The Reversal of Dorian Grey (September 18, 2017)

We're told

That gray hair is

A symbol of wisdom.

And yet

Why do we make

These same mistakes

Over and over

Again?

Like we're trapped

In an endless loop

That only ends

When the power

Is disrupted.

Is it vainglory

Or a sign

Of our hubris

That we try to hide

Our aging shell?

Viewing it

As a sign of weakness

To be despised

And hated

For our impending

Mortality.

Coating our locks

In a colourful sea 

Of natural

And artificial dyes

Like it never happened.

In a flawed attempt

To deceive ourselves

That the biological clock

Will stop for us.

Regardless

Of one's wealth

Social status

Or income level.

Therisa © 2017

Author's note: Over the past 6 weeks, I have notice more and more gray strands in my hair, whenever I look into the mirror. I realize having spent almost 5 decades on this plane of existence, this would eventually happen to me, but thought it might be delayed for another year or two. Why I may not like this, I won't be lining up at the local salon or drugstore, to purchase this false sense of youth, in dying my hair to an unnatural shade. Having already tried this, earlier in my life. While I liked the look, it didn't last long, as my hair rejected the dye. So no blue hair rinse for me. 

Freeing The Gorilla (September 9, 2017)

Once more

We stand

On the brink of madness

As world leaders

Rattle nuclear sabres.

In heroic poses

Like a 19th century statue

Covered in bird droppings

And other waste.

As egos direct

The tilting windmills

Towards North Korea

And Washington, D.C.

With their eternal dance.

Where political dogma

Reigns supreme

Over logic.

Rattling the metal bars

Of the zoo cage

Unrelentingly

By the trapped beast

Inside.

Knowing

To release it

Is utter stupidity

Of the highest order.

And yet

We have done so

In our anger.

May the heavens

Forgive our follies

For doing so.

Therisa © 2017

Author's note: I fear the rhetoric of President Donald Trump will inflame the worsening North Korea crisis, to the point, one side or the other will renew the fighting. Thus breaking 64 year truce, between the warring parties. 

After The Tears (September 2, 2017)

They fall

From the heights

Of Mt Olympus

Down our face.

Overburdened

With the toxic slurry

Of our lives.

Those times

We've been told

By others.

We're bleeping useless

Pieces of waste.

Never stopping

To realize

These words were

Never meant for us.

Rather

The outward expression

Of those speaking

Their own inner hate.

Scared and envious

Of us

In our boldness

To be true.

By being

The ultimate person

We can.

In saying

I love myself

Despite the hate

Tossed at us.

So wipe away

That bio-hazardous flood.

And remember

Their words can

Only have power

When we give it

To them.

A hard thing

To remember

As our soul crumbles

Under this weight

But necessary.

For Rome 

Wasn't built

In a single day.

Neither 

Shall our healing be

Until that day arrives

Please be gentle

And compassionate

To ourselves.

For we shall have

Our good and bad day

On this journey

To wholeness.

Therisa © 2017

Author's note: Reaching out to someone, who's having negative self-doubts on her healing journey.

Post Labour Day Thoughts (September 6, 2017)

The parade is over

Marchers have gone home

Leaving behind their garbage

Uncollected.

Protesting against

The favourite cause

Of the week.

A dwindling voice

From another era

And time

Of the union movement

Searching for direction

And relevancy.

Where true equality

And gender rights

Are yesterday's news

Meant to be forgotten

As last year('s) failures.

Replaced by

The latest brightest

Sexy causes and slogans

To be chanted.

As another generation

Is lost and forgotten

By society.

Believing

They're solved

And logged

Into some dusty

And forgotten

History book.

As a single mother

Struggles to feed

Her family

Living below

The poverty line.

That $15/hr wage

Won't cover

The basics

Of her expenses.

As social assistance

Punish her

With their draconian

Claw backs.

As she sacrifices

Her present

For her children's

Future.

Therisa © 2017

Author's note: Under Ontario law, a person on social assistance (general welfare or disability) can earn $150/month, before losing 50% of the additional gross income that's reported to their caseworker, from their assistance cheque, until it's all claw back. Regardless, if one is receiving welfare or disability, these people are living well below Canada's poverty line, as food banks have become part of the system for getting the bare minimum of their food needs, to avoid starving for the rest of the month.