Peace Be With You: Valor in Costume

Monday, February 25, 2013

Valor in Costume

So much courage hides
behind a determined smile,
in an unseen pain.

Soft spoken at times,
our sorrow goes underground.
We may fool others.

Valor has honor,
though we may not recognize
the hurt it costumes.

7 comments:

Ms. CrankyPants said...: Very moving. You say so much with so few words.; February 25, 2013 at 7:49 AM
Patrick said...: You capture so much so well.

Caregivingly Yours, Patrick; February 25, 2013 at 10:59 AM
Muffie said...: Love this! Yes, our emotional or physical pain often lies behind the mask of strength we show the world.
Peace,
Muff
BTW re: your last post -- that class sounds awesome. Having been an English major, those authors seem so familiar. I just may have to pull out my own great books and reread them, now that you've mentioned them!; February 25, 2013 at 11:20 AM
Gail said...: HI Judy - oh yes, the masks we wear. there is a poem titled "Please Hear What I am Not Saying"...it captures this theme so well - here it is:

http://www.poetrybycharlescfinn.com/pleasehear.html; February 25, 2013 at 11:29 AM
Kim @ Stuff could... said...: You said it...unseen pain behind a determined smile; February 25, 2013 at 11:45 AM
Karen said...: Beuatifully said Judy. Not many would know the battles we fight daily by our demeanour.; February 25, 2013 at 12:30 PM
Judy at Peace Be With You said...: Ms. CP, thanks. This form of poetry suits my minimalist inclinations.

Patrick, thank you so much.

Muff, sometimes that mask of strength is what keeps us stitched together.

Gail, I love that poem. In my own minimalist way, it is what I endeavor to express, and so you will see more poems along that theme, I am sure.

Kim, yes, I think we can all identify with that. I am not sure it is due only to our MS. It may be the human condition.

Karen, I would hate to look as disheveled as I sometimes feel!; February 28, 2013 at 7:07 PM

About Me and My Poems

Hi, I’m Judy. Welcome to my blog where I present triptychs of haiku poems, which allow me to distill my thoughts into very few words. My often nontraditional haikus acknowledge life challenges with honesty while also embracing hope and joy. MS is one such challenge, and I find lessons on that journey to be gifts of wisdom about life in general.

My poems will span
the emotional spectrum.
That is what I live.

A smile may lift me
past my daily challenges.
I share that with you.

Sometimes sadness trumps
easy laughter and resolve.
I will write then too.

Thank You to My Readers

Many of you check in frequently. Some have called my poems inspiring, which has taught me a new meaning for the word. I had always thought being inspiring meant making someone feel enthusiastic and confident. Instead, in referring to my poems, you cite my honesty and feel inspired by it. I seem to express truths you welcome hearing and which help you. I am simply honored that my words could do such a thing. You have transformed what originally was a self-directed activity into one which benefits others. How often does one have the opportunity to do that? Truly I am blessed by your presence in my life. This motivates me to keep writing these poems and to keep expressing with honesty my feelings and thoughts. My heartfelt thanks to you for sharing my journey.

How This Blog Got Its Peace Name

The mystery solved
I now know the reason why
this blog got its name.

My dad liked to say,
“The peace of God be with you.”
I had forgotten.

The phrase came to me.
I used it unconsciously.
Then friends let me know.

There is only so much one can say in 51 syllables so I was not able to add the following. My late father’s church did an oral history of his life. As I read the results of the interviews, I was struck by how often people remembered that his favorite expression was “The peace of God be with you.” I had forgotten that and have been wondering why on earth I named my blog as I did. I even thought of changing it more than once. Now I realize I was subsconsciously remembering my father’s expression. So the blog name remains.

How I Get Through This

There are times when I look up and say, how did this happen to me? Asking why usually doesn’t get me anywhere, except depression. My present reality really does not allow me to indulge in such questions. I have to cope instead with adjusting to my currently diminished physical capacity and to the appalling possibility, nay, probability that this can get much, much worse. How do I then maintain my spirit? Who is the Me who remains when so much of what defined me has been stripped away? Can I transmute this reality into something with meaning and value? Sometimes I find little victories that sustain me. Sometimes I find someone like Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl to help me navigate these questions. At other times I feel that I am in a boat without a paddle in a raging sea. Mostly I am a work in progress living an unexpected life where most of the rules I thought applied don’t, and I am left to rely on whatever inner strength, character, and personal faith I can call on to get me through. But sometimes even inner strength, character, and personal faith do not seem like they are enough. This is just tough. Or theater of the absurd.

My Manifesto

The following poem generated the most comments and blog links of any of the poems I have written. My response to all the comments is provided below. I now call it My Manifesto.

Here is a pet peeve.
When people say they are glad
that they got MS.

They are pleased because
it made them better persons.
My blood just curdles.

Are you kidding me?
Was there no better method
to accomplish growth?

Judging by the number of comments, this poem obviously resonated, and I can understand why. I also want to share what triggered my writing it. I had watched a recently diagnosed person stand up in front of an audience and say, “I am glad I got MS. I am a much better person as a result.”

He is not the only MSer I have heard say that. What I have discovered is that those who say such a thing tend to fall into two camps. They are either recently diagnosed and/or they are not suffering from loss of mobility or some other dastardly manifestation of this scourge of a disease.

My position on this? As I said in one of my poems,

I can be grateful
for gifts this challenge gave me
and still hate MS.

I have no doubt that I am a more compassionate, generous, less shallow person now than I was before coming down with MS. Would I still have reached this more enlightened place as a result of normal maturation? I don’t know and can’t ever know. I only have the life I have. But I will NEVER say that I am glad I have MS. On the contrary, as I said in one of my other poems,

Full recovery.
That will be my intention
until my last breath.

Whatever accommodation I achieve with this disease will always be one in which I am, only out of necessity, cohabiting with an enemy. If calling it an enemy is too strong, then I can at least say that MS will never be my friend. I am sure psychologists would have a field day with my position. With my own therapist, we’ve declared a truce in which I say I acknowledge, instead of accept, that I have MS. I will never accept, though, that this is what my life should be like. As I said in another of my poems,

I will not allow
MS to appear normal.
Absolutely not.

And I am glad I still have some fight left in me so I can feel this way. There are enough days when I feel quite defeated by this disease. Then another day comes when a glimmer of light helps me remember the Judy I want to be and not just the MS-Judy, and I go on to fight again. That’s when I can say,

I don’t want to hear
the odds are impossible.
I aim to beat them.

And, knowing that days will come when I will again feel oppressed by the enormous challenge I face, I keep these poems on display so that I can remember who I want to be at my best.

As for finding the peace that is the title of this blog, I can only say that, variable though it might be, I find peace in knowing that I can control my attitude about my life.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you. You make this journey so much easier because of it.

To read all the comments, go to: http://lapazconvos.blogspot.com/2011/01/pet-peeve.html

Peace Be With You

Monday, February 25, 2013

Valor in Costume

7 comments:

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