Thank you dontclick for your kind feedback (I accidentally deleted your message)! You asked me for a list of people I follow… Well, I meant to figure out how to post the whole list of people who I follow for a while and I hope this reduced list will suffice for now: lydianea, vaporeuse, aubade, umnie, juilett14, suchamajesty, autumnalhymn, beingabletofly, abrokensomething, kaleidoscopedreams, seaembraces, enchanting, girlmeetsdream, yoursummerheart, yourgreatauntmary, wearebasiclight, saturnrising, psychexperimentinglove, puslebit, khayyam, weightofallthings, uber-alles, wearethesky, indigocolored, startlightandfurther, crashinglybeautiful, rememo, lightdrops, invisiblestories, thealphabetsoup, floralmelodies, leitmotif, febia, nysheart, transiency, weissewiese, betwixt-and-between … and quite a few more that I should probably list (oh, I don’t like this)!! I must say that I follow them all for different reasons and some of these blogs are not necessarily reflecting my taste but they are all wonderful and unique. And I can definitely say that those with whom I have conversed are extremely lovely people. :)

by Lucille Clifton

i am running into a new year
and the old years blow back
like a wind
that i catch in my hair
like strong fingers like
all my old promises and
it will be hard to let go
of what i said to myself
about myself
when i was sixteen and
twenty-six and thirty-six
even thirty-six but
i am running into a new year
and i beg what i love and
i leave to forgive me

from Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir 1969-1980

“Blood is thicker than water”
so they say
so you’ve said
all these years
when I was a child
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”
so you told me
all these years
When it was Your Hand againstme
and Your Word againstmine
the sound of Your Voice silenced my own
all these years.

*

But the whispers inside me grew
into my own voice
Blood isn’t thicker than water
when diluted with tears
and What doesn’t kill you makes you
smaller.

*

The years have gone by -
I’m still learning to stand up Tall,
and at times voices haunt my body like ghosts.
But love has let me grow so much,
and I can feel the sea living in my veins.