THE SISTERHOOD

[Photos  L-to-R: Dorothy Hazel Tarr and younger sister Betty Lucille Tarr]

(20 DEC 2011 – Time cures all ills and heals all wounds – so say many quotations.  Forgiveness is a blessing one bestows on oneself.  Shame me once, Shame on me – Shame me more than once, Shame on you.  Enough is enough – I've had enough.  It's time to move on and let the past fall away with all the hatred.  The only way it seems to let it "go", is to let you "go" too.  Therefore, I release you from this day from any familial connection to me.  dht)

 I remember you, little Sister, as a little girl, but now I feel that we are strangers with little to nothing in common - but our DNA.  I know I won't hurt your feelings as I say this with complete honesty – you have forfeited your 'sisterhood' and 'familial ties' !!   Dredging up the past only brings painful memories back, and when I see your photos, hear your voice (so like my own), I'm reminded of how deep your betrayal in ALL THINGS!!

[Dorothy Hazel Tarr – 2011]

REMINISCING A DISTANT DREAM

                                      [PHOTO SOURCE:  GOOGLE online images]

Submitted by:   Dorothy Hazel Tarr.

(I wrote this on 12 Sep 2011, a day just so full of thoughts about WHAT WAS, WHAT I HAVE NOW, and WHAT THERE COULD HAVE BEEN.  Now, who among you can say you have NEVER traveled down the PATH of — Could-a, Would-a, Should-a !)  [dht-2011

How innocent and hopeful my bosom –

Overflowing to Love's Waltz.

Rescued moments caught in Heart's Webb –

Blurred now by Time's Hand.

As the years drop away –

Just once more to savor Youth's Day.

Never more the flicker of Youth's pleasure –

Or taste of Youth's hopeful zeal.

Long past – Now –

Just Reminiscing a Distant Dream – AGAIN!

[dht-2011]

WITHERED DREAMS

(I wrote this, 27 Aug 2011, thinking about the end of Summer and the withering blooms in the garden, some going dormant 'til Spring's awakening, while others gone forever more, lost to Winter's regret. [dht-2011])

*** WITHERED DREAMS ***

Sober Dreams shrouded in regrets still haunt,
with ever increasing frequency,
Transported "Home" in an enduring vision –
quietly sweeping and weeping
through the passageways of my mind.

When the "Fantasy of my Love"
turns to me with a smile,
I see through the haze of my slumber,
Spring's visage of Love's Tender Care.

OH -- for a portal through which one can return,
to a Time long passed and recoup innocence lost,
to revive a Dreamer's Fantasy long ago withered.

Yet tis ever naught, after all,
but a Dreamer's Tisane, a haunting illusion.

Naught but a Withered Dream.
[dht-2011]

                                     [PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

World Within Words – Unraveled

(I wrote this tangle, 24 Aug 2011, while trying to order my thoughts and realizing there are so-o many mysteries in Life's vast Realm that can never be understood, from the hollow pledges of others to the strange 'ports of call in the waters along our Life's Journey'. One thing is constant, though, and that's the 'last port' is the same for all. [dht-2011])

*** World Within Words – Unraveled ***

Day's Mysteries an intricate knot,
Whence attempts to unravel,
Prevail ere unresolved eclipse,
Whence nag Troubled Heart,

Whether confidences of Others,
Shared kindnesses of Kindred Spirits,
Whether hollow pledge spoken,
Or pledge rendered as token,

We yet go forth our Ports of Call,
Whence the Herald's Call,
We know the Tune,
Whence Journey's End looms.
[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

FOOTPRINTS ON MY HEART

(I wrote this, 21 Aug 2011, thinking how the treasures of my memories anchor me in the present, while at times impeding my Day's Journey. Living in the shadows of my past, haunting Dreams of Love, family, home, and passion, flee, leaving only their FOOTPRINTS ON MY HEART.)

*** FOOTPRINTS ON MY HEART ***

Thoughts adrift on Evening's Chill,
Senses teased by memories old.

Each breath increases awareness of environs,
Suggestive of a different path,
Echoes of Future's beckon.

Yet bonds of yesterday hold ransom,
Hampering fleeing memories.

Pains and fears awash the mind,
Whispers of the past surface,
Beneath the shifting sands of Time's Journey.

Abiding sadness permeates Day's Path,
Regrets a constant companion
[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: Cousin L. J. Scott, edited]

The Fabric of our Ever Changing Lives

(I wrote this thinking of the many ways our lives unfold and SOAR with moments of joy that may be misspent or missed altogether, and seen only as reflections through OTHER'S expressions and experiences. Seems SOME are lost to us, yet we spend our Life searching and wondering how the pattern was set before we knew how to set a stitch. How now to gladden a sorrow and sooth a loss?)
 
