The Hive of my Head
The bee buzzes,
angry and trapped,
unable to escape the hive of my head.
I think evil thoughts.
I wish him ill.
He has been here for longer than I would like.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
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Fights and Upset
I wish someone would step in to reassure me
that everything will be alright.
I wish that I was surrounded by love and kindness,
all words spoken of the highest possible quality,
delicately put.
I wish that the unwelcome toys,
now resident in the pram,
would be tidied away,
or else accepted and befriended
so that they would be less likely to create friction,
cause fights and upset.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
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I shouldn’t have to ask, but I do
If I disappeared, would I be missed?
And for how long exactly, if I was?
If I went away, would I be followed?
And, found, would I then be brought back?
If I suddenly got terribly lost –
out there in the wilderness –
would there be a search party
leading to a subsequent discovery, an eventual happy reunion?
I shouldn’t have to ask,
feel insecure about the answer,
But, somehow, I do.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
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The winters here are long
A rabbit sits in a field, chewing grass.
Nearby, a tractor turns the earth
ripping weeds from the rugged surface.
I stand and watch from the road,
eager to learn more about the landscape.
The winters here are long
and I yearn for company.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
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The Torso that carried the skeleton
The cold invaded her bones, chilling her to her center, stalling and stopping all that wanted more than anything now to grow. Small shoots, only yesterday pointing upwards, carrying distant promises and cradling soon-to-be-loved dreams, curled under and back into, attempting to relocate the not-so-long-ago bid-farewell-to space from whence they had only recently emerged. Shivering, tensing up, the torso that carried the skeleton constricted, pulling backwards and against.
Reversing, she peddled the wrong way, yesterday reaching out and waving, last week extending long-nailed hands. The year just gone by stepped forward to greet her and with it the cloying grip of the past long-since departed but not yet laid to rest tugged hard.
Grey and black descended. Corners crept in, chaperoning shadows that sat down and spread out.
Sighing, averting her eyes towards instead of away, she met them all politely with a resigned smile. Tomorrow she would stand up and fight. Tomorrow she would take back and repossess. Tomorrow, with her hoe and can, she would get watering and planting. Today, however, was much too early. She was still exhausted from yesterday and the long journey of getting there.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
To keep up to date with my progress and receive a copy of my newsletter, send me your email address.
The Torso that carried the skeleton
The cold invaded her bones, chilling her to her center, stalling and stopping all that wanted more than anything now to grow. Small shoots, only yesterday pointing upwards, carrying distant promises and cradling soon-to-be-loved dreams, curled under and back into, attempting to relocate the not-so-long-ago bid-farewell-to space from whence they had only recently emerged. Shivering, tensing up, the torso that carried the skeleton constricted, pulling backwards and against.
Reversing, she peddled the wrong way, yesterday reaching out and waving, last week extending long-nailed hands. The year just gone by stepped forward to greet her and with it the cloying grip of the past long-since departed but not yet laid to rest tugged hard.
Grey and black descended. Corners crept in, chaperoning shadows that sat down and spread out.
Sighing, averting her eyes towards instead of away, she met them all politely with a resigned smile. Tomorrow she would stand up and fight. Tomorrow she would take back and repossess. Tomorrow, with her hoe and can, she would get watering and planting. Today, however, was much too early. She was still exhausted from yesterday and the long journey of getting there.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
To keep up to date with my progress and receive a copy of my newsletter, send me your email address.
Life goes up and down on a daily basis, making it hard to predict or rely upon. It does not stay the same, nor does it to deliver a constant, no matter how much we might desire it to. Tapped inside, we are pulled along, oftentimes kicking and screaming.
Objecting achieves nothing, save establishing the successful delivery of unnecessary misery, emotional discomfort and pain. We are not omnipotent. We have little power above, outside and beyond ourselves. Our purpose is simple: experience, absorb, take note and attempt to then intelligently apply.
We must learn to suck it up and develop a knack for riding the unpredictable nature of the waves. This is the key to our survival, the means to our happiness, the trick to remaining centred and sane in a world that is often chaotic and cruel.
In the meantime, I suggest you read this poem for its words of insight, explanation and logic. I also suggest that you copy it out and pin it where you can see it, returning to it for help in attempting to navigate each new day.
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann
To keep up to date with my progress and receive a copy of my newsletter, send me your email address.
Life goes up and down on a daily basis, making it hard to predict or rely upon. It does not stay the same, nor does it to deliver a constant, no matter how much we might desire it to. Tapped inside, we are pulled along, oftentimes kicking and screaming.
Objecting achieves nothing, save establishing the successful delivery of unnecessary misery, emotional discomfort and pain. We are not omnipotent. We have little power above, outside and beyond ourselves. Our purpose is simple: experience, absorb, take note and attempt to then intelligently apply.
We must learn to suck it up and develop a knack for riding the unpredictable nature of the waves. This is the key to our survival, the means to our happiness, the trick to remaining centred and sane in a world that is often chaotic and cruel.
In the meantime, I suggest you read this poem for its words of insight, explanation and logic. I also suggest that you copy it out and pin it where you can see it, returning to it for help in attempting to navigate each new day.
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann
To keep up to date with my progress and receive a copy of my newsletter, send me your email address.
If you had the chance to start over and to begin again, this time doing it in an altogether better and more advantageous manner, would you take it? And if you did, what would you do with it that you didn’t do that first time in order to ensure a more favourable conclusion?
That’s a big question, and it might take you a while to find the answer, travelling backwards through the story of your life, until you reach that first point where you feel it started to go wrong.
Never one to shy away from doing what I ask of others, I sat and thought this through to see how it applied to my own experience. It brought forth this answer. I wish, more than anything, that I was powerful enough to do this, for both you and myself.
All that has been taken and destroyed
I wish I could turn back time,
reverse all that has happened,
thereby altering the course of what is yet to come.
I wish I could wave a magic wand
and render it all irrelevant,
rewriting the parts that swallowed me up.
I wish I could pick up a pair of scissors,
cut out the darkness and the decay,
the pain and the conflict.
I would return to that child,
hold out my hand and pull her inside,
wrap her in strong arms.
Whispering sweet nothing’s –
messages of love and words of encouragement –
I would mother her in a way I have never known.
Giving her everything I was denied,
I would raise her again,
from start to finish,
and this time I would do it right,
returning to her
all that has been taken and destroyed.
by Rebecca L. Atherton
To keep up to date with my progress and receive a copy of my newsletter, send me your email address.
Rebecca L. Atherton 
