oh well shit happens 🙂

Invalidation, reeks in every corner…well said, Willow.

I feel that after, “Validate this…” there should be, “…MF” 🙂

Powerfully penned, Willow. Excellent write my friend. This one goes for the jugular. Appreciate you.

Damian

Fantastic work, Willow.

I feel like snapping my fingers to this. Yes, yes

A great piece, this is great advice for both males and females. Tight

Wonderful write! Reminds me of my daughter, too. They are miraculous, aren’t they?
❤️k

Beautifully done.

Beautifully penned, Willow. In the book it belongs! Excellent tribute to your daughter, such a powerful message my friend. Amazing arrangement that fit the power of the meaning. Amazing work. Appreciate you.

Damian

hello beautiful Willow you did beautiful job raising and guiding such a spirit ❤️

This is so heartfelt since I have 2 girls myself. Love what you wrote about your daughter.

I have witnessed this. To pay close attention to another’s entire being is to be rewarded with infinite wonders and friendships.
Your poem is so thoughtful and tender while bearing a harsh truth.
🙏💚

Awesome awareness of her value. It is old news, that our looks will fade and our health will wane, so what we have of value on the inside is what will sustain us. That fortitude to be a decent human even if surrounded by “less”. it is our shine, our aura, that will never fade. Sounds like she has hers intact, probably many thanks to you, dear Willow.

Her pedigree of character and consciousness has never fallen
far from the Tree that bore the amazing fruit she has blossomed into

Much respect always

Naaj

This is an awesome tribute to your daughter, dear Willow! You raised her in the light of the only true values that matter – sustainable values of love, peace and understanding. You must be very proud of your daughter. She is really beautiful, she has a beautiful soul!

Excellent .. I just know for sure you are both so very lucky .. just being and having each other .. write on Willow 😎🌻👍

I only raised her so far…and the rest is her own indomitable spirit. She speaks, I listen. I am amused how often we say the same thing at the same time. She used to roll her eyes. Now she just laughs. I guess there are worse things than thinking like her mother. Thank you, girl

Fantastic ink Willow

Bat

I second this addiction. I feel lost and unfocused if I do not write.

I third this addiction.

I love the written word..mine and others.

Great write,right,rite,wright….lol

Very relatable Willow. Thank you for sharing 💕

Brilliantly penned, Willow. Into the book it belongs! Infectious vibe your words and the musical arrangement my friend. It’s the one addiction that I feed and I refuse to kick. You summed it up well as you always do. Loved this one Willow. Excellent work. Appreciate you.

Damian

You express perfectly what most of us here feel, dear Willow! It’s the same with me – I scream, weep, bleed and laugh my soul onto the paper.

It’s horrific, that ‘silent scream’, the self-reflection not seen in the mirror, the expression held inside. I hear your pen, Willow. It’s LOUD!!! But I welcome it. Let the ink flow, make Rorschach’s of rage across the page. Just know, you are seen!

Curt

Brilliant work.

I don’t run the pen. It runs me, girl. As Shrek said…Better out than in. Excise the wounds so they can heal clean. Thank you, girl. You wield a mighty pen yourself

Thank you, Thomas

I feel this. Know that you are not alone feeling this way. the statement of “I am tired” cut deep. At one point the feeling of it all and feeling that no one gave a damn was so much…let’s just say I would not be here if I did not have someone. We all do not have that “touch stone” person. I do understand.

Absolutely gobsmackingly brilliant,powerful,honest,scary and sad.
When I read this, the only question. I had was why?Why does one keep holding on when there is nothing left to hold on to?
Why,if God exists,would he torture his children?

Why are we even alive?

Take care my friend.The tide can turn quickly and bring you back to shore.🙏

🤗

Tired,, but alive, broken, but the pieces are all there, they fit together, like the way rain brings flowers. Our tears fill the oceans where all life began. And our scars (whether visible or unseen) become the instruments of our music and can be heard in the cosmos. Willow, your poem resonates like violin strings, hauntingly and with grace. Not sure if you see or feel it, but you give us all the strength to continue, to disturb the universe, like pebbles thrown in the pond, creating ripples that go on forever.

I do not know you, Willow, and have only read a few of your poems, but I am happy you are here.

Curt

Powerfully penned, Willow. The armor does get thinner with time I think it’s part of facing mortality. At least that’s part of it anyways. There are layers as I always say, but it’s tiring indeed. Time catches all of us eventually, but our scars lend to wisdom, even those earned by trial and error. That’s what popped in my head anyways. Excellent write my friend, I can relate. Appreciate you.

Damian

You nailed it. Fantastic work. It’s hell to get old.

This is the first piece of yours I have read, but HER suggested you for membership in our new Spoken Word group. I took her at her word, and though I have not heard any audios by you yet, I wanted to take a peek at just some of your words first. If you have audios, I certainly want to hear them, on the strength of the words you have left here, not what someone has told me. This is brilliant work, Willow, tough, strong, gut-wrenching, sad; it touches all the emotions and pulls the reader in. I will read more, and I want to hear what your work SOUNDS like.

Corruption and ignorance go hand in hand. Yes, I whole heartedly agree with you. We must see the truth and act on it. Powerful write.

As if you read my mind and what I was thinking as as articulate. 🙂
I almost got ht by one of those flagy pickups yesterday. 💚

hello beautiful Willow powerful write the darkness threatens to swallow me whole I feel you ❤️

Powerfully penned, Willow. Into the book it belongs! This is’t a write it’s a statement my friend. Excellent work. Appreciate you.

Damian

WHOA!!! Some truth telling going on here. It didn’t fall on deaf ears, cause I be listening. America has always been 2 countries within one country. Today’s fascists were yesterday’s slave owners and slave bounty hunters. Thank goodness there are still wide awake decent people who in their millions took to the streets a few days ago. And even better, there is, beginning Nov 5, the determined, nonviolent, movement to oust these MAGA maggots’ regime.

Yes, it is often true in history that people were warned but didn’t listen, sometimes people just need to have a fire lit under their arses, before they can see straight. I think we poets have a role to play in this eye opening!! Your poem Willow is a welcomed salvo (or perhaps to be consistent with the metaphor), a welcomed match for that fire.

Thanks for the much need poem Willow.
Curt

damn good write.

Raw and unflinching. You’ve caught the weight of complicity and the ache of resistance in a way that feels both urgent and true. An incredible read!

Okay, now I know. You not only know how to write beautiful, powerful words , you also know how to deliver them. I certainly want to speak to you, Willow. Please visit with me.

Who made you promise not to cuss? In the immortal words of my old coworker…”fuck that!” I hear what you’re saying. And not saying. Thank you, girl

whooee, thanks 🙂

Superb work.