“A poem is the very image of life expressed in its eternal truth.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley

Monday, December 30, 2013

Remembering

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:White_Rose.jpg

With wisdom and joy,
Patrick Leer and George Bokos
blessed my life journey.

On whatever plane
their lives unfold for all time,
may hardship be trounced.

Their unselfish gifts
bestowed on all who knew them
continue to bless.

Monday, December 23, 2013

International Distribution of Peace on the Journey: Poems

http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Journey-Poems-Judith-Mercado-ebook/dp/B00HWDEVJO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1387289668


Some international readers have asked why they cannot find my book in their country. To address that, I spent a few hours in the “Academy of International Amazon Book Distribution” and have learned a few things. I have discovered that, though Amazon is working on expanding its distribution, there are still some countries where my book is not available. Among these are Brazil, China, India, Japan, Mexico, and, surprisingly, Canada and Australia. Since a Canadian friend ordered the book, I assume she bought it from the US site. Perhaps this will change when the book is converted into Kindle format in January, but I am not sure. In the meantime, I’m sorry for any time some of you have spent searching for my book.

The links for the following countries are provided:

 France: Peace on the Journey: Poems

Germany: Peace on The Journey: Poems

 Italy: Peace on The Journey: Poems

 Spain: Peace on The Journey: Poems

 UK: Peace on The Journey: Poems

US: Peace on The Journey: Poems

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

It's on Amazon!


http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Journey-Poems-Judith-Mercado-ebook/dp/B00HWDEVJO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1387289668


The book’s available! Here is the link. It is available in both paperback and Kindle editions.

I hope you enjoy the book. Here’s part of the book description appearing on the Amazon page.

“The Peace on the Journey poems explore the theme of renewal in the face of adversity. Life challenges are confronted honestly while hope and joy are also embraced. In these poems, sometimes a smile lifts one past overwhelming struggle. At other times, sadness and discouragement trump easy laughter and resolve. Always, the intent is to handle life with grace, to bear low moments with dignity, and to blunt despair by remaining unbowed.”

If you purchase the book, I would appreciate your leaving an Amazon Customer Review. Thanks in advance.

Thank you also for sharing my publication journey. Your encouraging words have been invaluable.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Nelson Mandela



http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nelson_Mandela.jpg


“… during all my years in prison hope never left me … I did not doubt that I would someday be a free man.”

“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers fear.”


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Peace on the Journey: Poems


My book Peace on the Journey is available in paperback and Kindle editions. 

http://www.amazon.com/Peace-Journey-Poems-Judith-Mercado-ebook/dp/B00HWDEVJO/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1387289668


  Editorial Reviews

“For those struggling with chronic illness, loss of a loved one, or any major life challenge, the Peace on the Journey poems affirm that one can still choose to smile and resolutely renew life. In facing hardship honestly but tempering it with hope, these healing poems light a path out of despair.”

 
“In deceptively simple seventeen-syllable nuggets, these poems convey a complexity of emotion and perspective that quite often transcends the limits of language. They are nuggets of shared humanity that find their mark squarely in the heart and soul. Sometimes in whispers, sometimes in shouts, Judith Mercado’s words resonate with wisdom and truth, and grace the reader with intimacy, honesty and understanding.”
 



Book Description

The poems explore the theme of renewal in the face of adversity. Influenced by the haiku form, this collection offers a poem a day for a year, though one can easily start on any page and progress in any order. Peace on the Journey is enrolled in Amazon’s Matchbook program. This means that if you already purchased the print edition in the past (or purchase one now), the Kindle price is reduced by 50%.Ten percent of net book proceeds will be donated to the Myelin Repair Foundation

May my poems illumine your journey.

Monday, November 4, 2013

I Aim to ...

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Shore_Surf_(7733298374).jpg


Stop and breathe deeply.
Listen to the quiet surf.
Embrace the stillness.



Monday, October 14, 2013

This I Believe — Encore

 
I do not know how
I will manage to endure,
but I trust I shall.

I tap into roots
spiritual and grounded.
My center will hold.

Faith in renewal
anchors my spirit in hope
my life will be blessed.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Keeping It Real — Encore

 
Keeping it real means
I acknowledge my losses
and concede my pain.

Keeping it real means
I recognize my limits
while I set new goals.

Keeping it real means
I confront what awaits me
clearly but with hope.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

A Moment of Peace — Encore


Sometimes one gets lost
in the hustle and bustle
and forgets to breathe.

Finding one’s stillness
becomes elusive when pressed
to match the world’s whir.

A moment of peace
restores and rejuvenates
so one can go on.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Leaving for a While


our reality
two seriously ill at home
a challenging time

a case of two halves
equaling less than a whole
life gets difficult

alternating both
care giving and receiving
we struggle badly

so we roll along
finding some joy where we can
not letting pain rule

but now my dear friends
I take a leave of absence
until stress lightens


Friday, August 2, 2013

The Happiness Formula


On my mind has been
what accounts for happiness,
how one can find it.

