Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Avoidance


Another early morning rise and a chance to regroup after a full day of completely checking out yesterday.  I will not feel guilty about my few days of non-production. Sometimes we need that. I am back in the saddle and trying to flesh out some old journals to find my writing voice again. I had created a poem years ago just on the word AVOIDANCE.  Something I seem to still be very good at. So I present to you the same poem to let you think about how our words speak to us in ways we never imagined.  At least this little poem opened my eyes to what I was doing to myself by just avoiding any of the work I knew I should be doing. Share any treasures you have found in just one word. I'd love to hear them.


AVOIDANCE
Curious word --- Avoidance
In the middle,
VOID bulges out –
an empty black hole, because
something is being
 ignored.
A gives VOID an identity –
But a painful reminder
 that it is still a
Nothing.

And tagging along behind is
DANCE –
Happy, giddy, carefree Dance;
Tormenting the Nothing it’s attached to.
Is it trying to say something?
Perk up the Void, the negative space?
What good is dancing alone with the dark?
A * Void * Dance

5 comments:

  1. You are clever and talented. I will give this a try. I really like the way you go from "painful reminder" to the hope of being part of, perhaps, the leader and taking charge. "Perk up the Void." Taking a respite when we can and then back to being a caretaker. It's familiar, eh? It's o.k. I truly know that those of us who are strong are entitled to a mental health day or just a day without pressure, as best we can - whatever we want to call it. (I like to have cinnamon toast and watch a soap opera I deny I watch.) I use an aerobics dvd when I'm not able to leave the house. It is salsa dancing and quite an escape. I can be a Broadway dancing gypsy in my nightgown for 30 minutes. I know the void. Sometimes, it just has to run it's course but like your poem, saying that maybe we aren't so powerless. We can chose to dance, even when we think we can't. We fight. I like, "Pain is a given. Suffering is optional." So here's my word.

    Fundamentalist

    Fun is free and light as air -
    a place I'd like to be.
    Sometimes, for everyone else -
    the fun forgets about me.

    A dame is wild and sometimes fair.
    Church ladies whisper -
    as if she wasn't there.

    Mental, they say she is -
    too much fun and not enough serious.
    She says to herself, not shallow -
    simply mysterious.
    Tight lipped biddies.
    Don't they know Jesus was a fun date?
    So that we can live abundantly - free to care.

    A list can help to think it through.
    It may then make sense to you.

    So, make a list you pent up gals and make your new reality - and have some fun.

    Yes, the fundamentalist could use a dose of being a Dame!

    Your writing sharing and "assignments" are providing a diversion and introspection. Very, very nice!

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  2. Great post. As above, you are clever. I add witty.

    This was suggested to me. This short, silly thing is not meant to minimize the work others do. My brain just can't do too much at this hour. I will be thinking of more words!

    Cantelope

    Can't elope with an antelope.

    Could he be Catholic? That would help...
    St. Anne,send me a man.
    Miss Anne, you have a sense of humor.

    People will talk.
    But then, on the range, I would seldom hear a discouraging word - partially due to being hard of hearing.

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  3. You are both fabulous! Amazing what creativity can sprout when given just a little seed of an idea. Thank you for sprouting! ~ Suzanne

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  4. This was a great "assignment". I'll give it another try.

    Passage

    A rite of passage -
    or right of passage
    no, it's a write of passage.

    Write it down - don't forget.

    Pass through from naive
    and painful to serene and sage -
    much of the time.
    The pain - wouldn't trade it.
    Must feel the feelings. I can do it.

    Yes, to pass, the journey, the passage,
    to age and become sage.

    It's not so bad to be wrinkled and hopefully sage and like Nora Ephron: I Feel Bad About My Neck...

    Actually, you are in good company with your diverse writing - much like hers - open and brave. Fun, too.

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  5. Nora Ephron is a favorite of mine, too. Loved that book. Can't help but relate to her.

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Blessings to you,
Suzanne