Excerpts from "55 Reasons."

The following is a writing I have never put "out there" before. Here are excerpts; numbers 17 through 23 from "55 Reasons;"  a piece I wrote nearly 12 years ago (now.) As you can most assuredly guess, they are 55 reasons...not to give up. Accompanying them are a series of photos to calm and to reassure. (I wrote this during and after a very difficult time in my life. They helped me pass through a firestorm of bad circumstance...)

                                                                                             (Asheville, NC church door)

                                                                                      (Small mountain waterfall somewhere near Boone, NC)

 17. R-E-L-E-A-S-E. Find and offer up your (own) individual 'release valve' and allow God to show you the mechanisms and the coping strategies for releasing negative energy, tension, all fear and every intonation(even...) of self-doubt. Release guilt. Face your past and release past memories that haunt you or bind you up. Release your anger from the past. Apprehend help in this process if you require it friend. There is no shame in this. We are all 'in process' (a little 'Wayne Dyer' here; :) how right he was...)

Finally, release your fears one by one-both the large 'monster' fears and the creepy-crawly ones.You must face your (own) fear friend. Own it. Face it. And subdue it.

Recognize that God Himself designed you with such  a release valve; He designed you with purpose, a set place and to here be released... to be... made... whole. Fully functioning and fully... 'released' in your wholeness. To be released is to be made whole.

                                                                      (Photo of a tree my husband took)

18. Recognize that man was born for adversity. From each day itself, there will arise trouble, that will be sufficient for the day in and of itself. This is how life works. I want you to ask yourself this- if trouble arises each and every day, and man was born for adversity; is there not something inherent within each one of us that would equip us or enable us to overcome trouble?? To be catapulted to individual greatness...on the wings of trouble  (even)? Think about it. I contend that <trouble> is all about recognizing who you are...

Have the faith required to believe God... that He (alone) is sufficient in and of ((Himself.))  He will meet you at the point of your need... and that He will deliver you out of the midst of all of your trouble.

(There is a fourth man in the fire friend; even when the heat gets HOT.)

                                                                     (Photo of a front yard rose in Boone, NC entitled "Inner Flame.")

                          

19. ROLL it. A very wise kindergarten teacher taught her class; when the burdens of your heart are heavy; let Jesus roll the burdens of your heart away. Let Him ROLL the STONE away today (from your heart)... instead of giving up to the pressures and the burdens of life that you carry, cast your cares upon the Lord, for He cares for you.

                                                                         (Hawk's Beak, as seen from Blowing Rock, NC)

20. Help someone else whom you can regard as being WORSE off than you. I know that it sounds trite.....and f-a-r   t-o-o  simple, but it is truly an effective strategy for pulling yourself OUT of the quagmires, the rocks and the crevices of life. Help someone else friend. And you will be helping yourself (too.)

21. Are you (overly) stressed and well...really and truly burnt up and fried out? You must take the time for important enjoyment and to de-stress in life. This is an essential key to happiness that one must employ (to overcome.) So- take a trip! Walk the beach or the forest path; behold the sun, the moon and the stars or a simple flower. It is a thing of beauty. All of nature sings praise. It can help you find a song of love that pervades all of nature (a heart song really...) and of admiration, too. Take a moment...to be refreshed and to be renewed. All of nature will cooperate with you friend.

22. Remove the red flags of life. Are there issues and problems that you CAN deal with...but haven't?? Have you begun to procrastinate?? Remove these obstacles (those that you can) and you will find r-e-l-e-a-s-e. It's like you're snagged on a rock... begin again... today, to float the current of life.

23. Find an eddy in the current to rest. Perhaps God is speaking "Rest" to your soul, friend.

                                                                                                         (Cool mountain stream near Boone, NC)

Morning Prayer

Morning Prayer

Be in my fanciful meanderings

Be in my midnight glide on a silver moon beam carpet slide

up and up I slip across the black tree fingers of the very next pine lined ridge

Up and up I sail to my friend

the white hot crescent 
cool night moon

Be in the spine of my cat as I perch myself

upon the very tip of the last long black prick hair 
on his slow curling twitch-twitch tail 
and as I find myself in the dull glint

of his slow moving yellow eyes

open wide

and watching

Be in the hint of gleaming light as it peek-peeks

out from behind 

my five year companion the Looking Glass Tree branch 
as it plays its own game with me

yes my game an early morning game

trying as it would to cover up my (other) sweet friend

my white hot bright morning star

yes my morning

star of the east

my own yes my very own

rising up game 

that I play

Be in the ill-tempered Appalachian wind

as it rises and it builds
piling up full out on the ridges below

and then letting loose like a mini swarm of sometimes ill-intentioned

climbing well weighted down Mack trucks

They race-roar their engines

steady they go

up and up to reach the summit

of this my fair mountain—

causing the dog to turn her head

and me to brace my body

Be in the folds of his gray-white beard

that he strokes

softly

then slowly  

again as he lies pressed down

on his sickbed

where he waits patiently

for a touch from

dear 

sweet one Jesus

and the medication

Be with the man

my man

husband of more than 20 years

alone in the next shade

of an off white room 


© Karen Powell

"How Dark is the Night?"

How dark is the night

when your baby boy

has left you?
Lying-he lies
stretched full out
with her by his side
alone on a nubby white bed.

Their candle-
it seems 
all but snuffed 
full out
I cannot comprehend

no warmth in his small fingers

they curl up with the mourners

spread apart in the room adjacent

filled with grief stricken silence 
broken up by her sobs

I am 20…
(I am 20)

How dark is the night?

How dark is the night?

A mother sits looking
her head turned aside
leaving her baby to slip

slowly he slides...

downward but looking up 
grimy is the Appalachian 
black water tendrils

as inward they glide along the curve of his skull 
Confused is 
the look 
as farther he sinks

Black water, you lie!
You are a liar
There is no truth in you

How dark is the night?

How dark is the night?

Must I walk these halls alone

with my vision obscured

banging my shins broken now bleeding 

Once vital the helper-now helped

I scratch my head asking
over I turn this
one thing
I ask
“How dark is the night?”


© Karen Powell

(When) He's Down

When he's down

it's almost as though

her heart becomes a heavy weight,

pressing...

He's been down so many times before.

It's very hard

to separate herself (from him.)

How long will it take (this time?)

"Am I strong enough?" (No.)

(I need more time.)

(Let me rally myself...Yes, I must be stronger now.)

Stronger I will be-

and she longingly wills him strong, too.

Then she thinks back

to the very essence of

her son

as a pale wisp of a boy, at thirteen-

gaunt and leaning over (almost as if to flop;)

his young strong frame propped up, crooked in the bed.

I pray he can summon what he needs.

After her prayer she decides upon a walk.

That day,

just

as she rounds the bend in the road with the dog--

her eye catches him

moving his slender frame

in a slightly crooked fashion;

down the mountain path he slips

from shadow and into the light.

With a wry smile he states, simply

"I just got up!? "

"I don't know why but I feel better!"

With her breath caught

as if

seeing an apparition

she breathes a deep sigh of

relief and hope and thankfulness

all mingled

together;

what a

sweet release

it is...as if

another uphill battle has been eluded-

the enemy has again

been

strong-armed into certain submission.

She is sure that she see shadows

slip back.

Let us now dispose of the remains of the day~

far from the pain

the morning brought.

He is so unpredictable; this son.

She smiles. He loves the element of surprise.

Does he plan it that way?

Will he always find her startled at his rising;

at the tricky nature of his comeback?

He bounces back when I have almost given up.

He bounces back when I let the outcome go.

I must remember

this one

thing.