On my better days,
love and value are affirmed
through loved ones and work.

Researchers assert
service and compassion bring
happiness as well.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Redesign


Cleft from the mainstream,
I turned into The Other,
not quite a good fit.

Forced to reinvent
my roles and relationships,
I sought a new me.

Prompted to value
the transformation life brought,
I release the past.

Friday, July 26, 2013

A Broken Support System


I cling for support
to a broken link about
to snap off cleanly.

Rusty and flimsy,
my link still enables me
to think I am fine.

I look around me.
Are there other links to grasp?
None seem stress worthy.

Monday, July 22, 2013

A Resilient Spirit


It may well feel like
the ultimate betrayal
when your body fails.

Out the window goes
all the motivational
facile self-help spin.

A point will then come
when finding no sure way out,
you get creative.

Friday, July 19, 2013

If I Feel Low


gentle guitar chords
sing through the air of my grief
seeking to lift me

bell-like the notes ring
though cannot deny the truth
that tears can take wing

would that the music
helped me find the fulfillment
of early promise

Monday, July 15, 2013

Nonstop Rain


It keeps raining here
dismal and unrelenting
tiresome and taxing.

I should be grateful.
Nonstop drought could be much worse.
I miss the sun though.

I suspect I might
complain about too much heat
if no rain showed up.

Friday, July 12, 2013

There Somewhere


It does not take much
to remind me of losses
suffered and to come.

As an antidote,
I sift through layers of ash
for the uncharred gift.

Life’s light, joy, and hope
surely must be there somewhere.
I keep on searching.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Always Transforming


The icicles drip
steadily as the air warms.
Do they know their end?

With the sun rising,
icicles break off and fall,
a steady clatter.

Remnants on the ground
turn into ice or water,
always transforming.

Friday, July 5, 2013

Unable to Choose

 
Do I tell myself
disaster fast approaches
I must hunker down?

Do I cling instead
to searching for solutions
that might buy me time?

Hoping for the best,
I stiffen my back and hope.
I hide and fight both.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Walking


I stagger and fall.
Impaired equilibrium
makes me look tipsy.

Walking aides help me,
cane, rollator, and wheelchair.
I prefer walking.

I may resemble
a bumbling drunken sailor.
At least I can walk.

Friday, June 28, 2013

For Some of Us …


Isolation costs
access to warm affection,
loneliness imposed.

Deprivation brings
denial of love’s wellspring.
Emotions are numbed.

Weighed by loneliness,
how does one sustain spirit
to find a way out?

Monday, June 24, 2013

Sun Shower Surprise


Sun showers erupt
cooling and refreshing all
unexpectedly.

Nature will surprise
sometimes for good sometimes not
out of our control.

The glistening leaves
well satisfied broadcast smiles.
Maybe I can too.

Friday, June 21, 2013

The Truth of It


The future unknown,
though I strive to be upbeat
things can get scary.

I am now stable.
Given the alternative,
this is a good thing.

Yearning still remains
for a body that enjoys
full health and wellness.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Support Network

 
Family matters,
ensuring continuance,
also well being.

A support network
essential for survival
is the species norm.

Problems will arise
when what should be inherent
is in absentia.

Friday, June 14, 2013

If Preference Counts

 
My world assessment,
if limited to headlines,
would be dark indeed.

Darkness does exist,
history will remind us,
but light prevails too.

I would much rather
embrace life’s promise blindly
than get mired in gloom.

Monday, June 10, 2013

An Uneasy Balance


lawn mower rumble
lingering scent of cut grass
tidiness restored

whirring weed whacker
landscape principles honored
nature’s wildness trimmed

untrammeled nature
not always a benign force
uneasy balance

Friday, June 7, 2013

I Am Better but …


I fell once again.
The resulting concussion
sent me to ER.

Injury addressed,
I grasp how vulnerable
I am to more loss.

I negotiate
reality and hope’s link
fraught with much tension.
 

Monday, June 3, 2013

The Butterfly’s Gift

 
Graceful and nimble,
the butterfly glides by me
from leaf to blossom.

My unspoken plea,
please come sit on my shoulder,
remains unheeded.

I then feel grateful
for beauty displayed with ease
at no cost to me.

Friday, May 31, 2013

A Bereaved Mother Speaks


Bereavement etches
pain at still being around,
a survivor’s guilt.

How does one assuage
grief, disbelief and sadness
in a survivor?

Find the path to love
authentic and generous,
the truest honor.

Friday, May 24, 2013

It Happens Sometimes


It happens sometimes.
The days come when I feel robbed.
The unfairness galls.

Gloom will grip tightly,
plunging me into envy
of the healthy ones.

My will soon devolves
into melancholic grief
with its lockjaw vise.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I Speak For


In a sacred trust,
I speak the unspoken thoughts
of muted voices.

