Healing through Vers Libre

Troubled Times

3/26/2024

Note: This was written after the 2020 election, and it is with sorrow that despite all the good Biden has done, I acknowledge we are once again at a crossroads where a crucial decision must be made by Americans between voting for an "us vs. them" society or an all-inclusive society. Let us hope America doesn't get lost in the lust for greed and power and the willingness to excuse reprehensible behaviors.

Troubled Times

The fears that have plagued me for years
since the phobias rose to their highest levels
pushed me to withdraw from actual society.
The digital world’s society became my refuge.
I could speak out or not, strive to refute or not.
I could easily block those who had lost
any sense of civility, decency, and sanity.
When Covid-19 added death to the equation,
my age added more angst to my daily life.
The failure of the government to protect us
made me wonder if I would survive this.
Being with my husband when he passed
was a blessing I knew many did not have,
and I am grateful. But, realizing I was alone
created new fears in these troubled times.
What if I became sick, who would know?
These years have brought to my attention
things I’ve taken for granted in my life.
Some as simple as sharing a cup of coffee
with someone and talking about dreams,
or meeting strangers with a smile and a hug.
Trust in each other has eroded somewhat,
but I know that even those who raged
will recognize that competent leadership
provides us with hope for a better tomorrow.
I feel hope and pride in America rising up
amidst the tears of joy and relief today.

©DWilliamsen

Life Goes On

3/11/2024

Life goes on, but does it really?
The sun rises. I check off boxes.
Same cycle over and over
Then yet another loss happens,
and a shift occurs around me.
I barely even notice it.
It's happened so often before.
This time my struggle to move on
reveals itself to me through tears.
Emptiness rises within me,
and it nearly overwhelms me
until the shifts reveal their truth.
Each shift has created distance –
emotional distance, that is,
separating me from the loss.
The wave of losses hits me hard
as the shifts begin to dissolve.
Remorse, sadness, and hollowness
flood my soul followed by longing.
I long for the words left unsaid,
the quality moments I missed.
Life goes on, but it's up to us
what it looks like and how it feels.
We must face our losses in life
And find the gift of love in them,
the opportunity to grow.

© 2024 Dannye Williamsen

Patience

2/26/2024

Patience is a flighty emotion,
there effortlessly when not needed.
Yet, it's like a specter when you do.
Oh, patience! Rid me of my tremblings.
Calm my anger. Quell my discontent.
Please free me from the consequences
of embracing negative ideas,
of expecting the worst, not the best.
I know what's needed if I'm to heal,
but my unspoken fear of the worst
being my lot in life is so strong
it clouds my vision and drags me down.
Give me strength to trust the Universe,
to fully accept prosperity
as my Creative Birthright in life.
Help me release my thoughts of "less than,"
to see my life with more clarity,
to celebrate the wins and losses,
to step back and view the greater plan,
and to move forward with renewed hope.

©Dannye Williamsen

Planet of Lesson

1/29/2024

Those on this planet Earth struggling to push aside the heavy curtains of our sleep
are much aware this is a planet of lessons, for every breath we breathe fuels yet another.
The point of contention among us all is the purpose of those lessons - to punish or inspire?
Though it matters not what stand we take, for if we believe it, then it is so.
The beauty of the lessons lies in their willingness to be molded into whatever shape we desire.

Lessons can take the form of an abusive spouse, a disagreeable employer, or an ungrateful child.
They can just as easily become a supportive partner, an exciting job, or loving children.
The question becomes “Why?” The answer lies in what we expect for ourselves.
If we see ourselves as wayward children, the lessons feed our need for discipline.
As prodigals returning to claim our Divine birthright, the lessons are our fuel and our compass.

To punish or inspire is not a question, but rather a decision we each make about our path this time.
Through our thoughts, our own beliefs, we create the cues, good or bad, that direct our lives.
Our reality is unique. Our reality is fluid. It moves easily through the channel like a smooth, flowing river.
Even the turbulence we feel in our lives is in harmony with our beliefs, with what we accept for ourselves.
So the river of our Reality is always at peace, in perfect balance. Such is its beauty and power.

