Valentine

My heart said

We have to move fast

My head said it’s not so

That love can exist

Without a piece of paper

To bind us

But still I wanted to be

 Beside you

Cohabit with you

Be with you

Always

That hunger guided me

To your side

I found you felt the same

The proposal so soon

Didn’t come as a surprise

But a blessing in disguise

Three weeks they claimed

We can’t know each other well

They’re wrong,

They couldn’t see

That I know you 

To the centre of your soul

For you are an open book

Your eyes the window

You are the part

I didn’t know I was missing

A partner to love me

To support and comfort me

To see the good

The bad

The best of me

In all times

You’ve been there

How lucky can I be?

 ©Sheilagh Lee February 9 ,2016

HappyThanksgiving To All My America followers and friends

Three Word Wednesday- Preference

Prompts: Machismo, noun: (aggressive) masculinity, toughness, male chauvinism, sexism, virility, manliness; bravado, testosterone, macho. 

Nauseating, adjective: sickening, nauseous, stomach-churning, emetic, sickly; disgusting, revolting, offensive, loathsome, obnoxious, foul, vomitous; informal gross, gut-churning, gut-wrenching.

Oaf, noun: lout, boor, barbarian, Neanderthal, churl, bumpkin, yokel; fool, dolt, dullard; informal idiot, imbecile, moron, halfwit, lamer, cretin, ass, jackass, goon, yahoo, ape, baboon, clod, blockhead, meathead, butthead, meatball, bonehead, knucklehead, chucklehead, lamebrain, palooka, lug, bozo, hoser, boob, chowderhead, lummox, knuckle-dragger, galoot, klutz, goofus, doofus, dork, turkey, dingbat.

Preference 

I much prefer 

What some call an oaf

To nauseating men

Who preen and primp

And have to show

How machismo they can be

For oafs can have the sweetest centre

Gentleness at their core

Their tender hearts

They share with one and all

Kindness their motto

Their true handsomeness

For all to see

If you truly look

Beneath the exterior

©Sheilagh Lee November 23 ,2016

Remembrance Day

Soldiers in full dress

Some frail,

With canes, walker and wheelchairs

Still they come in tribute

For fallen comrades

New and old

The heavens cry

With rain and wind

Still they stand tall

People old and young

Marvel at their inner strength

The symbol a red flower

Proudly worn on their breasts

To remember so we can never forget

The sacrifices given

Though some think long ago

To these brave men and women

It’s yesterday again

Pain in their eyes

They remember and thank

Fallen comrades

Again and again
How can we do less?

©Sheilagh Lee November 9 2016

Three Word Wednesday- Election

Prompts:

Far-fetched, adjective: improbable, unlikely, implausible, unconvincing, dubious, doubtful, incredible, unbelievable, unthinkable; contrived, fanciful, unrealistic, ridiculous, absurd, preposterous, hard to swallow, fishy.

Gamy, adjective: having the tangy flavor or odor of game, having the flavor or odor of game or other meat kept uncooked until slightly tainted, plucky; spirited, lewd or suggestive, risqué, gross or squalid; unwholesome.

Halting, adjective: hesitant, faltering, hesitating, stumbling, stammering, stuttering; broken, imperfect, unsteady, awkward, faltering, stumbling, limping, hobbling.

Election

Farfetched

Beliefs

Halting

Votes

Election

Gamy odour

Of defeat

Win

Breaking

Hearts

Around

The world

Bridges

Not Burnt

Realizing

No one

Stands

Alone
Governs 
Alone

Hands

Reaching

For

Peace

Respect

Given

Listening

Hearts

Civility

Returns

©Sheilagh Lee November 9 2016

Three Word Wednesday-Defusing Powder Kegs

Calculate, verb: compute, work out, reckon, figure; add up/together, count up, tally, total, tote, tot up, intend, mean, aim, design, expect, count on, anticipate, reckon on, bargain on, figure on.

Dire, adjective: terrible, dreadful, appalling, frightful, awful, atrocious, grim, alarming; grave, serious, disastrous, calamitous, ruinous, hopeless, irretrievable, wretched, desperate, parlous, urgent, desperate, pressing, crying, sore, grave, serious, extreme, acute, drastic, ominous, gloomy, grim, dismal, unpropitious, inauspicious, unfavorable, pessimistic.

Erratic, adjective: unpredictable, inconsistent, changeable, variable, inconstant, irregular, fitful, unstable, turbulent, unsettled, changing, varying, fluctuating, mutable; unreliable, undependable, volatile, spasmodic, mercurial, capricious, fickle, temperamental, moody.

I calculate the mood

Of the people around me

Will they go off like powder kegs

Is it a dire situation?

Are they acting erratic?

For I have learned

That some people are volatile

Scary and overpowering

It is better to diffuse them

With kind words

Apologies meaning nothing

Though they know that not

Then to let them

Explode with anger

Harming me or others

©Sheilagh Lee November 2 2016

Three Word Wednesday- Celebrities

Three Word Wednesday Prompts: 

Vapid, adjective: insipid, uninspired, colorless, uninteresting, feeble, flat, dull, boring, tedious, tired, unexciting, uninspiring, unimaginative, uninvolving, lifeless, tame, vacuous, bland, trite, jejune.

