Defeat

The darker things get, the more I find myself turning to the wise words that are never far away. In fact, I hope you find some below. There is much more on the bookshelf, library, and the internet. Poetry and quotes have long been a refuge for many.

 

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

“Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.”                       – George E. Woodberry

 “What is defeat? Nothing but education. Nothing but the first step to something better.”  – Wendell Phillips

 

Defeat 

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude, and my aloofness;

You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,

And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge, and my defiance,

Through you, I know that I am yet young and swift of foot

And not to be trapped by withering laurels.

And in you, I have found aloneness

And the joy of being shunned and scorned.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword, and shield,

In your eyes, I have read

That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,

And to be understood is to be leveled down,

And to be grasped is but to reach one’s fullness

And like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,

You shall hear my songs and my cries and my silences,

And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,

And urging of seas,

And of mountains that burn in the night,

And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,

You and I shall laugh together with the storm,

And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,

And we shall stand in the sun with a will,

And we shall be dangerous.                              – Kahlil Gibran

 

Bisous,

Léa

Courage for today and beyond…

“Courage is the most important of all the virtues because, without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue.”  – Maya Angelou

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose site of the shore.”  – William Faulkner

“Men fear thought as they fear nothing else on earth — more than ruin, more even that death. Thought is subversive and revolutionary, destructive and terrible, thought is merciless to privilege, established institutions, and comfortable habits; thought is anarchic and lawless, indifferent to authority, careless of the well-tried wisdom of the ages. Thought looks into the pit of hell and is not afraid… Thought is great and swift and free, the light of the world, and the chief glory of man.”                    – Bertrand Russell

 

Still I Rise

 

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

 

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

 

Just like moons and like suns

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

 

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

 

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

 

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

 

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

 

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past, that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear it in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

 

Maya Angelou – Still I Rise

 

With all that is going on in the world, we each must fight battles as our conscience dictates. Thought and rigorous prioritization will help us to know where to direct our thoughts and most of all, our actions. We can tell someone we love them, but our actions usually get their first and are usually much more credible. Ask yourself where your courage is most needed and dispatch it immediately.

Bisous,

Léa

Le Grande Papillon / The Grand Butterfly

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.”   – Carl Sagan

 

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”   – Maya Angelou

 

“We must remain as close to the flowers, the grass, and the butterflies as the child is who is not yet so much taller than they are. We adults, on the other hand, have outgrown them and have to lower ourselves to stoop down to them. It seems to me that the grass hates us when we confess our love for it. Whoever would partake of all good things must understand how to be small at times.”  

– Friedrich Nietzsche

*

Le Grande Papillon / The Grand Butterfly

Le grande Papillon

Large

As the palm

Of my hand

Your wings

Form a valentine

Heart

Noir etching

Encased thumbprints

Of turquoise

Bold and beautiful

In my eyes

Unique

My hope

You will return

Encore et encore

*

Bisous,

Léa

No – only pity in the end

“…You don’t have to wait for someone to treat you bad repeatedly. All it takes is once, and if they get away with it that once, if they know they can treat you like that, then it sets the pattern for the future.”   – Anonymous

 

“History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”   – Maya Angelou

 

 

 

No – only pity in the end

The toaster doesn’t

Produce faster

Because you are in

A hurry

No

Turning up the

Volume of your

Diatribes will not

Improve the outcome

No

The bruises never showed

You took great care they wouldn’t

Head and back your targets

No, your story has

Carried you thus far

Has covered up the tracks

At least nobody asked

Questions

Curiosity – my fatal flaw

Truths you never uttered

No

A little girl

Was no match for your

Rage

And no one ever got that close

No

You didn’t win

I escaped – I survived

The cracks in your amour

Are widening but nobody cares

No

You continue to strike out – yet

I am out of reach

Regardless, I am free

Many scars won’t heal – but

I’ve chosen Joy

No

There is no hatred

That is your disease

The only feeling

I have for you

Pity

 

*

Bisous,

Léa

surrender

“At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.”  – Maya Angelou

“The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.”  – Julia Cameron

“Growth demands a temporary surrender of security.”  – Gail Sheehy

surrender 

resistance

was mine

hours of

hand-cramping

as I strangled

numerous pens

pencils and other

weapons of war

filling journals

notebooks

scraps of paper

as I found them

believing that words

must come from

soul to paper

undisturbed by

typewriters,

computers, anything

non-organic

the source must

flow free

years of scribbling

illegible

even to me

frustration builds

technology and i

never friends

could not be

trusted to convey

bleeding of the heart

to prove my point

white flag raised

provisional truce

a torrent of words

unconstrained

by the impediment of

bad penmanship

my surrender now

complete

Bisous,

Léa