I'm the girl in the clean, white dress

I sing hymns in church every Sunday

I'm the harried mother who's late to work

My kids are tardy to school every Monday

I'm the closet poet filling countless pages

Stories and poems are my secret therapy

I'm the girl in the backseat of your car

Working hard to maintain my popularity

I'm the ditz who sideswiped your truck

I'm so sorry, I thought I had room!

I'm the flirt, avoiding consequences

Lean closer, do you like my perfume?

I'm the mom at every practice & game

Dinner and homework, then bed by ten

I'm the woman who blew up her life

And guess what, I'd do it all over again

I'm a bad influence on your wife

Hypocrite, you're always DTF (down to fuck)

I'll bring a fruit tray for Bible study

1st Sunday of the month we do potluck

I'm the girl without an opinion

I don't need one, cuz I'm so pretty

I'm the girl who's words turn to razors

I'm quick, I'm sarcastic & witty

I'm the woman you hear at night

The wind carries the sound of my cries

I'm the woman who smiles at work

My happy face is part of my disguise

I'm the blushing bride with scarlet rouge

Lord knows, I shouldn't wear white

I'm the angry woman pacing the floor

When you decide to stay out all night

I'm riding in a bus full of 4th graders

Chaperone on the school field trips

I'm dancing alone when the music stops

While you study the curve of my hips

I'm the life of the party, I love to laugh

All eyes on me, I want your attention

I'm a woman lost, searching in vain

For purpose, or maybe even redemption

I'm an honor student with a 3.8 GPA

I'm a teenage alcoholic, out of control

I'm addicted to meth, 17 and strung out

I'll be your friend if you'll load the bowl

I'm a drunk, popping pills in an SUV

My son's cleats are in back on the floor

I'm having an affair with a 23 year old kid

Didn't you know? Never marry a whore

I'm 15 years old with my first black eye

My poor dad has to deal with my sass

I'm 19 with broken bones in my face

My high school sweetheart just kicked my ass

I'm a romantic fool, aka an enabler

I only love men who treat me badly

I'm teaching a class at work today

My students are scribbling notes madly

I'm a cougar prowling for a distraction

Since you left me alone and heartbroken

I'm a warrior fighting an abusive man

I'm still scared, but that truth stays unspoken

I'm a chameleon, adapting to every moment

I'm an actress with a thousand faces

I'll meet every need, anything for you

I'll call you my Lord, I'll sing your praises

I'm a fake, I'm a fraud, I'm an empty husk

I'm every woman you ever thought of

I'm your mommy, your bestie, your filthy slut

Tell me which face is worthy of your love?

’Know thyself,”

choruses the refrain of the sea

Know when my tides

are ebbing and waning

Know where I flow

when I drift out to sea

wearing white knickers.

Feel sun’s lips on my foam.

Separate my colors and moods,

aquamarine of my soul.

Know what’s floating

on the other side

of the horizon, beckoning.

Assimilate myself boldly

into jettisoned sea life

embraced in my palms.

Count the grains of sand

sprinkled on windswept shores.

Caress the ships

rocking in my arms,

bringing brave sailors

safely home to their harbor.

Know that I am powerful

and can cause great harm.

Simultaneously,

my strength can

carry a tiny speck

on my white shoulders

across the expanses.

“Know thyself,”

I echo through surf

to my wet progeny,

“Surge forth

in life’s moisture

drinking your fill.”

Who are you

child of mine

if we put

your life

on the line?

Lost and rootless 

cut off from 

the ancient tree

wearing other

faces and

no longer

hearing the 

song of family.  

What homeland

shall you find

as you tramp

stranger roads,

unmapped

by ethnicity?

Maybe if we

look back

in time

we can find

your identity. 

One ancestor

died at

the Somme

fighting for

King and country. 

Another bled

and five lay dead

at home

savaged by the

black and tan

who looked

at youth and

saw rebellion.

Parents crossed

the great divide

abandoned sin

and religion

in an effort

to be free. 

Kindred souls

ignored the rest

and urged you

to do your best. 

Some thrive

some survive

stumbling under

heavy loads,

heroes and rebels

both in the code

following their

own stars and

not the crowd. 

Now you in turn

place your bets

against a fate

unkind or benign

but never quite forget

where you came from.  

