When I inhale the glow of morning light
as I awaken from restful slumbers
and my lips curl into a grateful smile
to the only one who has my number

It ignites within the intimate song
lain firmly between my lips and my heart
proving that hereon nothing can go wrong
for the day's already on a good start

Shame on me if I recklessly waste it--
God bestowed; not of my own making
doubly disgraceful if I try to quit
given to me wholly for the taking

  Aghast, Death stares-- calmy for me waiting
  Lest I live my one life unrepining

                  ***
         © 2021 selmamartin.com

Mantras and affirmations help keep me afloat in a world that’s anything but
perfect.

Whatever you do; Wherever you go, Go with your Whole Heart.

My late father instilled this mantra in me, and I swear it has served me well. I take it along everywhere I go. Similarly, an affirmation that I recite upon waking as it encapsulates everything I believe in is

Something extraordinary will happen to me today.

I kid you not– it works wonders!

But in the last two weeks, I find myself aghast: derailed and out of the vortex, like a turtle that someone kicked and left struggling to flip itself over. And in allowing myself to repine, these wise words I swear by have been unable to do their job.

“Why?” I question, dismayed.

I’ve been letting days pass me by– almost disenchanted when hardly a few days ago, in an ekphrastic poem, I reminded myself how we’re made of the same matter as the stars.

Extraordinary is what we are!

I’ll put my frailty to an end. And henceforward, I’m adding those exact wise words to every stumbling block I encounter. 

So as a good start, I wrote my second sonnet for the Ragtag Daily Prompt: AGHAST.

For you. For me.

Shakespeare’s sonnets are composed of 14 lines, each written in iambic
pentameter and most with the traditional rhyme scheme of the English
sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. In addition, Shakespeare’s sonnets typically
have three distinct quatrains, each of which often is constructed with
a separate metaphor and a closing couplet that ties everything together.

Thanks for reading, dear friends. I hope you find something here to resonate with.
Feel free to use my thumbnail words to your benefit– share them if you like, and if
you have any words of your own that ground you, bring you back from the land whence those negative emotions spring, please share them with me. I’d love to hear them.

Photo: Image by Prawny from Pixabay 
I wish you Miracles.

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Selma Martin

I’m a simple woman who dares to see the beauty in ordinary. I’d love to connect with you and like pen pals, I want something beautiful to blossom between us. Will you join me? Selma is my middle name. Its meaning—peaceful, complete, are euphoric affirmations I like to think of myself as having. They compliment the joy I feel when I write. I sincerely hope you decide to join me on my writing journey. I Wish You Miracles.

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