In the late fall of the year of the Dragon, the maple trees let slip from memory the task of turning their leaves. Yellow carotenes did not fill the leaves, bequeathing the desirous soil below with enviable nutrients. A spiritless sun went into an impervious mourning at such a loss. Lady bugs with red and white dresses climbed the tattered-molded walls of homes as welcome guests inside spaces disencumbered.
My convictions were at war with the fear of why I had not bled for three interminable months. My rape by a guileful neighbor, too big to fight, holds me hostage within each dusk. Bound within a sphere of discomfiture, I hid. My beloved fig tree died in the bitter frost, and her lamentations lay seeds within my heart. Time immemorial spread like the elongated and inscrutable knees of the cypress trees.
My endeared and besotted friend drove into the Cape Fear, abandoned by his college sweetheart. His lungs filled with water, a manifestation of dutiful arm wings that little ones placed on miniature arms to float. Where were the water women with their shadowy beauty? It was my era of forfeited time on a rusty scale without measure.
Happy New Year to everyone. I wish for peace and love among all the peoples of our world. I hope that we will learn to love and extend our hands to the fellow inhabitants of our world and renounce all acts of war and savagery.
Wonderful wishes for the future, Joni. I hope you and yours have a blessed year.
Happy New Year to you, too, Timothy. All the blessings to you and your family. Wishing you the most amazing year ever. Hugs, Joni
Wow Joni amazing story, peppered with violence & rape disintegration, another break down of life into trauma and abuse… Lady Bugs reinventing themselves on moldy stone walls as Nature begins to lax her rules…and what should not be..becomes.
Very powerful and very visual writing, Joni.
I too pray for the world…More bombs and guns and killing is not the answer to anything… Much love to you and hug very tight, s all the “yous” you have been, over the years
Oh thank you my dear friend. You understand my writing and heart so well. What an intuitive comment and a much appreciated one indeed. We are destroying our part of the world here in the US and it is heartbreaking to me. I am excited to read your new piece tomorrow. I am slowly catching up with folks but reading just a few at a time. I can’t wait. Love you my dear friend. Sending you warm hugs and lots of hugs. Yes, indeed I agree so much about the prayers for our world. 🙏❤️🙏
Beautifully written.
Thank you dear Tangie. I hope your health is doing better too. May you and your family be blessed and covered with prayer always. 🙏🤗🙏
This is such a powerful piece of writing, Joni!
Sending you lots of love and warm hugs
Wishing you a wonderful and blessed year, my dear friend! 🤗🥰♥️
Thank you Bianca I appreciate you reading and your very gracious comment wishing you a magnificent New Year where all your dreams come true. Hugs and love, Joni ❤️🙏❤️
It’s my pleasure, Joni!
Thank you so much, my dear friend!
Sending you lots of love and big hugs 🤗🥰💗🌹
You too, dear Bianca. 🙏❤️
🤗🥰♥️
Dearest Gül thank you for this kind reblog. Many blessings my friends. 🤗🙏🤗
A spiritless sun went into an impervious mourning at such a loss…
I love how you set the stage with the opening lament. Nature foregoing it’s duty and everything goes into this downward spiral in the poet’s personal life.
This is marvelously good poetry Joni. Wow. Im blown away. 🥰🥰
Thank you Nigel. Nature is confused as is unfortunately noticeable by the wild weather. We are killing the beauty around us and it brings great sorrow to my heart. I feel connected to nature. I am delighted that you like this piece Nigel and I appreciate your reading. It means a lot to me. Thank you for your kind comment. Sending you hugs, love and prayers for a visit home soon. 🙏❤️🙏
You’re welcome Joni. 🥰 I did shoot you guys a message for the new year.
Oh thank you for letting us know Nigel. I will share it with Scott when I am done cooking dinner. We have not seen it, but we will look together. Thank you so-much and happy new year to you, my dear friend. Scott sent his love as well, but we will read your message and respond. Many blessings.
You’re welcome my dear
Thank you for your kind message, my friend. Sending you love and hugs, Joni
You’re welcome, Joni
Your words take my breath away, Joni. May God watch over you this New Year and all the years to come, dear friend. With love, A. <3
My dearest friend Anna, I don’t think you realize the significance difference that you have made in the world by creating a center to defend people for free who did not have the ability to do so. An attorney with a cause, you are a hero to me and always will be. You are a true warrior, someone who gave back so much sometimes it’s hard for me to believe all the things that you have accomplished in your lifetime and still going strong. I want you to know I feel privileged to know you and that it is a blessing that God sent us into each other’s lives. Every day that center makes a difference in someone’s life and it has a trickle down effect as we all know that it does. Bless you, my dear friend, and thank you for reading and your beautiful comment as it touches my heart. PS. I am slowly catching up with people that I have been unable to ride to because I have been sick but now that I am better I plan to read the rest of your beautifully written journey on your site. https://www.avoicereclaimed.com blessings, love Joni
My prayer for those who are suffering is that when they cry out to the only true God, they will see Him and receive Him. 🙏
Dearest Cassa, how very much I appreciate this comment. I remember doing this the first time at five years old in a field with the wind whipping hay around my legs in a pouring southern rain, I had on a summer gown and was drenched and yelling at God. I did not understand then why he would not just pick me up and take me to heaven and I told him so when that field. I wish the same my dear friend. I send my love to you and send big hugs and gratitude. 🙏 as I’ve just started catching up with many friends that I have not written to for a long time due to illness. I am better and grateful and I’m catching up with those I love, and you are certainly among them, my dear friend. 🙏🙏🙏
Dearest Joni, good to know that your health improved a bit. Will keep praying for healing.🙏
Our personal journey to God is unique and precious. Thank you for sharing yours.