I wonder if I will awaken enough to push aside my sleepiness, my tendency to leave things as they are.
Will I use my inner wisdom to see beyond what is before me in form? Or will I drift back to sleep –
thinking my short sojourn on this planet of lessons is the measure of who I am?
Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Some will survive. Some will not. This attitude is one of punishment.
Waking up is learning I am more than this one life, this form, that I’m a piece of God. This is inspiration!

© Dannye Williamsen

Celebrate

1/15/2024

This year, 2024, brings with it many sorrows from the past. However, we do not have to dwell there. It is a time for new beginnings, for chances to change our perspective on our lives and move forward. Each of us contributes to the sum total, so we each need to do our part.

CELEBRATE

Whatever you are celebrating now and in future weeks,
I wish for you the happiest of days, the deepest of connections,
and the experiences your celebration is meant to inspire.
May you mirror all that you believe, and may it serve
to add to the happiness quotient of everyone on this planet.
May you find within yourself the spark
that allows you to live without harm to others,
to understand that peace is not about winning and losing,
that it is about allowing others to follow their own path.
May you recognize that the only change that makes a difference
is the one that takes place within each of us.

©Dannye Williamsen

The Price of Wisdom

1/1/2024

Any time is a good time to make a fresh start, but the new year is often designated as the time for doing this. In our New Year’s resolutions, are we focused on outer things or inner understanding? Are we willing to look to the future through a different lens?

The Price of Wisdom

It is so easy to carry hurt feelings on our shirtsleeves
over what seems important between loved ones.
After all, we have years to reconcile our differences.
But, our choices divide us until Life creates its own wall,
leaving us adrift with our relationships forever torn.
The hindsight afforded by age can reveal our poor choices
if we are open to looking at our life with an open mind.
Yes, there’s pain when we see what we threw away without a care.
Still, the wisdom of age can come if we see our life’s choices
with clear eyes and an open heart, willing to forgive ourselves.
We cannot change our past. It served its purpose. We must move on
with a greater understanding for living a better life.
This is the purpose of existence: to learn from our choices.

It is not about putting on a show for others to see,
or tallying how many we convert to our way of thinking.
The only changes we can control are the ones to ourselves.
These changes will shift the balance of positive energy
in the world and help transform the Universe, but it starts
with our willingness to be open and receptive learners.
We have no time to waste on regrets or on pity parties.
Although we often assume that the phrase wisdom comes with age
refers to old age, it doesn’t. Every year we age, we have the
opportunity to learn, to review our choices, to change.
Wisdom always awaits us. The price? Doing the work of change.

©Dannye Williamsen

Can You Relate?

11/27/2023

We often beat up on ourselves by remaining in a relationship, platonic or otherwise, where we are unable to be our authentic selves. For unhealthy reasons, we allow another to use us as an emotional punching bag at the very least. Perhaps we convince ourselves we’re not trying hard enough. When the day comes that our tolerance reaches its limit, we realize that the lesson we’ve been avoiding is as clear as a bell ringing. We must recognize our own value, know that it is not our job to engage in someone else’s issues at our expense. It is even possible that our departure could be a wake-up call for them as well. Whether it does or not, that is their lesson to learn, not ours.

Can You Relate?

Have you ever been involved with someone
who was so needy that your ideas became theirs,
and everything grew so out of proportion in their minds
that it could be considered troublingly bizarre?
Plus, no matter what passed between you verbally,
it was constantly being reimagined by them?
If you have, you know how maddening it can be.
Dealing with a person like this is like trying to hit a moving target.
Everything is a "poor me" or an angry outburst for no reason.
Reality becomes a foreign concept for them.
Sometimes, as much as it may pain you,
you just have to walk away and not look back.

©Dannye Williamsen

Another Person's Shoes

11/13/2023

It is important to empathize with others, to try to understand what they are feeling; however, it is also important to recognize that you can never understand them completely. Nor can they understand you. You can only strive to find emotional and intellectual commonalities.

Another Person’s Shoes

Life is experienced differently by each of us,
Whether in minute ways or profound.
The bottom line is we may have many similarities,
but we have never truly walked in another's shoes.
So, we can only offer advice to another,
and we must accept that it may or may not be taken in.
If the advice is taken in, it will certainly be influenced
by all their idiosyncratic experiences and resulting beliefs,
meaning that our expectations of them are simply guesses.
Even with someone whose suffering is similar to your own,
you can never do more than try to walk in their shoes.

