Two Poems on Belonging

Why a picture of my dog Maisie? Well I think this photo expresses quite well what it means to belong. She clearly feels safe, she has unfettered access to a prime, very comfortable piece of real estate in the house and she feels she can truly be herself.....She's not hung up about shared values and the like

#belonging is a powerful force, for good and ill (there's sometime a thin line between #culture and cult.....)

I'd like to share two poems I've written. The second one is an example of what I do occasionally when the spirit moves me. I take a single rhyme and work it to death to see where it takes me. This time it was the word "belong"

The first is a bit more serious - it records a time when I was working at my dream job and really felt I belonged, only to discover I was deceiving myself. That feeling of belonging motivated me to do some of my best work and I was devastated when reality hit.....As such it also touches on feelings of #loneliness, rejection and #trust

POEM 1:

What on earth could be more wrong

Than feeling that you don’t belong?

But what if you really believe you do

And then find out it isn’t true?

That feeling was just a simple cloud,

You want to scream, scream out loud.

As you recall you were so proud

To be more than a member of the crowd

Events were not as they portrayed

Why was trust so suddenly betrayed?

How could I believe that it was safe?

What now can happen to restore my faith?

Did I fly too close to the sun?

Was I?having too much fun?

What then was my crime?

Could it have been a simple rhyme?

So now I sit alone, a world apart

Wondering if I can make a new start

Echoing words said, and those unspoken

An ego bruised,?a heart half broken.

Loneliness a deep quicksand

Praying someone holds out their hand

Out of my mind I’m beyond their sight,

Alone I cannot face this fight

Seeking the strength to step into the light. ?

POEM 2: (lighter fare)

I used to dream of being strong

Of writing a best selling song

Of looking great in just a thong

Of stepping on the moon before Neil Armstrong?

Of not compromising just to get along

Of being always right and never wrong

Of relaxing all day smoking a bong

Of jumping into things headlong?

Of being the best at ping pong

Of saving democracy in Hong Kong

Of being more powerful than Mao Zedong

Of waltzing with Matilda down by the billabong

Of being J Arthur Rank on gong

Of doing just what I want all day long

Of climbing Empire State with King Kong

Of catching flies with just my tongue?

Of being above average in lake Wobegone

But then of course that’s everyone

Of cycling faster than Lance Armstrong.

But now these dreams are all long gone

Except the dream that I might belong.

#humanconnection