#explorationchallenge

Tenacity

we could be anything we want to be with the power of our minds we will see

how our dreams and our goals become a reality
‘though the road may not always be easy as one two three

i had my fair share of failures along the way
it was difficult it tested my resilience and tenacity

i relied on my courage and continued even in the absence of my strength

i fought back fearlessly over and over again for what i truly want

i am where i am now because i refused to stay where i was before

i am where i am now because i dared to move ahead even when the road was chaotic

i am where i am now because i stopped looking back and looked forward all the time

for nothing in this world can take the place of a powerful mind a tenacious spirit and a grateful heart

we could be anything we want to be that’s how powerful our minds could be.

for Reena’s Exploration Challenge

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/06/16/reenas-xploration-challenge-235/

What Makes a Woman Strong?

is it her courage and conviction to brave even the darkest nights and the vicious storms?

is it her ability to face all the trials
and tribulations with grace and gratefulness
knowing that it will soon just pass?

is it her determination to rise above all the failures and misfortunes with a smile and with a hope of a better tomorrow?

is it her bravery and willingness to go after what she wants even in the presence of fear?

is it her optimism and positivity even when it may not always be feasible to display positivity and optimism at all times?

is it her class and elegance even when at times she is mistaken to be so full of pride?

now, tell me would it make me less of a strong woman if i say “i gave up because i’m tired?”

would it make me less of an empowered woman if i say ” i quit i just can’t go on anymore?”

would it make me less of a woman that i am now if i say “f- – – the world for making it so hard for me?”

or worst, would it make me less of a woman if i wallow at my own pain and wail over a broken heart?

tell me what really makes a woman strong?

For Reena’s Exploration Challenge:

“ravaged inner space
unable to account for
entries and exits
who came, who destroyed, who left?
a soul transformed forever”

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/06/02/reenas-xploration-challenge-233/

For Reena’s Exploration Challenge, i used this verse as inspiration “I’m sick and tired of being called ‘mortal’ like, you don’t know that. Neither do I. I have never died even ONCE. Nothing has been proven yet. Stop making assumptions. It’s rude.”

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/05/26/reenas-xploration-challenge-232/

Death

i am a lonesome mortal on earth yet to experience death.

if death comes to visit me i am ready for i have lived my life to the fullest.

i have made the most notable most memorable trail on earth.

yes, i did even if life was full of unwarranted tribulations.

i fought the hardest fights with grace and composure.

i stood by my ground, never gave up, and was always ready to be brave in yet another battle anytime.

even if people around made it so hard i face them with a smile, with gratitude, with love.

i face them with the hope that they remember me for all of the good reasons and not for my failures.

not even for my occasional pride and arrogance or my shortcomings.

and i say forgive me my fellow mortals for all the times i hurt you and all the times i wasn’t my best self.

yes, i am ready for death anytime or so i thought

until today death arrived.

shocking and chilling unexpectedly, i thought he’d come at least in a form i’m so familiar with.

grave illness, cardiac arrest, or maybe a nightmare.

death comes when you walk away.

again.

just when i needed you the most.

death came.

and i just died.

Call It Whatever You Want

this week’s Poetry Reading Prompt “How To Be Alone”

(you can watch it here)

by Reena of https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/reenas-xploration-challenge-231/ is so inspiring that i am up for another response.

the poem speaks highly of how to love yourself – alone, without the need for other people’s approval and love. sometimes, our desire to belong and to be loved is what kept us trapped in an abusive relationship. and i don’t just mean here abusive relationship between a couple. this may surprise you but relationships between and among friends and relatives could be abusive too. it happens normally when one party is the one always giving and understanding.

“you need to control your habit of forgetting to breathe”, “there is a you telling another story of you. Listen to her.” these lines from the poem struck me the most.

Call It Whatever You Want

sarcasm
arrogance
small insults
call it whatever you want
intentional or not one thing is sure
its meant to hurt you, break you, tear you apart
then the worst is yet to come when you finally
began to question your self-worth and start
believing that it could be true.

sarcasm
arrogance
small insults
bullying at its finest and it happens
not only among friends, among classmates
among co-workers; but between two people
two people who promised to love each other
someone is the arrogant bully who when
confronted claims to be a victim but refuses to
admit to having played the role of a victim.

sarcasm
arrogance
small insults
intentional or not
when you start to doubt yourself
and it takes you to a darker place
walk away before it’s too late.

Never

how many times have you forgotten that you ain’t the story of your past
that you ain’t just a mere reflection of what happened. of a narrative once told
you ain’t that.
never.

i know it feels like dying every day knowing that somewhere out there
a story has to be told a reality you’ve long avoided
but the world doesn’t end even when your story
doesn’t end the way you want it
it won’t end.
never.

how many times have you convinced yourself
to just smile amidst the pain
to just breathe when it’s suffocating
to walk away gracefully from things and people
that don’t contribute to your
well being
don’t give up.
never.

i know you are wiser than your inhibitions
you are better than your problems
you are stronger when in doubt
you are resilient when tested by fate
you are tougher when confronted by fear
don’t lose your composure
don’t quit.
never.

take a break if you need to
but make sure to come back
better and stronger
wiser and tougher
breathe.

don’t lose hope.
never.