May God shine His face upon you and show His blessings on you and your household. Regardless where you are at, may He always fill your heart with joy. 🙏💚
Thank you so much for this kind message, my friend. I am so much better and count my blessings. I so appreciate your prayer, Cassa. It is a true blessing and a tender one, and it is given with love. Grateful for my friends and all those who have been praying for me. There are always those in the community who need prayers, and I feel it so comforting that so many people have cared enough to pray for me. Prayer works, and I thank you, my friend, wholeheartedly. I feel like I wear the armor of God. May God always bless you and yours as well, dear Cassa. I love you, dear friend.
A very difficult read Joni, but you wrote it with grace and elegance. The second paragraph had me in tears. 😔😔😔 No one deserves to be violated, much more be raped.
Thank you dear Joni for being a voice to those whose afraid to speak up. 🙏❤️
Thank you for reading and for your kind comment. These are just a few very interesting facts as of 2024, according to (The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN). Over fifty percent of all women are raped, and one-third of men are raped. Eight out of ten women know the person that rapes them. Also, every 68 seconds, someone in America is raped. https://www.charliehealth.com/post/sexual-assault-statistics
Even though I was a trained rape relief and sexual assault advocate and thought it would never happen to me – there is only so much you can do if the person outweighs you by over 100 lbs. He did not complete the act because I went limp and quit fighting and said, “OK, just so you know, this is rape!” I later found out he had raped two other women I knew. I worked with a lot of rape victims, and there have been some great changes made, but we still have so far to go. I would stand by the victim’s side and hold their hands during their rape kit testing. What a horrible ordeal to go through. One town in NC destroyed 333 rape kits from active rape cases. Imagine how those women feel. Thank you for reading and for your kind comment. Many blessings.
Ah, Joni. Such a heartbreaking piece of poetic prose/prosy poetry. You imagery is sublime. The lady bugs in their dresses almost made me gasp at it’s vividness. But a poem about nature’s receding and loss that mirrored what followed. The tragedy is palpable, and it makes the wish for an end to violence all the more poignant. Your beautiful soul shines through.
Thank you so much for reading and your kind comment. Nature was always my refuge my place of safety as a child. We use to live in Seattle and my husband and I were married in Hug Point Park on the Oregon Coast. The rain forest is so magnificent. What an amazing place to live. So happy to know you have such an amazing place to live and write. Many blessings, to you and yours
As I read your comment, a bit of sunshine entered my window. And it’s still raining! Weird Oregon weather. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed some time here.
Thank you Diana. It is a magical place indeed. ❤️
Oh Joni, your writing is so intense, so powerful and gut wrenching. I hope the new year is off to a great start for you and yours, love you!❤
Hello, dearest Tiffany, thank you for your visit and your comment, for they are so appreciated. This year is off to a good start my friend. I am thinking of you and yours. I send you my love, hugs, and blessings always.
It was wonderful speaking w/ you, Joni. May God keep His hand on your life, and grant you a blessed New Year. Your work is an inspiration to all. Love, A. <3 <3 <3
It was one of those wonderful blessings for me, dear friend. I always knew we would hit it off like dear old friends, as I already admired you so much and cared about you and your family. I felt so blessed that whole day, and it was a gift from God. So thank you, dearest Anna. Sending you much love, hugs, and blessings.
This is so intense, sorrowful, painful and profound. I found myself startled several times as I read along, almost pummeled by the graphic realities of your narrative. And the imagery…this is a masterclass in imagery. You’re never afraid to speak out about what’s in your heart and soul, and I admire you so much for that, Joni. This is a remarkable piece of writing. Here’s wishing you a good weekend, my friend. All the best to you and Scott, and lots of love from chilly Colorado. 😊
Dearest Mike, thank you with all my heart for your generous comments always. They touch my heart and make my day. I am so glad that you enjoyed this piece, my friend. You always tell your truth, and you know how much I admire not only your raw and honest writing, which is nothing short of brilliance but also your kinship with nature as well. You are near and dear and an amazing friend in which I have much in common. Scott and I send our love. It has been cold here today as well, but the sun was shining all day, and it was so nice. Love you Mike
I hope you have a safe, healthy, and successful year, Joni!
Thank you Dawn. I appreciate your kind words and always hope for success for my friends. You are a prolific writer which is a blessing. I have times when it is difficult for me to write but I am excited about a couple of projects, God has blessed me with feeling good again so I have much to be thankful for these days. Big hugs and blessings to you and your Dawn and thank you. ❤️🥰❤️
Happy new year Joni, I hope the year of the snake empowers you with strength for both mind and body…
Oh thank you my friend I am honored and I hope the same for you always. You are indeed special. ❤️💕