Adjoining, adjective: connecting, connected, interconnecting, adjacent, ensuite, neighboring, bordering, next-door; contiguous, proximate; attached, touching.

Bouncy, adjective: bumpy, jolting, jerky, jumpy, jarring, rough, lively, energetic, perky, frisky, jaunty, dynamic, vital, vigorous, vibrant, animated, spirited, buoyant, bubbly, sparkling, vivacious; enthusiastic, ebullient, upbeat.

Vapid celebrities

Filling the news

Bouncy outlandish personalities

Living life not really seeing

The world but only the trappings

Of the rich and famous

Not the adjoining 

Neighbourhoods that are poor 

Now facing reality 

When they are targeted

By those who are bad

Poor or indifferent

Wake-up calls can be 

Good 

But what a terrible price

Leftover PTSD occurs

©Sheilagh Lee October 26, 2016

Three Word Wednesday -Curse

Symbolic, adjective: emblematic, representative, typical, characteristic, symptomatic, figurative, representative, illustrative, emblematic, metaphorical, allegorical, parabolic, allusive, suggestive; meaningful, significant.

Tendency, noun: propensity, proclivity, proneness, aptness, likelihood, inclination, disposition, predisposition, bent, leaning, penchant, predilection, susceptibility, liability; readiness; habit, trend, movement, drift, swing, gravitation, direction, course; orientation, bias.

Unhinged, adjective: deranged, demented, unbalanced, unglued, crazed, mad, insane, disturbed, out of one's mind, out of one's tree; informal crazy, mental, nutso, bonkers, batty, loopy, loco, postal, bananas, touched, batshit crazy. 

A symbolic gesture of a rose

The tendency to grant forgiveness

But unhinged minds

Forget the act

After all it was faked

To get their lover back

So they’d forget

The beatings, the raised voices

As they self-medicate

With pills, liquor

Whatever takes them away

For a little while

And makes them

Happy for a moment

The gesture of the rose

Seals their fate

The unending cycle

Taught always to forgive

The family curse goes on

©Sheilagh Lee October 19, 2016

Three Word Wednesday- Resilient

Three Word Wednesday- Resilient

Three Word Wednesday Prompts: 

Radiance, noun: light, brightness, brilliance, luminosity, beams, rays, illumination, blaze, glow, gleam, luster, glare; luminescence, incandescence, joy, elation, jubilance, ecstasy, rapture, euphoria, delirium, happiness, delight, pleasure.

Rasp, verb: scrape, rub, abrade, grate, grind, sand, file, scratch, scour, croak, squawk, caw, say hoarsely.

Rhythm, noun: beat, cadence, tempo, time, pulse, throb, swing, meter, measure, stress, accent, cadence, pattern, flow, tempo.

Resilent 

She gave radiance in her advice

Beauty in her soul

Her voice at times raspy

From the surgery on her neck

She spoke of the rhythm of life

Teaching her children

Nothing is insurmountable

Poverty can be met

With humour and hope

Teaching us that

Nature is free to enjoy

Hard work does achieve goals

Even when life is difficult

It will get better

Yet her life was hard

Money was scarce

She fought and worked

To feed and clothe  

Her six children

Making something from

What others would say of nothing

While her husband often ill

Could not help

Neither with his money or spirit

She found money for extras

When it was truly desired

Not living the life she’d dreamed

But accepting fate’s quirky hand

Not asking for fame but…

Achieving status in hearts and minds

Of her children and grandchildren

Her kindness and heart

Our mother

Remembered forevermore. 

©Sheilagh Lee October 12, 2016

Three Word Wednesday -Oddball

Three Word Wednesday -Oddball

Notable, adjective: noteworthy, remarkable, outstanding, important, significant, momentous, memorable; marked, striking, impressive; uncommon, unusual, special, exceptional, signal, prominent, important, well known, famous, affluential, famed, noted, distinguished, great, eminent, illustrious, respected, esteemed, renowned, celebrated, acclaimed, influential, prestigious, of note; noun: celebrity, public figure, VIP, personage, notability, dignitary, worthy, luminary; star, superstar, icon, name, big name; informal celeb, somebody, bigwig, big shot, big cheese, big fish, megastar, big kahuna, high muck-a-muck, high muckety-muck.

Oddball, adjective: whimsically free-spirited; eccentric; atypical; noun:  person or thing that is atypical, bizarre, eccentric, or non-conforming, especially one having beliefs that are unusual but harmless.

Perky, adjective: cheerful, lively, vivacious, animated, bubbly, effervescent, bouncy, spirited, high-spirited, in high spirits, cheery, merry, buoyant, ebullient, exuberant, jaunty, frisky, sprightly, spry, bright, sunny, jolly, sparkly, pert; full of beans, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, chipper, peppy.

©Sheilagh Lee October 5, 2016