Category: Reaping What We’ve Sown

NaPoWriMo Day 12

On By WinstonIn diabetes, Health, My Vice of Choice, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Reaping What We've Sown, Self Awareness, Sugar Addict, The Bill Always Comes Due, The Choices We MakeLeave a comment

I have been living with diabetes for years now. For the last year of so, I’ve been doing much better at controlling it as I’m well aware of the potential consequences if I don’t. Dealing with other health issues and the stress of being off work, I’ve been eating my emotions lately and for me that means sugar. This poem is about that. Enjoy!

My Vice of Choice

So I have a little sweet tooth,

That runs my life for me,

Sure there’s healthy choices out there,

But sugar’s all I see.

I could resist temptation sure,

That’s so easy to say,

But when the sweets start calling me,

Best don’t get in my way.

I have heard people say some things,

Are really just too sweet,

I’m sad for them, but that’s okay,

It’s more for me to eat.

I used to smoke, and get quite drunk,

Quit for my health I’m glad,

But sugar’s still my drug of choice,

Two out of three ain’t bad.

I am a diabetic so,

My vice may court my death,

I’m like a life-long smoker who,

Lights up though short of breath.

But I’m still here so there’s still hope,

One day I may break free,

And finally beat this jones of mine,

Before my jones beats me.

Cheers,

NaPoWriMo Day 11

On By WinstonIn Extended Family,, family, Friendship, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Reaping What We've Sown, Relationships, This crew of mine, Values, Work WifeLeave a comment

I’m the deputy supervisor of my team at work and I’ve been off for a while for health reasons. During that time, several of my staff have reached out to see when I’m going to be back, or if I need any help. One of them even offered to shovel my driveway during the winter. Lately, I’ve been missing my “other” family.

My Extended Family

I have another family,

That I spend time with too,

Sometimes they drive me to the brink,

I don’t know what to do.

They have their spats as fam’lies do,

Then all tell me their woes,

What’s every side to every beef?

I am the one who knows.

All of them know that they can come,

When something’s on their mind,

While maybe I can’t fix it all,

A friendly ear they’ll find.

And when the news is something good,

I’m there to celebrate,

I build them up and help them grow,

My goal to make them great.

There’s some who don’t appreciate,

The effort that I make,

They don’t believe I really care,

Say all they see is fake.

But that’s okay, that’s how it goes,

I still treat them the same,

For in the end, we’re all one team,

All playing the same game.

I am a supervisor see,

This family my staff,

Some days they make me tear my hair,

But still find time to laugh.

If for each other, we don’t care,

Then just who will I ask,

Such kindness looks like weakness so,

Let’s focus on the task.

A rising tide lifts every boat,

And happy staff do more,

Head office thinks that’s why I fight,

To help my people soar.

The truth is I was one of them,

Before I got this spot,

I understand and so would ease,

The burden of their lot.

They’re my extended family,

For better or for worse,

As my phone rings, I’m wondering,

A blessing or a curse.

Cheers,

NaPoWriMo Day 5

On By WinstonIn Embrace the Wild, Environment, Global Issues, Green Energy, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Reaping What We've Sown, Science, Society, spring, The Bill Always Comes Due, The Choices We Make, ValuesLeave a comment

So, the area I live in is currently in the grip of a massive, late season ice storm. Today’s poem is in recognition of this and looks at the dangers of climate change and our role in it. Enjoy!

Anthropocene

Ice yet lies thick upon the ground,

Though winter’s in the past,

Now any day the spring will come,

This mis’ry cannot last.

Yet ice still clings to every branch,

And turns the roads to glass,

But soon enough this all will melt,

Replaced by sweet, green grass.

And still the ice yet thicker grows,

What if this is the year?

The winter holds on just too long,

What will we eat my dear?

Ice covered fields, as yet unthawed,

Too late to plant a crop,

You think this just a farmer thing,

Wait ‘til you try to shop!

The ice is just our weather here,

Elsewhere it’s floods and drought,

With wildfires burning free,

Can be but little doubt.

This ice you see is just one face,

Of what our choices bought,

Now look in terror ‘round the globe,

What our own hands have wrought.

This ice will melt, do not despair,

The end is not yet writ,

We yet may change our future path,

If we but find the wit.

Yet even though the ice will melt,

Don’t think that all is well,

If we refuse to change our ways,

That tale’s too sad to tell.

Cheers,

NaPoWriMo Day 3

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Reaping What We've Sown, Self Awareness, The Bill Always Comes Due, The Choices We MakeLeave a comment

Recently, I have been experiencing some health challenges which have had a major impact on my life. So, the best way to process it seemed to write it out. Tomorrow, I should be back to my more usual fare. In the meantime…  Enjoy.

I Am The Author Of My Fate

We all make plans from where we are,

To where we want to be.

But life it seems has it’s own schemes,

That we but seldom see.

For years I lived just as I pleased,

Immortal in my youth,

I smoked and drank and ate my fill,

Ignored my health in truth.

Then after twenty years or more,

There was some troubling stuff,

My breath was short, stairs more a chore,

I said that was enough.

I haven’t smoked in many years,

Nor drunk in quite a while.

I’m eating less, more exercise,

You’d think it cause to smile.

Yet still despite these changes I,

Had tightness in my chest,

Which soon enough became such pain,

I knew this was no jest.

I did the work and took the tests,

Confirmed is heart disease.

The doctor said I am quite young,

I said just fix it please.

The stents went in, the pain was gone,

My life was once more mine.

But then the strangest feeling came,

No longer was I fine.

Not pain but pressure in my chest,

No energy at all,

A racing heart for hours then,

Was like I’d hit a wall.

And then more tests to understand,

My new situation,

My heart’s defective wiring caused,

Atrial fibrillation.

So back into the shop I go,

To get the wiring fixed,

And from the start they are up front,

Long term results are mixed.

For three years all was good as gold,

My heart worked like it should,

But now it has come back again,

As they had warned it could.

Twice I have gone to get it shocked,

Restore a normal pace,

My doctor said that is not good,

These pills should slow that race.

And so they do most of the time,

Still some blips here and there,

But they will keep the worst in check,

‘Til they once more repair.

The issue is the side effects,

Of this new med I take,

For tremors, nausea, vomiting,

Are things this drug can make.

For two months now, I haven’t worked,

Just once have left my home,

I hate to throw up publicly,

Which limits where I roam.

Soon now I’ll see the doctor who,

Will sort this out again,

And finally leave these drugs behind,

I’ll get my life back then.

Cheers,