Charter

Damn! This is an ontological masterpiece A...as the Buddha said...we must be lanterns unto ourself...it reminds me how easy it is to impose "freewill" on others...not so easy to look long and hard into the mirror of the "Self". Bravo...see, told you that you are the Goddess here lol.
Cheers...Harry

Thank you, Harry!  Ontological  is a perfect word to have someone use when describing one's poetry.  I don't know about Goddess! Far from that; however, I do appreciate you saying such.  I hope you are well and staying safe, my friend!

That was awesome!! I'm not sure if I've ever heard an actual reading by you, but you are excellent with the way you conveyed your message... the ebb and flow/inflection of emotion in your voice, really added a lot of value to this one, and the message was very empowering.

I think I know exactly what you are saying. I think it is those little hiccups and disagreements that allow us to continue to grow and learn and reevaluate our beliefs.

What I also got from this was that at some point we have a choice to be a victim to our own mind, or take control over our own thoughts, to stop making excuses, and take charge of our lives.

Anyway, that's my interpretation. I think you should do more actual readings like this... I think you have a skill. You have a strong voice which I don't often hear 😁

Thank you, NB. I probably have close to 20 readings or so in my catalogue.  I don't think you've been here that long, maybe, to hear any.  

Yep, without contrast everything stays the same, and we never learn what it is we actually want.  Those who constantly play the victim, thus eschewing their own vibration as part of their experience rarely learn until they accept responsibility for their own actions.

Thank you for your interpretation.  Much appreciated.

Wow!...  
... ...  
The video...  
Trapped life beneath the night's black sky ... Dim lights in super Slo-Mo... Asleep souls...  
Still life with human minds and psychodrama...  
... ...

I'll take the 'Wow!. . .' any day, Marks. Thank you.

You're welcome, Ahavati.

Simply Superb.
🌹

Thank you, PS. There's a lot of power in that word!

Ultimate depiction of life with the unexpected!  I guess why is the eternal question. Superb,  I’m blown away.

Thank you, anvinvil. Much appreciated.

I was just thinking about, how when I was young I had experiences where I felt frightened or saddened for no reason, and looking back I realized I was having premonitions of my own future in those moments that were to be difficult.  But in your poem, it's the opposite, looking back and remembering a diifficult past moment and revisiting it.  In some ways that's harder to face than a blind fear of unknown.  But as you said, learning from it is the essential part (will that word have new definitions, like must it be food or medicine?)  Well it amounts to both for the self and we get to define that!  Very impowering write :)

Thank you, PR.  A fantastic interpretation! Someone wise once said, 'Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.'  That includes self first and foremost.  Or, it does to me, being that change always begins with self, be it physical or psychological.

I love that saying, I never thought of it applying to self, but that makes sense to learn from our own mistakes of the past to not repeat them.

First and foremost, change begins with us.
Thank you, PR. Much appreciated.

Dear A,

I agree with NB regarding the inflection of your voice adding value to the piece. It was quite moving.
“Come what may
be it true or false—
if you want me gone
push me out yourself; “ courage and owning one’s actions. I very much appreciate this stanza outside of its original context.
We do have control over our responses to situations in life and it’s always helpful to remember that. Impossible though it might sometimes feel.
Wonderful write! H🌷

Thank you, Honoria, and it's nice to have you back. Always enjoy your interpretations. You're very much correct in that we may not have control of the situations we face; however, we have total control over our own reactions to them. xo

Exactly, Kfn.  Love is always leading the way. If we can't see or don't listen in one aspect, then it will attempt a different route until we eventually get it. LOL!

Thank you; much appreciated.

Firstly I’m impressed you stuck with a piece that long to see it thru, secondly, thank god I'm not
workin’ on anythin’ similar becuz I’m sure I’d have abandoned it by now! lol... anywho, outstanding is the last thing I can say as your end result!

LOL! Reading for that long can definitely be a challenge at times, PoeticOne; however, if you view it as speaking with vs reading to others, it helps a bit; o, at least it does me.  

Thank you, my friend. Always good to see you pop in here with words and poetry!

Well, I'm thrilled to finally see this finished. I was beginning to wonder if it would ever be. NO POEM LEFT BEHIND! Yay!  

The reading is lovely as always and background music was a great complement.

What struck me the most about this was the rhyming. Unless it was a Seuss emulation for our Classic Corner comps, you rarely ever rhymed in the 3+ years I've know you. I'm glad you stepped out of the box.

What it conjures in my mind are my early teenage nerd days of playing Dungeons & Dragons in which the pre-packaged adventures were already mapped out and mostly written in stone, but as players your belief was suspended to such a degree that anything could be awaiting around the next corridor corner. You could replay them by following through with different choices for an alternative outcome - which is where the deja vu would come in, despite your best attempts to suspend belief again. And in retrospect, all that dice rolling to determine what happened next was just illusion to reinforce the idea of randomness.

This poem speaks of how, by holding our ground in the face of fears and not giving in to old habits, we can move onto the next level rather than remaining in a loop void of change.

It is a thought provoking gift to read, so thank you for this.  

📝❤

LOL @ 'NO POEM LEFT BEHIND'!  The good ole days. :D

Sometimes you have to wait for a poem to be ready vs just throwing it up.  This, as you know, was written for Mel to critique ( thus the rhyming in her style, per se ); I ended up doing it myself. LOL! I've been going back through a LOT of my poetry, critiquing and rewriting. It's amazing how much we change in a matter of years.

