Remembering

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.

International Distribution of Peace on the Journey: Poems

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

It's on Amazon!

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.

Nelson Mandela

“… 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.”

Peace on the Journey: Poems

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

  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.”

—Dr. Joan Barice

 
“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.”
 

—Marc Stecker, Wheelchair Kamikaze

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.

I Aim to ...

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.