Pages

Monday 18 March 2019

Poetry Monday: Blessings

It's Poetry Monday, and this week's topic is . . . blessings.

Join Delores and me as we count ours. Or do something else poetic with them. One never knows what words will come from one's head until they're on the screen, I find . . .

You can leave a poem in the comments on either of our blogs, or post on your own blog. If you do the latter, please leave a comment so we know where to find you.

*****

I was stymied by this week's topic up until the last minute -- again -- but then, as I thought about it in terms of what I wish for other people (rather than what I have myself), it fell into place. The wishes are loosely based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which you can read more about here if you are interested.  The sad thing is that so many people around the world, and close to home, do not have even the most basic of their needs fulfilled.



*****

Blessings

May you have clean water to drink
And enough food to eat

May you have safety from harm
And a roof to shelter you from weather

May you have good health, and if you do not
Then may you have courage to keep on

May you have people to love, and people who love you
(Both fur-less and furry kinds, as you prefer)

May you have work that is meaningful to you
And beauty in your life
And may you become all that you are capable of being

May someone remember you with fondness
When you are gone






*****

Next week's mission topic, should you choose to accept it, is . . . MONKEYS . . .


In the meantime, I hope the world treats you well.







44 comments:

dinthebeast said...

I love your poem, and this subject is causing me to reach waaay back into the corner of my memory for something I wrote in a notebook in the early nineties right after I was taken in off of the street by my (new at the time) friend JT:

Though simple and small
Are the things
That make this a good day,
The fact remains
That today is a good day
Anyway.

I hope I got that right after all of these years, but the thought comes through, and I find myself returning to it over and over.

-Doug in Oakland

River said...

Your poem is very lovely, I have most of those things, so I am truly blessed.
Monkeys? I have several, all stuffed (toys)

baili said...

I think you put it the very best way dear jenny!

this is TOUCHING

This is BEAUTIFUL

This is MEANINGFUL

and this is PERFECT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"may you become of all that you capable of being"

"May someone remember you with fondness ,when you are gone"

ah this is so remarkable and precise my friend!

May you keep writing so beautifully with simplicity of being genuine and straight from heart !

more blessings to you !
hugs!

LL Cool Joe said...

It's interesting the way we all hope someone will remember us with fondness when we are gone. The truth is we'll be gone, so we'll never know anyway. :D

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

Maslow's Hiearchy of needs transformed into a poem. Sweet! we discussed said hierarchy only yesterday, almost agreeing that we needed to add the rigth to feel abused (in a #me too etc. way) at the top ;) But I think that would have ruined your poem.
Greetings from an old, bitter Owl. And thanks for the monkeys.

Marie Smith said...

I love how you used the poem to wish blessings on others. Bless you, Jenny.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

That is such a good subject, Jenny, and you did well with it. Life is hard but we are given so many blessings that we sometimes take them for granted. Good health, good friends, and a meaningful life are the joys that we should always be thankful. I have also found that even during my darkest times I have experienced so many blessings through the power of love.

only slightly confused said...

Beautiful wishes.......may they all come true. Monkeys huh? Wow!!

Red said...

We need more of this today where we genuinely wish others all the good things in their lives rather than today where it's divide and conquer.

Joanne Noragon said...

A very meaningful statement of blessing's goodness.

37paddington said...

You indeed captured life's richest blessings. Thank you.

messymimi said...

That was a poetic blessing prayer, i think, quite lovely.

My poetic focus was on children.

e said...

Wonderful!!

Steve Reed said...

When I'm gone?! I'm not going anywhere! :)

jenny_o said...

That is short and clear enough to be a mantra of sorts, isn't it? I like it.

jenny_o said...

Thank you; me too, River. Blessed, I mean. I have no monkeys!

jenny_o said...

Thank you, baili my friend! (Friend x 2!) I am happy with this poem and I am glad you like it.

jenny_o said...

I know that, and yet I still find it comforting (while I'm still here) to think that someone will remember me the way I remember other people!

jenny_o said...

I've had the very same thought, Uglemor! If that makes us old and bitter, we'll be that way together :) Thank you for taking part in the challenge again - I like how you chose a different word or phrase from the opening line to expand on in each verse.

For other readers: Here is the link to Uglemor's poem this week (copy/paste):
http://krydderuglen.blogspot.com/

jenny_o said...

Thank you, Marie. It surprised me how easy it was to write this from a different perspective than what I started with.

jenny_o said...

From bad things can come some good . . . so true. And you're right, it's too easy to take our blessings for granted sometimes.

jenny_o said...

Yep, monkeys . . . I picked the first thing that came to mind, and I don't even know why I was thinking about monkeys . . . so don't worry, I don't have a head start - ha ha

jenny_o said...

Yes! It goes along well with your blog post of yesterday too, Red, which was excellent, by the way.

jenny_o said...

I had a hand from that old Maslow feller :)

jenny_o said...

Thank you, mimi. I enjoyed your poem so much - it rang very true for me.

For other readers: follow mimi's link above to read her poem for this week.

jenny_o said...

Glad you liked it, e :)

jenny_o said...

Oh boy, do I have a surprise for you!!! lol

Infidel753 said...

Hope it's OK that this is off-topic for today -- this item was prompted in part by your "distance" theme from a couple of weeks ago, meshed with a long-standing idea of my own. It just took me some time to get it posted.

jenny_o said...

Nice one - well done there. Thanks for linking.

Post any poem - anytime. That's my feeling :)

For other readers: click on the link above to read Infidel753's poem.

jenny_o said...

Thanks, Joanne.

Diane Henders said...

What a lovely poem, and lovely thoughts behind it. Thank you! :-)

jenny_o said...

Glad you enjoyed :)

Martha said...

This is beautiful. A reminder to not take for granted what so many people wish they could have. It's the simple, basic things that bring peace and joy into our lives.

jenny_o said...

Yes indeed!

John M said...

Good thoughts.

jenny_o said...

Thank you, John.

Cherie said...

It's time to count our blessings
Give thanks for those we love
Surrounded by such wonderful friends
Give thanks to God above
The lovely warmth of springtime
And soft refreshing pain
The surgeons and the doctors who keep us free from pain

jenny_o said...

I know you meant "rain" in the second last line, Cherie, but I couldn't correct it before publishing. This is a lovely poem to remember the particular skills of medical people who are indeed a blessing.

You must be counting the hours before you have your surgery; I know I would be anyway.

kylie said...

I like your take on the subject and am reminded that so many are without many of these life essentials.

I bounce your poem back to you, with particular emphasis on the fur children (or funny cat videos as an absolute minimum)

jenny_o said...

Thank you, kylie - and I get my daily dose of funny animals without fail :)

only slightly confused said...

It's Friday night and after a week of false starts...it finally came to me.

Mr. Shife said...

Great stuff, jenny_o. It's especially meaningful after my recent post about my mom. Take care and I hope the world is treating you well also.

jenny_o said...

And now it's Saturday afternoon and you're way ahead of me!

jenny_o said...

Indeed. We are lucky if we have great parents like your mom.