Hanging On

Nerves of steel shining and rigid are only 

waiting to snap. I suppose it’s just a 

metaphor and I’m being too picky. 

Too literal. A description of bravery in the 

face of a challenge or danger when in 

fact a person’s insides feel frozen stiff 

or have turned to jelly. When the challenge 

has passed, or the danger has been neutralized, 

those nerves of steel disappear behind a closed 

door where no one can see the puddle of jelly 

on the floor or the tears thawing all over a pillow. Perhaps those nerves could be 

succumbing to the back and forth of a rocking chair 

until sleep softens the nerves of steel

until they are needed again.

“When you’re scared, when you’re hanging on, when life is 

hurting you, then you’re going to see what you’re really made of.”

~ Sylvestor Stallone

Secret Thngs

Emotional waves are secret things noticed if laughter or sobbing is too loud or raucous to ignore. Then it’s ‘don’t be so silly’ or ‘there, there, it’ll be all right’. 

But silent waves may not be noticed but for an expression that rumples a 

carefully made up face. Inside waves challenge stiff smiles secured to face the public.

“A secret’s worth depends on the people from who it must be kept.”

~ Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Nesting

Tensions that fly into the back of my brain wing their way down to my heart and my belly 

where the small brown birds have built their nests. Nests built from the scattered debris of a 

day, or maybe a week or even longer. Removing the little flock of birds seems cruel when 

they’ve become so comfortable. 

But they are messy ~ dropping their feathers and never 

cleaning out their nests. I'm sorry to see 

them go because they are good company, 

even if they can't sing. So with each breath, 

one of them flies away till I am left empty. 

Then I'll open the space to robins and canaries 

and interview them for their songs.

“I feel empty, not because of sadness, but because 

of relief, all the tension flowing out of me.”

~ Veronica Roth, novelist

Curtain Call

Sensations that wash 

over me, through me, 

may be missed if I 

forget to stand still 

slowly or if I rush 

through the minutes of 

the day to get to some 

unknown destination. 

Sensations of joy in a 

sudden phone call, the 

smile of a passerby, 

my name called in a 

grocery store, a new 

baby’s cry, the echoing 

calls of southbound geese 

~ life’s curtain in the wind.

“There is something hidden in each sensation.”

~ Gustavo Cerati, singer-song writer

(August 1959 - September 2014)

Too Much Noise

Inside questions, in a child’s voice, have no answers unless I look them up on some electronic encyclopedia. 

Books of Knowledge are no longer in existence, their gold lettered spines all in a row. And anyway, inside questions

only come to me as bedtime comes. Brushing the sticky cobweb questions aside is seldom possible. Counting 

sheep has never helped, so I try to ignore those inside questions 

about the purpose of life, what will 

come in the mail, how will the 

weather change tomorrow or is the 

forecast right, why did the see-through 

cloud scatter raindrops on my nightly walk?

If the answers are important they may 

inhabit my dreams, but if too bizarre, 

they may show up in the morning.

“Put my head under my pillow, and let 

the quiet put things where they are supposed to be.”

~ Stephen Chbosky, American film director

Without a Stethoscope

Listen to your heart 

to follow a path that 

no one else can see or hear. 

That tiny thumping voice 

says more than the most 

exquisite poem. The 

trip-hammering of excitement. The slow plodding of a day’s 

exhaustion. The ragged race of grief. The steady thrum that paces 

out each step along a path. 

Listen to your feeling heart 

that speaks in a language 

without sound.

“Language is the blood of the soul into which 

thoughts run, and out of which they grow.”

~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

More than Your Ears ~ LISTEN ~ Theme for September 2024

 

Listen to your heart……

Inside questions…

Sensations that….

Tensions that ……

Emotional waves…..

Nerves of steel….

“We speak with more than our mouths. 

We listen with more than our ears.”

~ Fred Rogers,

You Are Special: Neighbourly Wit 

and Wisdom from Mister Rogers