Frail (an acrostic poem)

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Finding courage to do the almost impossible mean he had to reach real deep.

Reach into depths he wasn’t sure he had.

And yet, here he was looking straight into the face of this next hurdle.

If he could just take a step forward here, his life would change forever for the good, but could he?

Looking at the parallel bars, he hoisted himself back up on them and tried to get his legs to walk.

Tempest (an acrostic poem)

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The look in his eyes forecast a storm of emotions about to hit

Everything to this point had been smooth sailing on calm seas

Mentioning her name, though, had brought a sudden change for the worse

Pushing himself up out of his chair, he leveled a finger

Everyone was quiet, waiting for the lightning bolt of his anger to strike

So when the finger went back down without a word, well everyone thought the worst had past

That’s when he took one step forward and a rain of fists poured down

Frog (an acrostic poem)

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Focusing on looking before leaping

Really made life easier and gave him so much self-confidence moving forward

Of course, at this particular moment, it was getting a bit warmer, but everything would be just fine

Going to enjoy this sauna environment as it keeps getting hotter slowly until …

Putter Clutter (a 100 word story)

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He looked at the clutter around him.  Neglected, half-finished dreams littered the desk, table, and sections of the floor.  At one point each project had held so much life and promise, but now they were on life support, or worse yet zombified corpses.  He wondered what was the best approach going forward.  Maybe he should just put everything away and pull out pieces when he was ready to resurrect them, but that would mean confronting his failures, and he wasn’t emotionally prepared to do that just yet.  Besides, he had a brand new idea, and he knew it would work.

Progress (an acrostic poem)

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Proof that you are moving forward can be hard to find

Realize that sometimes just not going backwards as fast is something

Or stay still as everyone around you marches somewhere you don’t want to go

Grieve when you need to grieve, that allow you to move forward

Rest when you are tired.  That allows you to move forward

Every step might feel like you are wading through a riptide

So much of life can be like that

Still, one step, then another, always trying.  That is how it works.  Give yourself credit for…

Raise (an acrostic poem)

 

Remembering all that has been lost

As well as all that we have gained

It is times like these that balance looking forward and back

Seeing this particular snapshot in each of our lives

Entices us to lift our glasses in a toast.  Here’s to you, my reader.

 

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Liberty (an acrostic poem)

 

Leaving the chains behind is just the start 

It means helping the formerly enslaved stand up 

Being there to lend a hand in moving forward 

Enabling them to not only survive but thrive 

Reach for those hands across the divide 

Trust that the world will be better in the long run 

You can help bring justice for all 

 

 

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Struggle (an acrostic poem)

 

So things are getting pretty tough

That might be an understatement

Really it’s moments like these that define who we are

Understanding how to work past pesky problems

Giving each other a hand and cross the finish line together

Going the extra distance because we choose to do so

Looking forward to sharing stories over a cold one at the pub

Enjoying our victory over this…

 

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