Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Wild Woman Tells All

Wild Woman, Indicating the Direction

Listen up, kids, because
Wild Woman has a few nuggets 
of hard-won wisdom to share.
Call 'em Crone Crunchies,
because you can put toppings on them,
and try to make them sweeter,
but in the end,
you're still eating what's underneath:
good for you, if not especially tasty.

First, you will look all over:
another book, another path,
a different place,
a different life,
tried on like your Great Grandma's old hat,
beautiful in its day,
but bearing no resemblance
to the life you will eventually
call your own.

You will look to person after person
to be that Other who will magically
make you whole,
then find out it is
An Inside Job.
Sorry, for that is the hardest truth I know.

Also difficult,
but necessary, 
is looking Within
and discovering that,
contrary to all your misgivings,
you are not more horrible or less deserving
than any other human.
You'll do, in a pinch.

You will give of yourself till you are
stripped bare,
yet it will never ever
seem to be
Enough.
Enough is what, eventually,
you will discover 
you are left with,
after you stop 
all the Looking 
and the Doing,
and you down-size on 
the Reclamation Projects,
for there clearly isn't enough time
to save the world,
or anyone, really, but, perhaps, yourself.
Enough is what's left
after you
strip away what doesn't serve you,
sit on whichever porch
you've landed up on,
and just stare at the sky
and listen to the birds.

After all that striving and searching,
isn't it a bummer to discover
that it's just that easy?

I always look forward to Wednesday, because Kim's prompts at Poets United's Verse First are always so wonderful. Today Kim wants us to tell the wild truth. So as usual, I just started tapping on the keys, to find out what I am thinking. Do check out Verse First. (I am eager to see what everyone else knows. Maybe we can combine the knowledge and start a movement!)


26 comments:

  1. wow, Sherry, honestly, you have struck a nerve in me with this one. perfect timing. fantastic reminder: it's an Inside Job, and you are good enough. (are you listening, Self?)

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  2. It take a lifetime of a journey to learn and unlearn these simple truths Sherry ~ And in the end, we are just by ourselves, accepting our strengths and knowing we can't save the world nor change anyone but our own dear self ~ Wishing you happy week ~

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  3. Said in the most fun, gentlest way. I totally believe you are enough.

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  4. This is wonderful Sherry and our growth is definitely "an inside job".

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  5. Here is wisdom indeed, Sherry, and so tenderly conveyed to the reader, both expressing love of self and of others.

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  6. Sometimes it takes almost a whole lifetime to find out the most important things in life......and one then finds it is the looking within that yields the greatest rewards. And, yes, you are definitely enough!! I enjoyed your truths, Sherry.

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  7. U will never run out of words of wisdom for us..

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  8. /Call them Crone crunches because you can put toppings on them and make them sweeter? great line - what a visual!

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  9. Oh, how I love these lines:

    Enough is what's left
    after you
    strip away what doesn't serve you,
    sit on whichever porch
    you've landed up on,
    and just stare at the sky
    and listen to the birds.

    You teach me every time you write, Sherry. This is sublime.

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  10. Sherry, well said! I so like "an inside job".

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  11. Love it's an inside job! Thanks for sharing your wisdom!

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  12. I'm going to echo everyone else who has already said "an inside job." Why does it take so long for us to learn that?

    Elizabeth
    http://soulsmusic.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/distillation-of-truth/

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  13. Wonderful truths, a little sorry they come at such a high price, your life. xoxoxoxo

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  14. Sherry, your Crone Crumbs are gold. The part about relationships stung as though my divorce was yesterday, not 20 years ago! A good reminder. "An inside job," yes, yes... great writing, hon. Amy

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  15. "Crone Crunchies" that was absolutely hilarious

    Brilliant!!! Brilliant!!! Brilliant!!! So much wisdom in this, I wish I could pick your brain for hours lol

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  16. oh! i really wish it was easy but the fact remains that it is easy when done and dusted but there is something pulling us away always!

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  17. Yes, to our end, 'enough' is you and the sky, the stars, the moon, the sun the earth. We long to be a part of everything and soon we will but all we can do is give of ourselves in the best way we know and hope somehow it will affect something or someone for the 'good'. I sit here and ponder, as you do; when once I become once again part of the sky, stars, moon, sun and earth, will 'I' be congnizant of this?

    Peace be with you mi amiga!

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  18. This is a delight! I love the down-to-earth language with which you impart this wisdom. The phrase 'Crone Crunches' should go into the collective consciousness.

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  19. Sherry,

    A great piece of advice for those travelling the path of life, in your footsteps...The plain old truth is the best ingredient, in spite of the other sweet and sickly coatings...Evolving to simply be ourselves and true to that as well:)

    Best Wednesday wishes from wet and cold UK. Snow expected yet again!!!
    Eileen

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  20. I think you should write a book with all of your Crone Crunchies..they are so truth!
    Kernels of wisdom ;D We all must learn!
    Love this poem and how much you share!

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  21. I've missed your wisdom Sherry. You confirm what my heart tells me. I can't believe I've been away this long. Glad to be reading, connecting with you again. Will resume blogging soon.

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  22. A reality bite from a bowl of Crone Crunchies! Love it and Amen sister to your poem, it really is just that easy. We humans like to make everything so hard by doubting and searching outside of ourselves. Such a waste of time, but how wonderful when we finally get it. Or do we truly ever really get it? Perhaps. ;)

    Enjoyed your poem.

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  23. Ah, yes, the wisdom we have gathered over our ages, Sherry. We know, but sometimes even we forget. Isn't it strange how that happens?
    More soon.
    K

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  24. sit on whichever porch you've landed up on,
    and just stare at the sky and listen to the birds - yep, go with the flow and stop to smell the roses. Lovely poem.

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  25. i love your playful, utterly wise voice here. an inside job indeed. what are we teaching our kids in school if not that, if not helping them create a roadmap for happiness. instead, the history books are devoid of all the labor struggles in this country and we lament the alienation our population suffers from. your blog ought to be a required course for anyone coming of age, darling.

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