Sunday, February 27, 2011

Sudden Death

I just found out by email
father of 11 year old boy,
son of online friend, husband
business man, church deacon
died suddenly Wednesday.
He was 39, still in summertime,
I will fashion soft knitting into
a heart warmer, add a cross button,
send it to his mother with a card,
It will not be enough. It will help.
I don't know what suffering took him.
Illness too strong,trauma too intense,
darkness too deep, hatred or mistake.
Death comes on her own terms
came for him, will come for me.
I will give my daughter an extra kiss.
All we can to is live and love tonight.

Victoria Hendricks
February 24, 1011

Friday, February 25, 2011

No Runcible Spoon

I am no runcible spoon,
as much as I've bent myself
out of and into shape trying
to be all things to all people
slice, dice, scoop, stir, spear,
heal, teach.provide, create.
I cannot be all, do all, help all
I am only what I am,
Can do only what I can.

Victoria Hendricks
February 24, 2011

*Definition of runcible spoon: A fork shaped like a spoon with three broad prongs, one having a sharpened edge like a knife. Used by Edward Lear in "The Owl and the Pussy Cat."

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Safe Enough

Safe Enough


Real safety is illusion
Safe enough keeps hope alive.
Safe people listen and accept,
don't minimize, brush pain away,
offer platitudes, require solutions.
Safe people accept, allow, abide.

Victoria Hendricks
February 22. 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Prayer for Vision

This poem is the respoinse to BelleDiane's prompt regarding those who dance seeming crazy to those who don't hear the music.

Noah built ark through season of sun.
Henry Ford invested in horseless carriage.
Wright brothers took wing down island beach.
German Jewish mother, 1939, wrote American
cousin, begged passage for family to Chicago.
Rosa Parks kept her seat. Dr. King stood up.
Men in love held hands at concert, adopted child.

In office, park, grocery store,in conversation,on line,
I pray I hear spirit's music, find the steps, dance to call
of intuition, spirit, innovation, conscience,vision
in face of scorn of those who hear only the marching beat
of tradition, propriety, convention, the way it is done,
the easy, the predictable, the ordinary norm.
Courage, foresight, insight, invite scorn, buy life.

Victoria Hendricks
February 21, 2011

Monday, February 21, 2011

I Am Poems

These two poems are important to me, inspired by a friend's suggestion this morning. I haven't been posting poems, have been writing some but disjointedly. Maybe revealing my state here will get me going.


I am

I am connector and dreamer.
I wonder if it is too late for love.
I hear crying in the night.
I see sunlight on the river.
I want to erase pain.
I am connector and dreamer.
I pretend I am not afraid.
I feel colors like caresses.
I touch the face of the moon.
I worry I let people down.
I cry when my friends hurt.
I am connector and dreamer.
I understand real is better than perfect.
I say life is hard and life is good.
I dream of my beloved dead.
I try to stay in each moment.
I hope love is stronger than loss.
I am connector and dreamer.


Victoria Hendricks, 2/ 21/ 2011

I Am

I am exhausted and overwhelmed.
I wonder if I can be enough, do enough.
I hear words of hate, cries of pain.
I see messy rooms, suffering faces.
I want to make everyone OK.
I am exhausted and overwhelmed.
I pretend I know what to do next.
I feel need swirling like tornado.
I touch Bob's hand and feel death.
I worry I am not strong enough.
I cry out in powerlessness.
I am exhausted and overwhelmed.
I understand I will have more losses.
I say love is stronger than loss.
I dream of feeling safe.
I try to stay in the moment.
I hope I have enough to give.
i am exhausted and overwhelmed.

Victoria Hendricks, 2/21/2011

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Many Chambers

Many Chambers

Memory has many chambers
nests of, solace, caves of sleep,
ballrooms bursting bright with dancers,
summer back porch rich with song,
dorm room, apartment kitchen with
box of newborn kittens and window
in the blooming trees, hospital waiting
rooms, emergency rooms, hospital rooms.
I go there to mourn, or to rejoice,
to remember who I was and what
I loved, lost, gained, dreamed, feared.
I cannot live there. Only in this single
simple unfolding instant can I live.