We started a game
It is not yet done
The pieces stand still
Nowhere to run
Awaiting your move
What will you do next?
I gather my strength
Deny your request
Take one step away
The game incomplete
Surrender my queen
Admit my defeat
Category daily prompt
Legacy
I see you in my dreams
I hear you in my mind
I feel you in my heart
I remember the very night
You flew from the land
And from my life
I am married now
I have a beautiful boy
And a daughter who looks like you
You are a grandmother now
Your legacy to the world
Your purpose lives on
I live your lessons every day
In my heart and in my life
And all I have is one tiny message
From my heart to yours
After all this time and what has been
Your baby girl is okay
In response to Daily Post: Legacy
Writers Write
A blank screen
Reflects its silence
To a waiting world
Challenging the brave
To fill its void
Writers write
And so it shall be
The darkness devoid
Of warmth
Will be brought
To life
In response to Daily Post: Screen
Two Worlds
Surfing the space
Between dreams
And reality
Surfacing from night
As morning dew appears
Two worlds connect –
Free spirit and
Earthly mind
In response to Daily Post: Connection
Decisions
One of the biggest decisions I’ve had to make was to leave my home and family behind, and start a new life in a foreign land. If I stop and think about it, it’s a rather huge decision. A few months earlier I had to make a decision on changing jobs. I was offered a new position, and had to decide. It tore at me, I was at peace with nothing, to stay or to go. My daughter was still a baby, and I couldn’t see how I would cope with either choice. My nerves gave in. After much obsession, I joined the new company. From the first moment, I struggled to adapt. Everything bothered me, the building, the location, everything! After a couple of weeks I decided not to continue. The manager at my previous company was gracious, and invited me to return. In doing so, the way opened to move to Australia. This time there was no anxiety. I created a to-do list and got on with it. So even though it was a major life-changing decision, it took minimal energy to make. And that is how it often seems to be. The big decisions are sometimes clear-cut and easy to make, but every day we have smaller decisions that consume way more energy. What to eat, what to wear, read WordPress blogs on the bus, write a post, or read the news instead, etc!
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/the-road-less-traveled/
Dream Job
During my last year of high school, the six school leaders were invited to apply for a Saturday reception job at the local optometrist. I grabbed the opportunity, actually, I believe I was the only one that did so. Which was good, because I can safely say I probably needed the money the most. It was wonderful, I started that very Saturday, and continued right through my college (university) years. The hours were from 8am to 12 on a Saturday, and the pay was enough to provide all my pocket money needs, pay for driving lessons, and whatever else I had need of. The lady I reported to was wonderful and supportive. Her husband was a lecturer at the local university and ran all the consultations at the practice. In my first year working there, I was still unsure of what to do after school. He tried to encourage me to study optometry, but try as I might, I could not get it to grab my interest. It looked totally boring working in a tiny office, marking off consultation after consultation. And having to deal with all the people and their issues. (Can I be left alone?) The wife’s job looked perfect. She ran the practice, made decisions, sorted the post, made sure everything ran smoothly! Could I have her job? In hindsight, perhaps they might have offered to sponsor me in part. I went on to study Computer Science and Applied Math instead.
The only drawback with the job is the candidate should have been bilingual – fluent in English and Afrikaans. My Afrikaans is so weak, I tried but most patients would revert to English once they heard my poor attempts. And also some of the early morning Saturday starts were difficult once I started dating and having late Friday nights!
Never Again
I was brave when I fell pregnant for the second time (my first pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage). I decided to take on nature and ‘be one with it’. I can so do a water birth(!), I figured. So I dragged the lucky husband to class, invested in a birthing ball, and selected the ‘best’ maternity clinic in Johannesburg. I dropped my doctor who was chief advocate for Caesarian sections, and enlisted the services of a wonderful midwife whom I had read about in a maternity magazine. The big day arrived and time to put everything into practice. We arrived at the clinic at about 5am, and after a quick examination the midwife declared that we could have baby out in about an hour. An hour? I repeated. There’s no ways I’m ready for a baby in an hour. And then my contractions started real bad. She offered to run the bath for me but there was no chance I was leaving the security of solid ground. I don’t want to see a bath. Or water, I told her. That’s fine, she replied, and left me to my contractions. There was nowhere to go, but on the floor and cling to the bed. The bed was on rollers, hospital style, so even that was not providing adequate anchor to my body that was about to explode into a million tiny pieces. Husband was hanging around, not knowing what to do. Just leave! I asked him. He’s not going anywhere. I eventually pleaded, take the birth ball and get it pumped up. He, of the male species that did this to me, the enemy. I wanted the ball as much as I wanted the bath, but if he didn’t leave the room and soon I was going to murder him. With my bare hands. The midwife returned and I begged of her. Please! Put a gun against my head, I would rather be dead. Kill me now! Cut the baby out, just make it stop! She called the anesthetist, who was stuck in peak hour traffic. He finally arrived and administered an epidural. After a couple of hours it was time to push. A few minutes before noon, my baby was born. I looked over and saw a tiny grey body, not making a sound. Is he alive? Yes, he was alive and I was Mother. And after that, I decided I will Never do that again. And I haven’t! Some things you do once, and learn your lesson. Caesarian section with my daughter, and a walk in the park.
Quirky Habits
I haven’t seen the inside of a box of cigarettes lately, but when I was growing up, there was always a loose piece of paper at the top. My late mother used to always roll the paper while she was watching something on the television, or reading a book. I guess it kept her hands busy. Other times she would be quite adept at knitting, but if there was no knitting happening, out came the paper rolling!
My quirky habits include talking to myself aloud. It happens often. I also have a habit of pulling out my hair. Quite literally. I search for any straggly ones and if I discover one, I yank it out! All these straggly hairs started when I was pregnant, must have been a hormone thing that stayed. Or maybe that’s just when I first noticed them. Some strands look like alien strands. Where did this hair even come from? TMI, lol! 😀
Thirst
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Ripped from the Headlines!.”
My thirst overwhelms
I crawl to a well
But the water is dried
I long for a drop of
Moisture on my tongue
But there is none
If water is life
Then we are dead
http://m.news24.com/news24/SouthAfrica/News/level-2-water-restrictions-imposed-in-joburg-20151109
Claustrophobia
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “1984.”
You’re locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s in the room.
I’m locked in a room with my greatest fear. Well, that in itself would be one of my greatest fears. Being locked in a room alone. Or stuck in an elevator. Or in a bathroom with a door handle that’s failed, and windows with bars over them. Or locked in a room with the dead body of your partner.
A few weeks back I read a heartwrenching article on the genocide happening to South African farmers. On one farm an elderly couple and their visitor were attacked. They were ordered to open their walk-in safe. The wife was shot dead in the back of the head, and all three were locked in the safe, including the body of the murdered wife. The visitor and husband were rescued the following morning when someone stopped by and heard their cries.
Imagine being locked in a dark safe, no windows or water, and with your partner’s dead body? Someone you’ve spent your life with, and created children and memories together. Is there anything on earth that could be worse than that?
Poems and Petals 