Purple We Stand

No red wave in sight

No flood of blue rushing in

Purple sea are we

~ smj

I can

Many times I climbed
right up that “do not climb” hill.
Don’t tell me I can’t.

~ smj

My “do not climb” hill.
Ok.. I don’t actually own the hill..
~ smj

Focus

Breathe.
Focus on your breath.
Long, deep, breaths.

Inhale peace slowly
through your nose.
Savor the aroma of tranquility.  
Let the warm calm fill you.

Ignore the tickle in your nose.
Focus on your breath.
Long, deep, breaths.

Exhale stress like demons
conjured from within
and expelled past your lips
with a windy exorcism.

Do not engage.  Do not engage.
Focus on your breath.
Long, deep – wait, where are you going?

Empty your mind.
No emails. No deadlines.
Ignore the desperate appeals
to assist under duress.

Let them and your guilt wait.
Focus on your breath.
Long, deep –  close your damn eyes.

Don’t hear distractions,
your growling stomach or dog,
your beeping phone or the truck
delivering who knows what.

Come back to your breathing.
Focus on your breath.
Long, deep – how long has it been?

Forget all your worries,
and those you worry about.
The what ifs and scenarios
that run wild on repeat.

I can’t.
Focus on your breath.
Long, deep – this is… impossible.

Block out voices whispering,
“you can’t blow me away”,
so loudly you can’t focus
on your long, deep, breaths.

– smj

Perspective

Nothing really matters
now. Only you… and you.
Can’t you see that?

All things stressed about
are just that – things. Ridiculous
things, compared to you.

Work? Politics? The state
of our economy? Please.
Not even close.

Entire cities? Dear friends?
Cherished family. Me?
I clearly choose you.

My sons.  My moons.
My heaven and earth.
If I could just move you

enough to make you
understand. To make you
feel content. To make you
feel loved enough that you
feel hope. To make you feel.

To make you stay. Please don’t
leave me. You are my world.
You are what matters. Even if
you don’t see it.

~ smj

“My mission is to keep the light in your eyes ablaze”
– Ablaze, Alanis Morisette

Are we positively stronger yet?

I saw a writing prompt just now, when I was mindlessly scrolling positive memes instead of working, looking for some inspiration…. The prompt was,

“What would someone say to you right now to make you feel stronger, and more positive?
Write it down. Then, say it out loud to yourself“.

I rarely do writing prompts… in fact, lately, I rarely write… but, as usual, I always think I should be.
Anyway, this sounded interesting… and easy enough. So? Let’s see what this prompts if I just… start… writing…
What WOULD I like someone to say to me? Hmmmm….
———-
Hey Sam. How are you doing? I know you don’t think anyone really cares right now… or that it doesn’t really matter anyway, but I mean it. How ARE you? I care. I want to know that you are not just putting on some kind of a facade… falling into old patterns… pretending to be something, someone, you are not. You’re not doing that, are you? I don’t think you are, but it’s sometimes hard to tell with you. I know you are really good at seeming like you don’t have a care in the world…. Like, you don’t really need an ego boost or care what anyone thinks. You come off like you are already strong enough to hold your own and then some… But, I also know that is not always the case.