Woven of woe and joy,
Designs unique to each life,
Whole united to enjoy.
Each joy a trio of good, two bad.

First New, Warm and Rich,
Then Carrion, Cool and Poor,
First ASCENDING light as a BUBBLE,
Then BURST in Winter's SILENCE.

Simple pleasures bright in our Spring,
Soar in Summer with delight,
Shallow humbly in Fall, and
Shadow in Winter's Solace.

When the wildflowers wilt,
And angels visit,
Regret and Grief,
Stitch the final binding.

[dht-2011]

[PHOTO SOURCE: GOOGLE online images]

NATURE'S SECRETS

               [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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SOME OF MY WORDS

WHAT sweet poetry of NATURE'S anthem

resides in this inhospitable shell

WHAT mental stream of consciousness

keynotes a monologue of regret

WHAT creature exists on Earth's plane

at the changing mercy of NATURE'S whimsy

WHAT awaits the searcher

at the gong of life's end clock

WHAT unanswered calls of yesterday

go unsaid today and forgotten tomorrow

WHAT new dawn foretells

of fortunes lost on yesterday dreams

WHAT spent passion wounds

there cauterized by heartache

WHAT layers yet to unfold

reveal repeating patterns of yesterday shadows

WHAT sweet NATURE does restore

the balance and chase away demons

WHAT instrument NATURE's brandish

doth level the sharpness of lingering regret

WHAT rich nectar of NATURE does sustain

through moments of despair with assurance all's well

[dht-2011]

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SOME WORDS OF MY KINDRED SPIRIT AND COUSIN

This is "sweet poetry" indeed!  The poem goes so well with the picture.  The thing that first caught my attention was the circular patterns in the photo and the poem seems to be of things 'coming around', changing, the "circle of life" (so to speak).  I would venture to say the above questions might be part of your creative process.  "... phantoms, demons, shadows await the explorer" to be sure, but adventure, beauty, and solitude also await.  Although the season is irrelevant (to me), I feel it is late Summer or early Fall ... and I am a "participant", i.e., it is me in the photo standing outside the tent - waiting for my companion to return (notice the two sleeping bags) and enjoy the perfect moment-in-time together.

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"OH MY WORD! YOU have such a poetic SOUL and NATURE! YOU 'see' what is only revealed by the inner heart! YOU are truly one of the NATURE'S BLESSED!! [dht-2011]

Twice BLESSED are ye who see the heart where time and 'stance masks!"

[dht-2011]

‎"Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.”

[C. Pissarro]

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In this offering: What do you notice about the words? Their meaning? Sentence structure? Pairing of Sentences? First word, middle, or last words of Sentences? What words could be substituted? What connection words added for clarity? What meaning of your own would you assign to these words, phrases, sentences?

--------------- OR, Why didn't you just say so! ---------------

WHAT patterns do you see in this PIX?

WHAT mysteries of NATURE come to mind?

WHAT phantoms, demons, shadows await the explorer?

WHAT season is this?

WHAT time of day's cycle?

WHAT abode? Permanent? Temporal?

WHAT are you? Participant? Observer? Advisor? Companion? Uninvolved? Disinterested?

Don't give a 'hoot' or 'whistle'?

JUST an interesting PIX and some jumble of syllables?

---------------

Penguin -- Another Day, Another Nature

                         [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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SOME OF MY FAV QUOTES

My grandmother used to say, “If you can't change something, change the way you think about it."

[-Maya Angelou]

**"GRAMs always 'know' best!"  [dht-2011]  **

 

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

[-Maria Robinson]
 

“Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.”

[-unknown]

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” 

[-Flora Whittemore]

“Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” 

[-Keri Russell]

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.”

[-Pericles]

“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.”

[-Winston Churchill {Sir Winston Leonard Spencer -Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS (30 Nov 1874 – 24 Jan 1965) was a British politician and statesman} (my Maternal Cousin, THAT's right!) ]

“Life can either be accepted or changed.  If it is not accepted, it must be changed.  If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted.”  [-unknown]

“You've changed so much.  I guess that's what happens.  I wish you knew how much you changed me.  I wonder if I changed you, if your life is different because of me.  Because mine's different."