Feel the blood run

and the spirit rise:

do you feel Irish yet?

Know thyself...

Know thyself before it is too late

For the world laughs at you as if it is great

Pokes if you are dumb

Criticizes if you feel guilty

Shuns you if you are meek

Runs over if you are slow !

Know thyself 

You are the ruler of your fate

You are a  born winner,

You decide your way

You chisel yourself

Your are nature's best creation!

Know thyself 

To bring about the greatness all around

To bring peace and enlightenment into the world

To move ahead with diligence

To be the change you wish to be

To be the best of God's Creation on Earth!

Grab the opportunity 

March forward armored with morality

To Prove to the world

Your are the one and one unique!

You are great!

So Know thyself... 

To write some words and claim we know ourselves,

As if words on a screen mean anything.

As if we can sum ourselves up-

Fifty words to capture a lifetime.

Adjectives, adverbs, toss in a noun and a verb:

A person, reflected on paper.

Know thyself?

How can I show that I know myself

Through words and symbols on shallow screen.

The curve of a finger and the click of a key

Mean nothing of a glinting amber eye or the curl of hair,

Not to speak for the spark of mind or whirl of imagination.

Even if my eyes were dull and my hair lax,

My mind dry and my imagination still,

I cannot know all of my hidden depths

Not enough to give to you.

I thought I ought to

ask my atoms

the anthems

I ought to

think, thank, thunk.

Meditate me to a 

stupid slumber but

can't apply these

alms to amens.

Been

almost

aeons

and my voice slow and still

and quiet and true and

I still don't know me

like you do.

Curve 

just so

it's the sweet 

cream but not

the cherry

on top

of a haphazard

sundae 

added to

and subtracted

from with time

core in hyper-

chill as external

cookie crumbles

Not to worry

tastes 

may change

yummy

du jour 

once all

the rage now 

passé

Nonchalant

re-toss the nuts

I will

always be

your favourite

flavour

Known colourful dreamy waves

Not yet stacked

Residing in damsel

Tiding up and down in brain 

Sitting, at least torrden lane

giggling mistakes

 Analysing,Retrospecting again and again.

Standing ,trolling in progress of lane 

Again

Indulging in futuristic action waves

Not retrospect 

Again till the known dreamy waves

Get stacked not only in brain 

In life of damsel as rainstrom hail 

Turning your gaze inward

Illuminating your most vulnerable soul

Light can not reach

The deepest depths of your psyche

Like a bottomless chasm

Too steep and slippery

It is full of secrets

Never to be revealed

Tangled memories and emotions

Like vines around a rocky crag

Invite the adventurer

To an endless quest

Stepping in is perilous

Free-falling to your doom

The world outside continues

And light eventually fades from view

Upon realising that you are not the man you want to be,

There are a list of things that you might think. Here is one:

Grow a pair! You pathetic, neurotic sack of nutritionally deficient soil.

Stop crumbling the clod between your clumsy broken fingers

And wondering why your hands feel dirty!

The accumulation of partially decayed vegetation that depression has rotted your mind into needs some new seeds.

Let the heartbeat of new life reverberate in the peat they let devour you.

Plant flowers.

Forget the blood red thoughts that once arose in your weakened dreamlike state.

Get out of that bed you lie in and reach up to the sun like it isn't a giant burning ball of hell that holds the cloudless abyss you are too afraid to face!

Put on some shades, act cool! Don't let the heat dry you up anymore.

Feel every drop of rain that life can throw at you and let it run down your body, slide down the stem of your pain and soak into your soul so that when you go out again you will be ready to synthesize new methods of coping.

When you internalize those thoughts do it only so that you can take that experience and wear it like a jacket to protect yourself from any morning frost that might come your way. Be bold and don that coat like your body is in bloom and your brain is a receptacle of light and good times!

Let butterflies of wisdom land on your nose and spread there delicate wings of knowledge so that your fearful eyes will not overlook them. Breathe.

Then breathe again and let the air pass through your veins and fill you with the life you have been blessed with. Take that feeling and use it to fill your whole self with a renewed sense of purpose. Grow and change and be the man you want to be.

It can still be done.

Oh, and stop being such a hippy and comparing your feelings to flowers!