For Reena’ s Exploration Challenge
https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/05/19/reenas-xploration-challenge-231/

It Ends Where It Begins

is there anything
you can’t seize and hold firmly?
you have been shattered
you have been splintered
over the years
over time.

you have dealt
with all the traumas
and dramas so gracefully
that you emerged
beautiful and victorious
over the years
over time.

is there anything
you can’t seize and hold firmly?
i doubt there will be any
for you have kept a beautiful smile
amidst pain
amidst heartaches
over the years
over time.

when something ends
another begins what happens
in between is unknown to many
as to your ending and beginning
the in between was what made you
the woman that you are now.

amidst pain
amidst heartaches
over the years
over time.

For Reena’s Exploration Challenge
https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/05/12/reenas-xploration-challenge-230/

I Could Never Be Her

I Could Never Be Her

do you ever wish for one second you had not loved me?
‘cos i feel you do everytime i see regret in your words whenever you are disappointed
everytime i hear exhaustion in between your sighs when you are disheartened
and when the tides are against your will i hear loud screams in your silence.

do you ever see me as a shadow of the one you used to love?
‘cos i feel you do
whenever you look at me i know you want something else
something else that i am not nor i wish to be
i feel it in between your warm embrace
and your passionate kiss
i see it in between your broken smiles and empty gazes
i feel your longing, i feel it there’s no denying.

you’d probably be cursing me when you read this
oh! dear forgive me
geez i wrote a poem ’bout you again, a poem you won’t even be happy ’bout
truth is, this has long been overdue; i should have written this
the day you broke my heart, the day you crushed my grief-stricken soul
the day i died in silence, ‘cos even if i screamed for help, it was pointless
that same day i realized i could never be her.

never, because i dare to be remarkably different
and “I have untapped abilities waiting to be discovered.”

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/05/05/reenas-xploration-challenge-229/

Love Was There

Day 29 of NaPoWriMo…one day to go and its over….

Love Was There

in an array of crowd i look for you
i look for your smile that obviously brightens my day
even in a room filled with massive people i still hear your voice that sends a loving signal into my heart
and oh, dear i smell you in every single perfume there is in the room.

and, i wonder.

even with the intriguing, interesting conversations i have i want a conversation with you, only you; for i felt more connection talking to you
i felt it especially in between our pauses and silence
i felt the agonizing need to say more, to talk more
i felt the excruciating pain of the need to say out loud why i want you, you of all the people around.

and, i wonder.

people come and people go, some we may have forgotten, others we remember
but if there is one constant companion i have in my heart, it was you
i see you around in every corner where everyone is busy minding their own lives
i hear you in every song played on air in FM stations as i travel alone
i smell you in the aroma of my coffee each time i take a sip
and i feel you holding my hand as i cross the chaotic street of the city.

and, i still wonder.

for over the years and over time i still haven’t figured it out
i still haven’t realized, until today
we were never really been friends all along
‘cos damn! we were too dumb not to realize, ’twas love all this time
i guess it was just you and i who haven’t figured it out
for friends say, it doesn’t take a genius to know that love was there from the beginning.

love was there even in our silence.

there was love.

for Reena’s Exploration Challenge

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/04/28/reenas-xploration-challenge-228/

Drowning

i am in the middle of a sea of crowd
drenched in my own thoughts
i fell in the stream of unjustifiable tension
and got competely deluged
its taking over all the best in me
its getting over my nerve.

i searched for a hand to take me out
of an engulfing ocean of oblivion
but i can’t seem to keep a hold of my grip
the harder i try the easier i falter.

i can’t breathe i am suffocated
i need to let go but letting go
would mean total drowning and
would mean completely losing myself.

For Reena’s Exploration Challenge

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/04/21/reenas-xploration-challenge-227/

Daunting

i am learning from the depths of my childhood memories.
listening to the mist as they get suspended in the air.
hearing whispers of my reality, fighting to see the world clearly.
’twas daunting like challenging the fog; so confused.
unable to think clearly, obscurity was screaming out loud.
oblivion was inevitable, sheltered abyss was my comfort zone.
confessions were made in the dark, there was total vagueness.
there was lack of certainty, and my eyes become bleak and blurry.
what am i and who am i are questions commanding my past.
finding the answer is like hunting the sun in the silence of the night.

truth can be elusive.
but when its there laid perfectly in front of you
reality becomes a formidable scenario.

https://reinventionsreena.wordpress.com/2022/04/14/reenas-xploration-challenge-226/

• Shelter In The Abyss
• Commanding My Past
• Listening To The Mist
• Challenging The Fog
• Learning From The Depths
• Hunting The Sun
• Confessions of the Dark