[-unknown]

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” 

[-Reinhold Niebuhr]

“Change is the essence of life.  Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”  [-unknown]

“Everything in life is connected somehow.  You may have to dig deep to find it but it's there.  Everything is the same even though it's different.  Somehow, everything connects back with your life.  The faces in certain places may be different, but the situation is the same.  Irony is a hidden factor that creeps around us in life, letting its presence felt only after it has left.  Picture back to a year ago and the situations you were in.  Look at how things are different yet somehow everything is still in some way cognate [alike].  Everything connects together to form the balance of life, to maintain structure.  Change is and always will be inevitable, but everything is relative, and all the moments and times in your life will come back around again, you just might find yourself on the other side of the coin.  Things are always changing, as fast as everything stays the same.”

[-unknown]

“Do not brood over your past mistakes and failures as this will only fill your mind with grief, regret, and depression.  Do not repeat them in the future.”

[-Swami Sivananda]
 

“Life is change.  Growth is optional.  Choose wisely.”  [-unknown]

“We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love.  It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person.”

[-William Somerset Maugham]

“It is always the simple things that change our lives.  And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen.  Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so.  You feel like running, but life is on a stroll.  This is how God does things.” 

[-Donald Miller]

 

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SOME OF MY WORDS
 

TODAY, 26 Feb 2011, was a life-changing day for me.  So I am posting these sayings that seem to 'fit' my new perspective with a photo that seems to pair with the 'new' !!!!

MY FAV saying and the one that most 'fits' me today is the last quote by Donald Miller!

 

THE PHOTO illustrates to ME in its imagery ---

ALTHOUGH I may look different on the outside while among you, IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY, you will see how much we are the same—IF YOU TAKE THE 'TIME' TO LOOK CLOSELY!

[dht-2011]
 

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DAY'S VENUE

                      [PHOTO SOURCE: National Geographic online images]

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WHERE goes the day

Down yesternight's passage

How blind today's privilege

Lost fast in yesterday's grasp

Tomorrow's dream a pledge

Whence nature's precedence assures

Breast expanse upon deep breath

While shallow essence sums life's interval

What key holds true for grantor's trust

Whilst surety and worth stand anon
 

Time bespoke metered sameness

Whose vowel foretold spoiled fortune

Ribbons linger as fragments

Where once whole, a heart full

Shattered spectrum of hopes

Cast away on ocean's tears

Love's gamble played and lost

Age of regret the debt

Once concealed by life's chains

Now released by nature's bail

What hostage behind the threshold

Where compromise affords release

What sound the closing door

What venue the open window

What knock insures a beggars entrance

What token barters the price

[DOROTHY HAZEL TARR, dht-2011]

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In this offering:

What do you notice about the words? Their meaning? Punctuation? Sentence structure? Pairing of Sentences? First word, middle, or last words of Sentences? What words could be substituted? What connection words added for clarity? What meaning of your own would you assign to these words, phrases, sentences?

--------------- OR, Why didn't you just say so! ---------------

Today is just a memory that has passed into yesterday.

Thoughts of yesterday blind you to the beauty of today.

Tomorrow is a new beginning as sure as the sun will rise.

Now the lungs expands, as if you had been living with too little air for a long time, where before your breaths were shallow and the pain too great for deep breathing.

What is the secret to giving your trust to another, while other(s) do nothing to earn and secure your trust?

The rest of your life will be nothing but more of the same ... misfortune.

The ones you LOVED the most in this world, have all cut away a piece of your heart, until all is left are tattered ribbons of melancholy and despair.

A bright future so full of a kaleidoscope of hopes lays shattered, lost and washed away with oceans of tears.

It may be better for some to LOVE and LOSE, than never to LOVE at all; but what price must be paid and for what duration.

The years of aching emptiness and pain are camouflaged in life's daily routine, but soon there will be an end to the pain as nature ends its hold to death's surrender.

Where are the words of forgiveness and compromise that release pain's grip on a broken heart?

The silence of the closing door confuses the opening of a window; as the lack of plain speaking confuses the path to understanding.

What will it cost the one who knocks; and what more must the one who knocks surrender?

[DOROTHY HAZEL TARR, dht-2011]

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PHOTO CAPTION -- or just a few words to go with the PIX.

It is astonishing how a few short phrases pierce the gray of your world with a single beam of light. [DOROTHY HAZEL TARR, dht-2011]

 WINDOW DREAMs

How sharp the contrast between

the heart's abode now worn with time's despair

and

the gaping mawe of fate with

its distant vistas casting new shades of meaning

on another world (another life, another time, another place)

filled with vibrant colors, sweet breaths, soft gentle breezes,

and LOVE's warm embrace.

[DOROTHY HAZEL TARR, dht-2011] 

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