Together - We Stand

(2016)

Still Standing (by Cheryl Banks)
I stand with challenge and dire tribulation
Undaunted by the world's intimidation
And shrugging off all the shallow affirmations
I chose to trust my judgment of intimation.

I am a sturdy vessel carrying a priceless rare pearl
Hard-pressed and mishandled has made me stronger still
Deep inside lies a courageous trusting thief.
A thief of honor, stealing the suffering of another’s grief.
Can you feel me from the shores on which you dance
I'm just a one woman storm, fighting for a chance.

Stressed and burdened in the long sleepless dark
Fighting other’s battles as a different Joan of Arc.
I will beat these dark days as I’m a subtle warrior
A wingless angel and tireless mind explorer
I am strong in quiet ways of introspected grace
Yet, in the alone, my waning force seeks for your embrace.

For you would place me close to God in highest tower
Your passion, truth, and love renews my sapping power
You alone witness my tossing on long and sleepless nights
My dreamcatcher’s constancy, making fractured parts unite.

I am your starburst center, the axis on which you spin
You are my crashing sea waves and cool spray on sunburned skin
I am a magical star-wisher and converser with the moon
And you, my dear, a rare instrument, just slightly out of tune.
The congregation of alikeness and the symmetry we’ve sought,
It occurs to me would bore and demean the uniquely ‘us’ we’ve brought.
Instead to open our mouths and gulp down all the magnificence we bring
To taste the nuances and colors is what makes life a grander thing.

When we marvel at the sheet of perfect azure sky above our heads
Is its beauty spoiled by wayward clouds or more beautiful instead?
Or isn’t it in the subtlety and playfulness of shadows and light
That great love, like art, is enlivened, more valued, more of a delight?
So I'll continue to walk beside you my dearest darling into the uncertain
Until, plucking impatiently at the pleats, we slip through heaven's curtain.

Sisters

This road I find myself upon is not the one I chose,
Full of dangerous detours, and soul-jarring potholes,
Sometimes I wonder as I suffer, where is God’s loving hand?
Then there you are, my pillar, holding me up so I can stand.

At times my faith seems weak and on my knees I bow,
I don’t think I knew His love the way I know it now.
Dear Lord, the sadness and despair make it difficult to stand,
And then you dear sister call and say, "I will hold your hand." 

Where is the happy life I’d planned, the blessings I expect?
I don’t deserve this burden Lord, You promised to protect.
He heard my cry and sent me sisters, our hearts then made us friends
To feel their love and know they care, my heart begins to mend.

Through pain some things I’ve learned, God’s testing’s not for naught
With Him I can endure for the outcome His pain bought.
Another thing of which I’m sure - your unselfish love has shown
By reflecting Christ into my life, dear sisters, I know I’m not alone.

My Mama Loves The Whole World

       My mama is so full of love. 

Everybody needs love so she 

loves the whole world !

Innocence

INNOCENCE

 (Written by Cheryl Banks in a “stream of consciousness” writing style, also called interior monologue, while sitting at Carlsbad Beach on 12/21/2015)

I watch as children romp and dive into the white cold winter surf oblivious as only children can be to the discomfort as they simply relish in the what IS of joy and abandon in this infinite bubble bath of chilly froth as chill bumps bloom on tanned skin and are instantly warmed by the sun which plays it's silver strokes of light upon the gray blue surface into an infinite horizon nestled under distant white mountains, or are those clouds I'm never quite sure, and the birds - oh the birds join in the fun dipping gliding riding invisible streams, shrieking laughing noises mimic those of the children in a musical cacophony competing with the constant crashing of waves erasing the wet footprints soon after they are imprinted in the sucking sand littered by rocks worn smooth by the endless tumbler of moon-driven ancient tidal pulls and now that wide carpet path of light laid upon the deep from shore to horizon's setting sun shimmers and parts the clouds in a golden array that seems to kiss like a gentle lover the orange tinged reflected expanse while graceful arcs of gray-finned dolphin dip and weave playing in the light as children run and dodge the wet cold squealing in delight and seagulls play and ride the air currents. 
I want to be a child, a bird, a fish - carefree and oblivious to anything but the joy of this moment, this sun-kissed water-birthed moment of pure innocence

Ho-Ho-Ho...Whatever!

For some time, well I guess it started just before Thanksgiving, I entered a fugue state and started experiencing dissociative delusions exacerbated by the Ihatetheholidays-somebodyshootme Syndrome, a newly recognized and under-diagnosed mania now recognized by the American Psychiatric Association in its newly released DSM eManual (published by Deck DeTrees, Snow & Holly). The chapter dealing with this Ihate...Syndrome was put together by a panel of experts headed by The Grinch That Stole Christmas (and frankly he shouldn't have given it back - but that's the sick me talking).

I can only imagine, because all the tests haven't come back yet, that the Trifecta of bizarre and surreal events of the last three years has unaligned my chakras and short-circuited my energy field (which totally explains the gray hair come to think of it!) while misappropriating my sanity thereby robbing me of my goodwilltoallmen. So this year I am ignoring the holidays (the doctors think it best) and I have voluntarily self-admitted into a local Ihatetheholidays-somebodyshootme rehab today. With any luck, some powerful magnets, chia pet-therapy, and a drastic new treatment called "Flooding" which is prolonged exposure in a locked room untangling a complicated thousand foot web of old Christmas light strands contributed by The Ghost of Christmases-past, while experiencing total auditory immersion in a looped mixed CD featuring (shudder) Burl Ives singing- Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, The Chipmunks Christmas Favorites, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Feliz Navidad, All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth, and that nightmare song that just never ends - The Ten Days of Christmas...God I can't go on! It's just too horrible to imagine!  But I only just got here and that is the 9th step so I have some time.

Anyway the therapists (who by the way are weirdly all 4 feet tall with high pitched voices and dressed in strange little red pointed hats with bells on their toes) are hopeful that by this time next year, they can help restore me to my previous HappyThanksgivingMerryChristmasHappyNewYear prior self. I've met some other folks just like me here so I don't feel so alone.

They tell me one of the rehabs biggest success stories is this fellow named Ebenezer Scrooge. If Eb can do it I know I can too!  I included pictures I took of some of my new friends below. They all say hi. 

So, dear ones, please be advised that this year, while at the Holly-Jolly Ranch & Rehab, we will not be celebrating the season, nor giving or opening gifts. I do have every hope of a full recovery before the 2016 holiday season. Oh, by the way, my husband may be joining me for couple’s therapy - he's still in a little denial but I think he'll come around and understand his need to work the program.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Festivus, Merry Winter Solstice, Happy Shopping, May the Force Be With You, Yule tidings, and may the spirit of Kwanzaa bring joy to whatever it's supposed to bring joy to!