titled it “Succulent,” and it was in response to the JusJoJan prompt of that day. Linking with today’s JusJoJan prompt.


I wake, and does it seem a normal day?
Yet dazzling moments need not be in lack.
Let gratitude and open eyes allay
All fears of scarcity which hide in back
Of mind; let little, happy moments stack:
Begin with sunlight streaming through this pane
Of glass, and greenery in stark terrain.

green cactus

Photo by Jonathan Borba on Pexels.com

Hide and Seek

Playing hide-and-seek with God:
If I cannot find
Him each moment of the day,
He is not unkind.

Have I sought with my whole heart?
He will soon reveal
Loving presence, Spirit’s gift,
Come to me, and heal.


Today’s prompt for JusJoJan is “family.” Family can be a tricky concept because my friends and church people feel more like a family than my actual family does, much of the time. For example, on Christmas, I was most looking forward to going to Mass and seeing my “church family,” rather than the family that I am blood-related to. I am glad to have found such a loving group of people who have accepted me and love me for who I am, since I sought that for a long time.

Ideal

Life is hardly ever ideal, but it can always be good.

— one of my happy thoughts from yesterday

Yesterday was not an ideal day, and I didn’t even post for JusJoJan (although now I’m using the word). However, there were several aspects to be happy about, and by the end of the day, I felt very loved. Fun fact: I only wrote 2, very cruddy poems yesterday, but today I have 5 1/2  already.

For One-Liner Wednesday.

Daisy

For DVerse’s Quadrille Monday, we are to write a poem of 44 words containing the word “ice.” I couldn’t help dipping my poetic pen-paintbrush into some dark paints. Not sure if it’s good, but it’s the best thing I’ve written all week. 


 

She tries to ward off his advances,
Feeling helpless as a daisy in a snowstorm
As his icy fingers chillingly caress
Her hair as if it were pure-white petals,
Before he rips them, callously as if limb-from-limb.
Her tears are the dewdrops of mo(u)ring. 
photo of white daisy
Photo by Alan Cabello on Pexels.com

MVB Prompt: Advance.  

A Description

Today’s word for JusJoJan is “seasonal.” That reminds me of Christmas, and I was wondering what to write for it. This morning I gave a late Christmas card to an acquaintance at church. I had written it weeks ago but hadn’t seen her.

Truth be told, I didn’t write much today. Yesterday’s FOWC was “description,” so I tried to use extra imagery in a poem. I wrote this this morning.

At this rectangular wooden table,
Covered with a dark-green tablecloth,
Atop this circular palm-leaf-colored placemat,
I sit writing. Writing in my Irish green notebook,
Hoping that some poems will grow.

Alas, not much germinated, let alone blossomed.

Life’s Orchestra

The prompt for JusJoJan is “complaint.” Also for MVB: Melody. Depression really is an illness, because I don’t have any real complaints about my life (other than the fact that I can’t yet drive, and it’s going to take me forever to learn well). However, I wrote this poem, thinking about how depression sucks the life out of life. If that makes sense.


All the beauty depression dims, 
Makes me sleep, when I should
Keep my eyes open:
Lack of an attention span
Truncates melodies, where
Once I would listen fully,
Sensing more than discordant 
Harmonies, and appreciating 
All the different instruments 
In life's amazing orchestral piece. 
Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com