March 9

Pastimes

dVerse, Poetry

20  comments

When someone you love is diagnosed with dementia as a caregiver your own life gets turned inside out as well. In fact probably even more as the caregiver. But really who knows? All of us are having our own experiences through our personal realities. Who are any of us to say what's real or not real in any given moment for anyone else. 

For me poetry and music have been consistent ways to examine emotions and personal growth the experience gifts me. Recently, I have found myself, once again, pulling at the threads my emotions through poetry. Some how by placing one word next to another I am able to find peace with grief. But even more powerful, I have been able to unravel the gift of the journey. 

Here are two of my most recent poems:

a cardinal rests
it’s frozen reflection
~ encapsulated
your colorful life stilled
in a lake of memories

image of guitar from the neck with the poem Sing Me overlaid.

The challenges from dVerse were two fold tonight but I only rose to one of them. The challenge ask someone to give you…

2 nouns, 3 verbs, 3 adjectives, and 2 random words and then write a poem using those words. So I asked Kristin Hatch and she responded as follows:

2 nouns: women & FINCA 3 verbs: struggle, achieve, become 3 adjectives: rough, smooth, peaceful 2 random words: baseball & snow
The end result follows…

Pastimes

I like to watch snow melt.
The way the earth drinks in
the chill and the wet.

The way things bloom
in rain and sunshine
like morel mushrooms and tulips.

I like to think about the change
of seasons, politics, people,
especially attitudes.

Some change comes slow
like a baseball player running
one base at a time.

Some change happens fast
like a homerun – with a “crack”
a ball is hit out of the park.

In a league of their own
women experience change
in their achievements.

Sometimes there is victory
one base at a time
or in one smooth swing.

Struggle after struggle
and FINCA in their dugout
determination is their peaceful victory.

Taking the rough with the smooth
they become successful
one microloan at a time.

Shared with dVerse for Poetics: InterActions
and a shout out for FINCA International 

About the author

Creator of sounds. Poet on an energetic journey with words. Explorer of Frequencies.


 

Delaina J Miller

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  • …i can sense you have quite enough time to think all of these… or maybe ‘to think’ is something really unavoidable… i can, too, spend my time thinking of the melting of snows, the seasons that come & go, the birds short lives, etc but, oh, to think of politics is too long and a day or two isn’t quite enough to dig understanding… i really enjoyed your poem Delaina… thank you… smiles…

    • Thanks Kelvin;
      If we don’t take time to think then I am not sure we have really lived. I wonder if thinking about melting snow is all that different from thinking about politics 😉

      Thanks for the read and your comments!

  • Sometimes it moves as slow as I run basbeall bases. Excellente. AS you say, I think, sometimes we don’t even realize the change because it happens so slow until we look back and see it. I enjoyed this very much.

    • Thank you Henry;

      It is so true what you say about change, especially if that change has trickled into our lives slowly. Cheers!

  • So true that some changes happen slow (like winter changing to spring) and some happen fast (home run!). One thing is certain and that is change is inevitable.

    Suggestion: You might want to change where the reader is taken when they click on your link in their blog. I am led a few different places before I finally arrive at this blog. It would be easier if you would just have this blog as the destination for the click or at least have it listed as a choice, as I first had to go to a defunct blog and then from there was given the link to here. I remember this happening last time as well. You could make it easier……

    • Thank you so much for reading and commenting Mary;

      Change is inevitable that is its gift and its burden depending on our perspectives. Cheers!

      As for your suggestion I would love to make the link more direct. I have sent you an email concerning my challenge in this area. I hope we can get me on track.
      Thanks again,
      Delaina

  • One step at a time, even a micro one, changes the person (specially women) in their journey ~ Love the message here ~ More power to those who empower other people ~

    • Thank you Grace;
      I am glad that all of came through the poem. The empowerment produced through FINCA was not only my intention but the point of the poem. Thank you for your kind words and for reading. Cheers!

  • Some change comes slow
    like a baseball player running
    one base at a time…. really like the baseball images you use to make your points visible for us here..so creative and fresh…

    • Than you Claudia;

      I admit I had a hard time with the spin at first and I will probably play with it some more but I had a blast trying to make it all work. Thank you for you comments and kind words. Cheers!

    • Thank you Heidi;

      It was such a spring like day and the news is talking about spring training so baseball is as much in the air as FINCA is for us. Cheers!

    • Thank you Gretchen;
      Yes I admit I struggled with tying the whole thing together. I might have another pass at the poem.
      Great job co-MCing last night. I wanted to do your prompt too so I might still. Cheers!

  • nice…so is FINCA a microfinance group? there is some pretty cool stuff going on in that regard…and change does take time often….but each one of those lives adds up to something huge…very cool write…

    • Thanks Brian;

      Yes FINCA is a microfinance group that helps mostly women entrepreneurs build their business through microloans. FINCA is a non-profit I whole-heartedly support. I put the link to FINCA at the bottom if you would like to learn more.

      Cheers,
      Thanks for reading and commenting 🙂

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