©Dannye Williamsen

The Color of Our Skin...

10/30/2023

Since the beginning of time it seems, the human race has found some means of drawing distinctions between us. Culture, religion, sexuality, language, wealth, ethnicity have all had their days in the spotlight. However, the color of our skin has managed to be a constant from time immemorial. However, in the ways that really matter and connect us all as human beings, the color of our skin doesn’t really matter.

The Color of Our Skin Doesn’t Matter…

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
when we are sad,
when we are happy,
when we experience success,
when we experience failure.

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
when we feel loved,
when we feel unloved,
when we’re surrounded by friends,
when we are lonely.

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
when we lose a loved one,
when we welcome a new birth,
when we laugh aloud,
when we cry silently.

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
when our gifts drive us onward,
when our doubts hold us in place,
when we dream of the future,
when we stay stuck in the past.

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
until we highlight this difference,
until we refuse to see our oneness,
until we see cultures, not people,
until we make assumptions.

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
until we use it to set ourselves apart,
until we choose anger, not love,
until we lose our humanity,
until we close our hearts and minds.

The color of our skin doesn’t matter
for we are all human beings,
for we all live and have children,
for we all feel pain and love,
for we all dream our dreams.

The color of our skin serves a purpose.
It offers us a lesson to teach us love,
to teach us to look within another’s heart,
to not judge others by outer appearances,
to live life from the highest level of Love.

©2023 Dannye Williamsen

Sadness is Everywhere

10/16/2023

Have you ever had someone mention a certain kind of car, and it seems you are suddenly seeing them everywhere you look? The same can happen when sadness is strong within you. The sadness out there was always present, but it didn’t resonate as much with you until your heart was filled with your own. I can attest to this even with my loss several years past now. Perhaps I could never empathize as deeply until I experienced such a deep sorrow.

Sadness Is Everywhere

Sadness is everywhere it seems to me –
online, on TV, and in every book I read.
Maybe it was the same before my loss.
I’m not sure for there was nothing to compare.
Now my tears are a constant companion,
waiting for any excuse to release my sorrow.
A stranger is dying. The tears appear.
A fictional woman dies giving birth,
kindness is shown to the downtrodden--
all open the floodgates of my tear reservoir.
Sadly, it only leads me to my real sorrow
becoming front and center without reprieve.
Every regret about the past rises up
to join with all the fears about tomorrow.
The tears flow until I can barely breathe.
I finally reach an empty place in my mind
that helps me push thoughts and feelings aside
so I can put one foot in front of the other
and pretend I’m okay until hopefully I will be.

©DWilliamsen

Dannye Williamsen

A Diary in Verse

Pablo Picasso said, “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” For me, free verse is like a diary. It serves you by allowing you to release your emotions by setting pen to paper. At times, it helps you clarify your thinking on a subject. Regardless of the motivation, it is an intimate exercise. As a writer, it takes courage to share them with others. The words lay you open to the world.

Life is a purifying process. It serves as our crucible – a place where we can experience the heat of change. Life is our source for opportunities to transform ourselves. For me, writing, particularly free verse, helps me transform my feelings about difficult situations by putting them down on paper. Oftentimes with those verses serving as release valves, I can feel myself changing as soon as I place the last period on the verse.

One thing all humans have in common are emotions. Emotions exist on a complex spectrum, and the spark leading to their expression can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. It can stem from experiences in the past or those in the here and now or even those on the world stage.

I chose to share these in hopes they would resonate with others. I hope some of them can serve you on your journey, if for no other reason than to know you’re not alone in how you are feeling.

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I will read forever because it lets me visit in my mind the worlds that I will never be able to see; it helps me put away the stresses of the day and relax into the rhythm of the story before me; it lets me bring to the surface and experience without regrets those feelings I hide away; it lets me re-experience the thrill of first love through someone else's eyes; it keeps my mind juiced so that it will never desert me; it is always there for me even when there's no one else. I will read forever no matter whether it is print or digital because the words will always call to me. ~ A Sassy Scribbler