Both fear and hope lurk
behind a shield of silence
that guards against loss.

For the hearts and minds
receiving these words I grant
their truth’s expression.

Friday, May 17, 2013

A Broken Hallelujah


 
In a heart’s pure cry,
soaring notes seek redemption
while in brokenness.

Everlastingly,
the search seeks to find reasons
for the brokenness.

Confirm love’s true reach.
The plea rises and tumbles
out of brokenness.


Monday, May 13, 2013

Holding On

 
It seems I forget
my previous healthy state,
fooled by new normals.

My expectations
already lowered suffer
a further decline.

I seek to retain
my grasp of how good health feels,
not just to make do.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Figuring It All Out

 
Some people will claim
they have figured it all out,
and perhaps they have.

A big mystery,
the human experience,
it seems so to me.

Treating others well,
aiming to be of service;
that, I understand.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Gifts

 
An egret glides by.
Enthralled, I watch from above
my gift from nature.

I hear then the news.
Snow has buried the MidWest,
their gift from nature.

Whether hot or cold,
nature’s offerings beguile
a receptive mind.


Friday, May 3, 2013

Am I Really Brave?


Seeking bravery
when fear is overwhelming,
is that being real?

I feel like a wimp
if I focus on my fears
but they do exist.

Am I then a fraud
to talk braver than I feel
because I have to?

Friday, April 26, 2013

Their Cure and Mine


An MSer said,
"I found the solution.
I can walk again."

Noting what was said,
I adopted what I could
filled with optimism.

The fix did not come,
taunting and ephemeral
just beyond my grasp.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Stealing Walt's Lines


Walt Whitman said it.
“Do I contradict myself?"
I ask the same thing.

Sometimes I am up.
Other times I sure am not.
“I am large,” he said.

The poet explained
he “contained multitudes” and
I guess so do I.

Friday, April 19, 2013

The Human Will


The disease course looms
under shrouds of mystery
suppurating gloom.

Whatever solace
one can grasp and hold on to
affirms life’s value.

Courage will prevail.
Human will stubbornly seeks
lasting hope and joy.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Transformation


Borges spoke of his
blindness as an instrument
of transformation.

From miserable
circumstances may emerge
things deemed eternal.

The writer’s wisdom
spurs me to find gifts in loss,
my own alchemy.

Monday, April 8, 2013

The Dream

 
Gossamer petals
suffused with the light of life
enchant with beauty.

Delicate, fragile,
renewed through nature’s cycle,
blossoms buoy hope.

Arid burnt out fields
present surviving flowers.
If them, why not me?

Friday, April 5, 2013

Negotiating Reality

 
Sometimes the sadness
overpowers me and blunts
believing in hope.

In a raw moment,
I surrender to despair,
losing hope's promise.

Negotiating
across the highs and the lows
challenges my will.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Attitude, Reality, and Resolve


I really believe
a winning attitude counts.
I always seek it.

The honest truth is
optimism may elude
my best intentions.

I renew daily
my resolve to keep finding
a foothold in hope.

Monday, March 25, 2013

It May Seem Like ...


A terrifying
tsunami of loss and doom
threatens to plunder.

One's strength cannot match
the wave’s relentless brute force.
One must go within.

Power in silence
willful surrender to peace
greater force is found.


Friday, March 22, 2013

Finding Bravery


Finding bravery,
how to keep it as a goal
when one feels afraid?

The truth of my life,
it falls short of the ideal.
I am not that brave.

For indulging me
in my rambling self pep talks,
I thank my blog peeps.



Monday, March 18, 2013

Seeking the Improbable


I keep believing
my body’s capacity
for self healing reigns.

Surely keys exist
I can use to open doors
unleashing good health.

I will keep searching
despite how improbable
solutions may seem.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Afterwards


After a life storm,
elusive recovery
taunts and beckons both.

One knows the way out.
The brain signals: just move on.
The heart is too tired.

The healing process,
finding acceptance and trust,
all will bide their time.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Renewal’s Promise


Below the surface
of deeply frozen terrain,
life still manifests.

Life in dormancy
becomes a promise to keep
with its renewal.

How soon life restores
may be out of one’s control,
but it can happen.


Monday, March 4, 2013

In Memoriam - George, The Greek from Detroit



I weep as I write.
George has died after fighting
his cruel battle.

Courage and resolve
marked Greek’s approach to MS.
Then mercy failed him.

I say this to George:
a warrior never dies;
only, his battles.

Friday, March 1, 2013

Fear's Great Foe


Breathe, I tell myself.
Breathe deeply and then again.
Stay in the present.

My uncertainty,
already high on the scale,
can self multiply.

The way out from fear,
overwhelming though it be,
is found here and now.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Fun Therapy


Expanding the brain
though it threatens to seize up
is my drug of choice.

So I go to school.
The discussion and laughter
make me come alive.

My brain loves to dance.
Who knows where it will take me?
At least we have fun.