I am surprised I didn't revamp the rhyming, but it felt right. And I do love a good rhyming poem that doesn't feel forced at times. I think poetry leads you out of the box at times.

Your interpretation about holding your ground and not repeating the same ole same ole is absolutely correct.  It's a patter we need to break if we expect to evolve as individuals and a species as a whole.

Thank you always for your love and support. 📝❤

Wow. Great work.
I dont have the patience to work on anything for a year. Lol good on you.

Thanks, Nikks! Much appreciated.

This is fantastic Dear Ahavati🌹and your recitation is superb. I tried to listen to it this morning but it won't play. Glad I heard it this evening.🌹❤

Hi, Summer; sorry about that.  Someone ( who took it personally ) kept reporting it to youtube as offensive and violating community guidelines, so they kept removing it. They sent me an email this morning apologizing, saying they'd reinstated it after review.  
 
Right. Because artistic expression.  
 
Thank you for your support. xo  

Ahavati - 1
Annoying gnat - 0

Oh😯 I don't find anything offensive in your poem. I played it many times cos I was enthralled by your voice.☺🌹

Thank you, Summer. I have been in good standing with Youtube for over a decade ( if not longer ).  It was an individual who was acting out of spite and jealousy. It's a shame but at least it's over now.  

Thank you for your support. ❤

Oh sorry to hear that Ahavati. I don't understand why there are people like that who are never happy with themselves. Jealous people are not happy and are insecure.🤔

I liked how this poem reminded me of the saying "we find our path by walking it" -- and choices along the way seem often to have to be made with that sense of 'deja-vu' going round the spiral {hopefully upwards  :)) }

Thank you, Josh. Yep; you're exactly right! We do find our path by walking and experience—if we choose to learn from those experiences and not cower to self-pity or repetitive patterns

Much appreciated.

Beautiful.🌹👏🥺


I thought you were too busy to post....
I kept looking - in vain - for your poems in my update list.
Now I find out I wasn’t subbed? I unsubbed? I don’t recall doing that.

I’m just glad I clicked on your profile page. 💖

No worries, Jess. Happens all the time.  
Thank you.

💖

Zuperbo !

a pleasure indeed........

Thank you, Dada! Zuperbo is awesomeness! ❤

Good Lord this was awesome. Loved, loved, loved the delivery, the power and wisdom through every line.
It really is a treasure to have you here at DUP.

Thank you, Wally, your kindness is very much appreciated.  

Ama-zing that's how that great this piece is

Thank you, PoT! Much appreciated.

Love .. is THE inexplicably holding syncing truth... that a wise heartmindsoul feels breaths needs ..beyond the realms of mere knowing & the worldly inhumankind that digs grave for self in heady heaviness n more that needs to be mended amended ..unto Love Love Love & only Love.. it leads One ev in light ..strong message & flow in your poetic wise  glow as ev A.... haven't heart audio but wl do soonest, sure that wud hav added the emphasizing  punch   of a creator of your love & wise souleyes ...Much Love as ev ..shine on xx:)

Thank you, my dear friend! I love your insights as much as your poetry; though I think both may be born of the other and entwined in wise enlightenment. ❤

I am going to make a poet video list on my YouTube channel, and I want to feature this as my first. 👍

Thank you Jess.

Yay!! I was waiting to see how you felt. One thing. Do you want to grow with my 100+ small YouTubers? We would swarm-sub you and probably they would all list your poetry by picking their favs. (I encourage my channel fam 2 do that)

There is a catch. Your vids need to be public to play-list. Would you be ready for that?

Hi, Jess—

One thing I don't do ( outside of this venue ) is advertise for followers.  I'm not interested in numbers, but those who follow because they're truly interested.  I also don't do it as a social media manager—what good are 1000 followers if only 12 participate? It actually makes you look worse to have hundreds of followers but hardly any participating.  

Also, I think your channel is pretty much political, isn't it?

My niche is small YouTubers with a desire to grow.

I’m turning my site into a grocery store of opportunity slanted towards shut-in or work-at-home women (slanted because I profile my invites in that direction.)  

I’m trying to counter hopelessness and isolation. I have an uplift playlist, small musicians playlist, and I’ve been waiting to start my poets playlist.... for you to be featured first! (Also might get spots in the uplift playlist.)

Okay I don't mind that avenue if it's clarified it's poetry and not associated with anything political.

Right! Makes sense. It’s going to be on your channel. You define your channel. I just post a shoutout to a good-friend and national treasure, and announce a new playlist with your (public vids) at the top. And.... I can make the shoutout private until you approve it for public consumption. 🙏😎

Also... don’t rush the thinking. We can talk tomorrow or next week. I will wait to hear from you.💖

I love this  Ahavati! We are not always able to decide our experiences but we can decide to learn from them.

How can you know
how far you've evolved
were it not for challenges
forcing you to grow?

I believe it is the challenges in life that shape character.  I think this poem speaks a very wise and honest perspective! Thank you😘

Hi, Mel! So good to see you back around!

Exactly, my friend, we ( for the most part ) cannot control what happens to ourselves; however, we can control how we react.  

Thank you for your perspective, Mel. I do hope this means that we'll see more of you around. xo

Great writing. Seems astonishing.

Thank you, Lozzamus. Much appreciated.

Thank you, and welcome to DU.  I had not made the Frost connection.