"Accolades For Valor" by Matthew Johnson (1993): "She goes through life, gliding, a benevolent seer/ Stopping constantly to aid those in need, those not even dear/ I, an individual, swept up in the storm/ Of a woman, who, in search of herself, defies the norm/ As I, an outcast, fighting myself, yet daring to believe/ That if I ask her aid and succor (and possibly love) she won’t leave/ Giving her heart, mind and soul to every known cause/ Causing me to look about my selfish malestrom, and in introspection give pause/ For all her words, she won’t write about me, does she fail to perceive/ What the object knows to be true and what make believe—/ Words rarely present, presence much more of one/ Is to wish for more as good as wishing for the sun?/ Energy is precious, as I know well to be true/ And I am curious to know, Lorraine, what I can ask of you/ Names are important, they make us who we are/ Much more important than people give credit, by far/ The masses may cry “Lori!” and let them do so!/ For the numbers who call that cannot understand/ They will never know the Lorraine inside, the one crying to live/ Will be forever frustrated by those whose minds are like a sieve/ There may be those who rob her of her world, let them scratch the skin/ They are as pinpricks to the steel within/ These accolades are not exaggeration, not pretentious/ I Just want you to know that there is at least one who is conscious/ That the world is a better place for the life of a woman named Lorraine."

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Woman













Woman
has a way of breaking the heart;
Not just that of man

How I’ve struggled through the years with this paradox!

Forced upon limiting relationships
and fraternizing with care

I waded with hesitance
at the banks of a new river—
Sisterhood

Still fearful,
I dove into deeper waters

You had the potential
to send spirits soaring above any woe
Both as a group,
and as individuals

But, alas…
My circle of hope
unbraided before my eyes

The footholds on that lone rock at sea—
Just a splash of fantasy, while gasping for air

The blossoms protruding from plentiful leaves—
Just an illusion in imaginary mist

October 4, 2006

posted by Lorraine Courigan at 12:21 PM 2 comments