Surprising Strength – Encore

Here is the good news.
Deeply challenged I found calm
through song and prayer.

I have discovered
somewhere in my deepest self
an unforeseen strength.

I will be needing
my strength and serenity
for the duration.

Compassion - Encore

Be kind, Plato said.
Everyone you meet fights
his own hard battle.

Our own pain blocks
seeing how others suffer,
preventing kindness.

Compassion begins
when we recognize the pain
others endure too.

Finding Smiles - Encore

If I change my mind,
I can find smiles around me.
I am very sure.

Sadness will provide
litanies of reminders.
That goes for hurts, too.

If by pivoting
I focus on joy instead,
new worlds may appear.

Starting Over - Encore

Graceful is someone
who accepts life’s ups and downs
with cheerful aplomb.

I am sometimes good.
I scale the rocks and ridges
without falling down.

Often I will fall
and stumble into the ditch.
I must start over.

Asking for Help - Encore

I had to learn how
to ask for help when needed.
This was new for me.

Strong independence.
That used to be my M.O.
Had to let that go.

“Would you help me, please?”
I say whenever I need.
People love to help.

The Laws of Nature - Encore

There is no training
for a life without one's legs.
They are made to work.

Nature did not place
legs on a torso through whim.
Legs are meant to walk.

The laws of nature
have been willfully broken
by this damned disease.

Learning Humility - Encore

MS big lesson:
learning humility while
keeping self respect.

No big shots allowed,
protection from life’s hardships
becomes neutered here.

We travel a road
equalized by our shared fate’s
similar challenge.

What the Hell? - Encore

What the Hell happened
to my life, the one I planned?
It’s sure not this one.

I’m used to turning
lemons into lemonade.
This one tastes bitter.

There is gold here, yes.
I tire of nonstop panning
and getting pebbles.

My Guide - Encore

An internal guide
will help me if I let it.
I forget this truth.

It’s a lot to ask
a brain that’s at half throttle
to always be smart.

Maybe with practice
I can learn to trust my guide
and find a new groove.

Shoestring of Energy - Encore

I operate on
a shoestring of energy,
ready to break off.

I am creative
fashioning the day with my
frayed lifeline of sorts.

I substitute tasks.
I have learned efficiency.
This really does work.

An Ordinary Life - Encore

Sometimes I do wish
I were just ordinary,
free of my MS.

A regular life,
normal possibilities,
those sound wonderful.

Sure, yeah, I get it.
This is what’s up for me now.
Can’t help wishing though.

You Might Have Wondered

Copyright issues
potential though they might be
forced a header change.

Now I am tweaking
hoping to better the look.
Comments are welcomed.

Unexpected break
from posting encore poems
now comes to a close.

Finding Balance - Encore

So many brave ones
face crazy uncertainty
and never complain.

Many admit fear,
acknowledge they are so scared.
Are they better off?

Fear paralyzes.
Denial can do the same.
Somewhere balance lies.

I Live By Sheer Grit - Encore

I live by sheer grit.
Sometimes it is all I have
or I’d fall apart.

If grit fails the test,
my willpower takes over.
I don my fatigues.

As Sergeant, I bark
orders for my poor body.
Get in formation!

The Best Face On It - Encore

We all make the best
of a bad situation.
We are very brave.

We rarely complain.
When we do, it’s for reason.
The string snapped at last.

We will keep going
and put the best face on it.
Maybe not just now.

Opportunity - Encore

The sun rose again,
giving opportunity
to define my life.

Do I laugh or cry?
Do I let hardship rule me
or reclaim my life?

I have a choice,
which life to select for me.
Let me sing and smile.

Believing in Possibility - Encore

What makes me believe
in the possibilities
implicit in hope?

You might say I take
what resources I find and
make them work for me.

I am too stubborn.
I don’t give up easily.
I hold on to hope.

What Do They Have? - Encore

Many seem certain
of what life is all about
and I just marvel.

Some swagger in with
a boldness and bravado
that I never had.

Is there a gene for
the blustering confidence
some seem to possess?

Thank You and Please Stay Tuned

In a trying time,
your presence found with a click
keeps me from drowning.

Calling on my will,
resolve, faith, and optimism,
I weather this storm.

While I process stress,
encore poems will remain
my sole offering.

I Guess I Am Strong - Encore

Fate must believe that
I am really strong and brave
to send me MS.

My game face is good.
I hang with the best of them.
They have not a clue.

I know the real truth.
Bravado has its limits,
but I don’t let on.

Fast Forward - Encore

MS and aging.
How similar are these two?
Both reduce function.

In my retirement
I find myself mostly with
elderly people.

I fast forwarded
past my healthy peers to know
old age’s raw truths.

The Gremlin - Encore

There is a gremlin
wrecking havoc with my brain.
Shoo! Go away, please.

Gremlin looks at me.
It says, Really, you want that?
Yes, really, really.

I’ll think about it,
but I’m having too much fun.
Myelin tastes good.

Light's Presence - Encore

Searching doggedly
in the shadowy corners,
I sometimes find light.

One ray of sunlight
makes me think I can find more.
Many times I can.

When light is a tease,
its presence eluding me,
I rely on hope.

Vigilance for Joy – Encore

I cannot control
the world, friends, and family,
only my response.

I made up my mind
no matter what others do,
I will seek my joy.

My intention aims
to exercise vigilance
for life’s joy today.

Reweaving Needed

Someone yanked the threads
from my fabric’s warp and weft.
I was left with strings.

The fabric of life
the underlying structure
turned into tatters.

An impassioned cry
for millers and skilled weavers
remains unheeded.

Who Rules?

So the ants creep up,
reminding me whose planet
this world is mostly.

Democratic rule
would give ants power to reign
over us humans.

I am not so sure
ants have not figured out yet
who outnumbers who.

My Sun Fix

I spoil myself with
ten minutes of sun daily
outside on my porch.

My Vitamin D
quota gets filled while sitting
with my limbs exposed.

I come back inside
when heat threatens to melt brain
cells into failure.

We All Could Use This

I once hugged someone
brand new to being a clerk,
and she was frazzled.

Tentative at first,
she relaxed into my hug.
Relief ran through her.

I had sought to soothe
to calm her newbie worries.
I received as well.

When It Happens to Someone You Love

Hard to imagine
watching when MS happens
to a beloved.

Daughter and husband
wife, partner, and others, too,
all stand by with love.

Utter frustration
the magnified impotence
of knowing limits.

Lighting the Path

This life will test me.
Often I feel defeated.
Willpower turns scarce.

Besieged I will cry.
Great sadness may overwhelm.
Still I reach for light.

I must illumine
the shadowed paths before me
to make life worthwhile.

Go With The Flow?

What does MS do?
Does it build character or
is it a bad joke?

If it builds or mocks,
the irresolvable choice
means go with the flow?

I’m not always wise
about the choices I face.
Often I'm confused.