Healing through Vers Libre

No Regrets

4/24/2023

By the time you reach seventy-four years old, you’ve had plenty of opportunities to develop feelings of regret. Should I have taken the chance on the career that was offered to me? Should I have spent more time with my family before they all passed away? There was a time when I should have stood my ground and didn’t.
However, at my seasoned time of life, regrets seem foolish because it is blindingly obvious you can’t change a thing. It’s best to take a deep breath, take what you’ve learned and move ahead.

No Regrets

As strange as it may sound, I have no regrets about my life.
Because I have never deliberately tried to harm anyone,
I cannot feel remorse over situations that weren’t perfect.
I cannot change the past no matter how hard I might try.
I can only release garbage emotions attached to the memory
and see it with new eyes and a mind open to learning.

Did I sometimes handle things in a less than stellar way?
Of course I did. My journey has had a lot of baggage --
baggage that has lessened over time and through effort.
Life is about learning, not accumulating facts, but
rather learning what those less than stellar experiences
can teach me about myself, about who I really am.

There are sometimes flashes of remorse along the way,
but it occurs when I think back and realize I missed
an opportunity to change the trajectory of my journey,
to learn, to open my mind to a new understanding,
to more fully recognize my place in the Universe.
But, I’m soothed, knowing I always have another chance.

A major obstacle on my journey has been failing
to factor in the baggage of others in our interactions
and fully taking on the blame for any failure.
Another has been not allowing myself the privilege
of walking away from those loudly spewing garbage
and accepting I can’t help them on their journey.

I have my journey in this lifetime, and you have yours.
It has nothing to do with property, jobs, money, or race.
All these things simply provide opportunities to learn
about ourselves, whether we are capable of loving
ourselves and openly extending that love to others.
I’m grateful I’m not the same person of my younger years.

Aging can be a blessing if you allow your focus to shift from
Outer things to your inner world of thoughts and feelings,
Making the effort to learn from your mistakes along the way.
I do feel sadness about people I didn’t fully appreciate before,
But I can forgive myself now, knowing I did my best then,
And I bless them for giving me the chance to learn and grow.

©DWilliamsen

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The Life We Are Living

4/17/2023

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The world we see around us today can be scary. So many people are allowing their false personalities to be in charge which brings all their fears and insecurities into play. The anger and the greed and the acting-out we are seeing every day are the result.

We can change it. One person at a time bringing the light of positivity into their lives and doing what is fair for all can overpower the darkness.

THE LIFE WE ARE LIVING

Positive energy and carefully directed thoughts and feelings

can transform our lives beyond our imaginings.

In the process of achieving this state of mind,

we let go of so much more than we even realize.

As our minds become clearer, we see the translucent threads

binding the garbage beliefs we’ve accumulated about ourselves

and how they have created the life we’ve been living.

With concerted effort, we release these harmful beliefs

to move into a new life like the butterfly flapping her wings.

©DWilliamsen

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Walking the Walk

4/10/2023

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John was a firm believer that talking the talk was more about ego than a belief system. Walking the walk was the process of moving knowledge into understanding. However, he knew it wasn’t easy. If it were, we wouldn’t have so much hate and division in the world being spurred on by egos. This poem reveals John’s humor about his journey toward awareness of his own spirituality. He also understood that the process is lifelong. Your successes can excite your ego, but it’s a short-lived success if your ego takes over and your journey stalls.

  Walking the Walk

Walking backwards I thought was real keen,
    browsing through what I'd already seen.
The downside was, if there was a pit,
    I again fell headlong into it!

But I got tired of always being bound
    by the past, by what I'd already found.

Walking sideways caught everybody's eye.
    They always said, "Now, there's a careful guy!"
But, inching along at such a slow rate,
    the downside was, I was usually late.

And I got tired of being left behind,
    and began to look for a way to shine!

Walking tall always seemed to be the best,
    facing the challenge, testing the test,
rattling the cymbal, banging the gong.
    The downside was: noise died, I was gone.

I found myself without a clue
    Not knowing where to go or what to do.

Then from within, a voice said to me,
    "Stop trying to do. Let go. Just be."
The pain of becoming is now my plight.
    The downside is: I know the voice is right.

I try hard to walk the walk and just be,
    But somehow, it keeps on eluding me.

I remember what happened before:
    ups and downs by the score;
But my fears of the unknown creep in,
    and oops! I'm walking backward again.

Written by John Dean Williamsen [1934-2020]

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The Glue of the Universe

4/3/2023

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This poem was written by my late husband John Dean Williamsen. The Glue of the Universe was included in the National Library of Poetry’s anthology “Walk through Paradise” in 1995. It was later included in the International Library of Poetry’s anthology “A Surrender to the Moon” in 2005.

The Glue of the Universe

Love is the glue that holds the universe together.
        It’s not just a feeling; it’s more like a tether.
Gravity is actually love in action,
        a binding force that expresses as attraction.
In our quiet moments, we sometimes feel
        a spirit of oneness: that’s love’s appeal.
Do not be deluded. Love’s not just devotion,
        not just a trinket or flighty emotion.
It’s a harmonizing principle that will draw to you
        wealth, health, or a serious case of the flu!
Whatever you choose as a source of affection
        will be drawn to you under love’s direction.
It’s an unthinking power that simply obeys
        and responds to requests all ways, always.
So, be aware of your thoughts—what draws your disdain,
        lest love’s magnetic power draw to you only pain.

Written by John Dean Williamsen [1934-2020]

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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.

No Regrets

The Life We Are Living

Walking the Walk

The Glue of the Universe

Dannye Williamsen​A Diary in Verse

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Dannye Williamsen

A Diary in Verse