He lives in a capital city, too
Larger than mine
On the same continent
But in a different country
Still that does make us neighbors
He’s the boy next door
We talk about photography
And vegetables
And going for walks
Not everyone living in a city
Settles for concrete
(c) 2010 Beth NoLastName
Posted in Uncategorized
Verily Verily
I say unto you
I Am
Therefore you are
Is the best
I’m OK
You’re OK
I ever need to receive
Proof postive
It’s not what you know
But rather Who you know
(c) 2010 Beth NoLastName
You’ve changed
He said
And no one knew better than I
The truth of his words
He did not like the change
But the change was me
Being me
Not just who he wanted me to be
He laughed at me
And when I told him that hurt
He laughed more
So now we don’t relate
Not because I changed
But that he hated the change
And the change is me
(c) 2009 Beth NoLastName
Posted in Uncategorized
She was so Black
Her skin looked purple
In the sun
I was lost
So she took me under her wing
And taught me how to live
She insisted we see Purple Rain
Together
But as I sat between her sister and her
I giggled
And she demanded to know why
There I sat watching an all Black cast
In a theater where I was the only
White woman
Her sister threw us a glare for whispering
“What’s so funny?”
She hissed
Taking my life in my hands
I blurted out
“I feel like the filling in an Oreo cookie!”
The three of us laughed so hard
We were thrown out of the theater
I never did get to see that movie
I’ll have to look it up
Purple Rain
Like my Queen Viola
And her Purple Reign
Months pass
I return from where I started
Stand in one place
Feel the difference
As if visiting an old homestead
Where once I was a child
It’s all familiar
But everything seems smaller than it once did
I have no problem reaching the highest spot
That which was way over my head
Is now eye level
My! how I’ve grown
(c) Feb 2009 Beth NoLastName
Posted in Poetry
All they really want me to do is to listen
Nod my head from time to time
To show I have heard each one
Perhaps make a comment sound
Like hmmmm
But that’s all
They don’t really want a conversation
Or any kind of suggestion or feedback
Just a pair of ears
And a heart with which to listen
(c) 2008 Beth NoLastName
When I turned fifty
I looked in the mirror and laughed
Seeing the child I hold inside
Shining out of my eyes
When I turned sixty
I thought
It’s time to be more serious now
I cut my long hair
Remembering what mother said
About older women not wearing long hair
By the time I turned sixty-one
My hair was growing back
My mother was wrong
When asked my age I paused always
Before adding the one to sixty
Finally, deciding I was happier
When in my fifties
I found a new way to tell the truth
Yet smile as I report my age
I am now fifty-eleven
(c) 2008 Beth NoLastName
Posted in Uncategorized
I walk in the youth of my old age
In a time when young men
Seek out older women
I shake my head back and forth
Not able to comprehend their reasoning
I am not yet ancient, but surely old enough
To have no longing to reach back two generations
To steal a kiss
Integrity
Dignity
Honor
Respect
Such words fill my head and my heart
Keeping a smile on my face
As my walk remains straight and true
(c) 2008 Beth NoLastName
I am a spirit
Within a shell of a body
A spirit alive and well
Strong and resilient
I am grounded by this body I live in
And limited to it’s confines
Abilities
And ailments
Only in a physical sense
Who I am has little to do
With what is seen with the naked eye
Yet I can be seen
I am not what is heard
By the uncovered ear
Yet I will be heard
Stand away
Apart from me
That I may touch you
I bid you wake
Arise from your slumber
Come to life with me
(c) 2008 Beth NoLastName
In the driest of places
Where the sun bakes the earth beneath it
She blossoms
Boldly
Brilliantly
Flaunting her color
And the fragility of her petals
For the spines that keep her alive
Lay outside her body
Defending the wealth of moisture
She holds within
Water
Life giver
Nature’s hidden balance
In the desert of life
(c) 2008 Beth NoLastName
For (((Kathyrnn))) who understands why roses have thorns.
