untitled (idk really)
The girl could never explain why she did it right before getting out of the shower.
Sticking her face right below the showerhead so the water would simultaneously force her to shut her eyes and hold her breath for fear of inhaling the water. It was the weird brief moment of being truly able to feel nothing. It was nothing. And then, the crushing moment where she needed to breathe but the surrounding pressures of falling water allowed for no air. It was in those brief moments that she was reminded of her vulnerability. In the harsh cold of the outside world, she was a power to be reckoned with-- or at least she liked to think so. It was easy to play the part, almost like she was an actor in a movie, simply going through the motions. She was perfect.
But, here, in the privacy of her shower, she was reminded of her humanity. How easy it would be to end it all. How easy it would be to break and show who she really was. How one breath of water would cause her to splutter and face the simple truth of mortality.
The water washed away her walls before suddenly shutting off with the quick twist to the right.
And she was left standing, naked and exposed in the remaining steam, for no one but her to see.
And that, that, was damaging enough.
Who Killed the Dreams?
Mid-century madness,
drenched in sadness—
“Who shot JFK?”
Malcolm, too,
& who slew
M-L-K?
Bobby shot,
in a restaurant,
squeezin’ through a crowd.
(Killin’ dreams
with guns & screams
shouldn’t be allowed.)
But what are we to say,
when killers have their day,
if nobody dares to stop them?
Copyright 2021
True Colours
Walk slower
It gets dark they said
No colours
Just emptiness ahead
Lead with your hands
Palms lay front
Feel the staleness of the air
Allow your fingers to flirt with despair
Taste it with a kiss
Let it roll off your lips
Deep into your throat
Swallow it whole
You’re alone out here
Making love to your fears
Showing off your true colour
While inside another
C. B.
On This Day: January 18th … Strange Holidays
Thesaurus Day
Martin Luthor King Jr. Birthday
Winnie the Pooh Day
National Peking Duck Day
Blue Monday
From words, to a great man, to a childhood staple and a duck. No wonder it’s called Blue Monday. Word of advice: No peking at the duck—it might quack you up.
Let me begin.
Martin Luthor King Jr. Birthday
Today is the day the nation takes out time to remember Martin Luthor King. In my Magical Moments, I make my own remembrances via a poem. King is mot noted for his “I Have A Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial, August 28, 1963 in Washington, DC.
I won’t say too much here about him as today the media will cover him and a portion of his storied history. But from starting three marches, one most notably Selma to Birmingham, and taking on a cause involving Rosa Parks which set the tempo for the Equal Rights Amendment, King lived his life each day on the edge, fighting the good fight for racial equality for all people.
Winnie the Pooh Day
Winnie the Pooh Day is an opportunity to enjoy your favorite bear and all of his friends. This day was created to celebrate the birth of A.A .Milne in 1882. He was an author of children's story books, and created Winnie the Pooh and his friends. Winnie's pals include Christopher Robin, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, and Roo.
Have some fun today. Celebrate Winnie the Pooh Day by reading some storybooks about the adventures of Winnie and his friends. Don't read them alone. Read them with young children.
In his works, he was known as A.A. Milne. The initials stand for Allan Alexander.
National Peking Duck Day
Peking Duck is the national dish of China.
This dish is considered a delicacy due to its elaborate preparation and intense flavors. Since the Yuan Dynasty established by Kublai Khan, the process for preparing Peking Duck is rooted in tradition and has been perfected over thousands of years.
The preferred bird for this dish is the White Beijing duck or in the United States, the Pekin duck. They are raised for 65 days before being brought to slaughter.
It is plucked, pumped full of air between the skin and the meat, soaked in boiling water, skewered, and hung to dry. While drying, the duck is glazed with a sugar coating and left for 24 hours. This whole process adds to the crispness of the skin.
The duck is then roasted hanging from the center of the oven to allow the fat to drip, basting the skin as it does. When presented, the Peking duck is often sliced artfully by the chef before the diners. Traditionally served in three portions, a Peking duck meal begins with the crispy skin, which diners dip into sugar. Following the skin, thin pancakes are filled with the tender duck meat, hoisin and bean sauces, and cucumbers, onions, and garlic. The final serving is a duck soup or broth.
Blue Monday
Blue Monday was created back in 2005 by Sky Travel Shop, a television channel devoted exclusively to programs about traveling, documentaries, and commercials for travel agencies. The folks at Sky Travel named this day “Blue Monday” and called it the most depressing day of the year for a variety of reasons.
One of Sky Travel’s main claims is that Blue Monday is a calculated date from an equation. The day was originally part of a publicity campaign, but later gained popularity and its share of both supporters and opponents, and seems to generally be here to stay.
The date varies from year to year, depending on a variety of factors, such as weather, debt, the time that has passed since Christmas day, the time that has passed since we failed at fulfilling our New Year’s resolutions, low motivational levels connected with previous failures, and the need to take action.
The formula for calculating which day is the “bluest” day of the year has been mocked by many academics as pseudoscience, as it does not use any specific units and does not seem to be particularly foolproof. These people argue that there isn’t one specific day that makes you sadder than others, and there is no formula to calculate this idea. Many say that Blue Monday has particular symptoms, such as feeling down/sluggish and depressed from the colder weather and end of holiday festivities.
Nevertheless, it was published under the name of Cliff Arnall, who had at that time been a tutor at the Centre for Lifelong Learning, a Further Education center attached to Cardiff University.
Thesaurus Day
Ever heard of it? It isn’t a novel that is certain, but with a Thesaurus, it can help create one because of the vast amount of words contained.
In 1840, Roget retired from a successful career in medicine and spent the rest of his life working on “Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases.” The work was the result of decades of collecting lists of words and categorizing them, much like a scientist would collect specimens. In Roget’s case, he collected words. He first published his thesaurus in 1852. And it was more than a book of synonyms—it was a complete categorization and organization of each word by meaning.
Since then, poets and writers have used the thesaurus to help make their writing come to life.
Whether you are looking for a more accurate word or trying to improve your writing, the thesaurus can be your best friend. Expanding your vocabulary increases both written and spoken communication skills, creative writing abilities, and can be helpful in advancing your career.
It’s my bible so to speak, and it should be yours as well.
More strange holidays are coming!
a process: sculptor of glass
demolished glass pieces of broken sculptures
scattered in your wooden crates
amass by rusted spades, melted to
liquified clumps of fragments
slits of dried crimsom blood, tattooes
your burnt skin, charred crow marks
lash against your fair cheeks
scorched in this process, yet you blow
oxygen swirls inside walls of your swollen cheeks
lungs nudges against your ribcages
prickling stings of pain
taunt with its slithering tongue
crystalline glass flecked with
mosaiced marbles of scars and flesh
colored with drips of scarlet beads
salty gems of sweat, dyed
pinched tweezers snip away disfiguremnet
sculpting unvarnished into polished
glass carvings, but to drop it, it'll fracture back to pieces
like it never came to be before.
Two *stars* orbiting a common center
There are stars in our midst
That we don’t always see.
Let’s illumine a tryst.
He and he become “we”.
There are trees, primitive.
Evergreen, from way back.
Two stars link, form a dream
Maintained long, as a pact.
There are joys. Sorrows, too,
As a lifetime unfolds.
Love will grow, ever new,
Family, richer than gold.
There is care, evident
When the time is well-measured.
Human kindness is spent
Sowing love where it’s treasured.
There are smiles in our midst
That we don’t always see.
So we seal, with a kiss,
When this love comes to be.
