Lunch bag and Kevlar vest

After nurturing my heart

The love of my life

Protecting her for five years

I placed my trust in the state

Delivered her to a safe haven

Her pathway to enlightenment

Her window into the world

She was accepted by her teacher

Her surrogate mother for the school year

I forgot an important part

It was not on the school shopping list

Military helmet and Kevlar vest

Bullet proof glass partition for Mrs Guehring

To make sure they are equipped

Ready the ambush, the senseless horror

But never fear! Not to worry

I heard the politicians have a handle on it

The agenda well funded with armory funds

Smith and Wesson sent thoughts and prayers

Too bad the counseling funds are still tied up

We cannot treat it, might as well shoot at it

Hello Daddy

How are you?

Make sure you rest, the last few years were hard.

Mom is okay, she smiles again.

Your kids miss you, its too quiet without you.

Mischief has reduced, its not mischief without the master.

Laughter has visited again, just not the robust thigh slapping time it was.

The sun isn’t as bright and the days not as optimistic.

Your grandkids though…

They will rule the world, you taught them well.

They are fearless and funny!

Courageous and incorrigible!

Ingenious and invincible!

Your spirit in them is unquestionable.

It’s been two years, more smiles blooming in the pain.

You lived unabashedly, I hope I can represent you well.

Now rest, you did your job.

Gave us the tools.

Trust us to carry on the good fight.

My shoes

You haven’t walked in my shoes

If they have never been stained

By the red mud of Nyaribari

Met a new face at every family gathering

Traveled across oceans

To find what you where escaping from

You haven’t walked in my shoes

If you haven’t doubted your credentials

Suspected your inner imposter of failing up

Discredited your achievements as flukes

Signed your ideas with another moniker

To validate their validation

You haven’t walked in my shoes

If you don’t don bravado in the morning

Most important suit of armor

Pack your insecurity in your lunch bag

The insulated kind

To ensure it’s well managed and secure

Resting in Power

Disguised in a suite and smile

You are not the caliber of person

To write history through pandering

You embodied achievement

Through grace and conviction

Left a mark

Without raising your voice

Required we conduct ourselves with dignity

Gave a whole generation

A whole race

Pride, vision and a voice

Taught the disenfranchised

That they are seen

You have done your part so rest!

Recover and let us carry this heavy torch

Let the beauty of what you have ignited unfold

Bask in the magic of voicing the voiceless

Change demands a high price and you have paid

Using the strength you carried in those hands

The weight the world thrust upon your shoulders

We know that we did not deserve you

We will however strive to honor you

Stick with me

I heard what a supportive relationship sounds like

It wasn’t holding a grenade for the other

Grand gestures

Or even expensive gifts

It was soft promises

Backed with action

The cultivation of the quiet confidence

Quiet confidence of a secure partner

The comfort to disagree with respect

To debate without argument

To laugh at ones self and each other without malice

The ability to expect everything from the other

Because you give everything for them

It is when someone says ,”stick with me, I’ll show you the world.”

And they do.

Just keep trucking

Sometimes it’s small victories that make you smile,
And you celebrate inappropriately with hoots and hollers,
Other times small disappointments make you give up,
Pack it all up and never look back,
Amazing that what should be a debilitating blow so easily shaken off,
Because you don’t recognize the excuse to quit.

Then you get that major victory,
A milestone of the centuries,
Not even a smile crosses your lips,
The collateral damage has deemed it obsolete,
Does this still count as a victory,
What did you give up to get here?

Life is not a mystery,
It’s a journey,
Pick who you travel with,
Take care of those who take care of you,
Love only one,
The one who loves you best.

The Cry of an ailing soul

Have you ever been stripped of your right to yourself

The right to make your own choices

The right to make choices about your child

The voice to say your feelings

Have you?

Does the burden of others cause a sentence for you

Is the warden a family member

I have been advised to quit school

Skip that vacation

Place my child in a cheaper facility

Be grateful for the floor

Get a break by creating a break for others

I have ultimately decided to put mine and myself before all else.

One sided spark

A few of my friends and I are back in the dating dog scene. For some, relationship imploded, some looked up from their career and where lonely and a few, we’ll, they never left.

A story that broke my heart is the ultimate ghost. I will tell you this story but keep in mind I am not sure what lesson is to be learned. I couldn’t even support her through it because I was dumbfounded.

As the story goes, girl meets boy, boy asks girl out, girl meets boy and they zing. Or so she thought.

Boy asks girl our second time and they hang out. Easy conversation with future plans and boy inserting himself in girl’s future plans. Girl leaves for the night, gets a sweet goodnight text and is enjoying new prospect bliss.

Girl wakes up to ,” I really enjoyed my time with you and we can be friends but I am not ready for a relationship.” Girl is confused. Bring the friend I am like ,”plenty of fish in the sea, forget his ass!” But my friend is crushed and doubting HERSELF!!! We got her. We will see her through this. My question is, was it necessary to even get her to “this”?! What lesson is she supposed to learn from this?

Becoming a Woman

Today I saw my sister become a woman

She has had a hard couple of years

Felt powerless and burdened

Felt like she was screaming into the abyss

Violated and misunderstood

Curtailed and suffocated

Well, she made a stand

She understood that her stand would have repercussions

She took it anyway

I promised to stand by her

I hope it’s enough

In my family, taking a stand may be construed as betrayal

The fall out can drown you

Tomorrow we will see what kind of woman we have unleashed

Dear dad

I’m glad you are resting

It’s been a hard two years

I’m in awe of your footprint

It’s been a memorable sixty years

I’m amazed by your stamina

It’s your strength that filled this audience

I’m often in good spirits

It’s your good cheer we all remember

I’m never alone

It’s your loyalty we can all attest to

I’m jealous of those who have gone before me

It’s your style to lead the way

I’m comforted by your strength

It’s the tools you gave me that will carry me through,

Sincerely,

Your daughter,

A woman forged by a formidable father.