Random thoughts and musings on what is going on in my corner of the world mixed with some of my creative work.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Olives, Part Deux
blends into the next
and last week's snowstorm becomes this
week's blizzard of white
that encompasses my spirit and blinds my sight
This nagging stage of sleepiness makes
me wonder what is real and what is the fiction of my night
And you mirror my life, working 24/7
in a distant land
our schedules so out of sync that the
time difference doesn't even matter
I think I saw the words "I love you" in a message
on my phone
Was that you?
Was that a dream?
Was it my iPhone playing tricks on me?
I called you last night and you were lost in sleep
Alert enough to answer your phone
Too tired to talk, too bone-chilling cold
All you were able to get out was some message
about working around the clock
that was filled with sleepy regret
and the promise of a future surprise as if I were a child
Well, I am not a child
How long can I wait for you?
Is the money so worth it to you that you are
losing your days?
losing your soul?
losing me?
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The Depths of Friendship
The Depths of Friendship
How can I describe how you make me feel?
Warm, safe, loved, respected
Words can’t contain what you mean to me
How you make me the center of your world
Even when we are millions of miles apart
You asked me yesterday what I think of you
As if you didn’t already know
I love your mind
I love your spirit
I love your heart
I love the humanitarian streak in you; always going out of your way
To help someone in need; to offer financial resources
You tell me that when you are with me
“It is like being in heaven” and you feel as if you are “floating”
We can discuss serious intellectual topics and minutes later
You throw out a humorous quip that truly leads us to ROFL
You are light and darkness
You are seriousness and levity
You are my soul connection
So glad you are in my life;
So glad you are my special friend.
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Once Upon A Time....
The pull that takes me back years and years ago
to the time when you bared your soul and I
rejected you for another
Re-connected and traveling in the same professional circles
I watch you watch me out of the corner of your eye
The hug of greeting that you extend as
others shake hands around us
Is not the quick motion of two colleagues embracing
There is a pause and a deep tightening of your arms around me
Just for a second, a flash that only I am aware of
You are part of the reason for where I am today
You gave me confidence when I changed gears in my life
And inspired me to share my words with the world
No easy feat for a certified privately paranoid person
I remember things about you from long ago
Secrets from your family that you shared
with me within the dark spaces of our college dorm
Events that touched your heart, that I have kept close to mine
I remember that last snow-filled night, when our world
was swirling white with flakes
and sharing a couple of shots sounded like a good thing
Honey flavored liquor loosens tongues and causes the heart to spill
I am so sorry that I broke yours on that cold winter's evening......
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
YEARNING......
YEARNING…..
There is something about olives….
Cylindrical, smooth skinned, damp
Securing one in my mouth, I suck gently on its walls
Letting the salty, loamy flavor sink into my tongue’s taste buds
I close my eyes and see a distant land,
Filled with sand dunes and an oasis in the distance
A lone olive tree grows there
Bearing the fruit that touches my senses
Near the cool water that refreshes my soul
And you are standing beneath its shade
Waiting with arms open for me to return
Is this altered reality or a lesson in dreaming?
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Connection For Eternity
As the waves crash into the burnished white sand
The moon shines down on your dark hair
spotlighting your life
How far you have come in the years since our lives touched
I'm not surprised, I always knew you would
We both glide through life touched and utterly changed by
each other's past presence
All those years I thought I was the rescuer, only to find
that you truly were the white knight
Transforming me back into what I had lost
Polishing my rocky foundation with words of love and encouragement
Fighting against the feelings of being utterly swept away
I was a rock shifting in a stormy sea
When the clouds lifted and the sun returned
You were gone, but I was left strongly standing in my resurrected life
Somewhere out there I lie under brilliant stars
The waves crash into the burnished sand beneath my body
The moon shines down on my dark hair
spotlighting my present
I reach for my phone and punch in a series of numbers
The familiar voice instantly laughing into my ear, "What took you so long this time?"
Our connection still exists.
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
An Invitation to Join the Dance
Take my hand and place it in yours
Intertwine our fingers so that I can hold onto you
Forever
Close your eyes and listen to me very carefully
You are very, very precious to me
You are my heart and my soul and my everything
I want to spend the rest of my life with you
I want to wake up every day and go to sleep every night
Having witnessed your smiling face, your laughing eyes
I want to make you my wife
The queen of my life; the holder of all that is good in the world
I want to be with you forever
I want “yes” to be the sweetest word that I will ever hear
I love you.
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010
The Meaning of Life
What if someone walked up to you on the street and asked, "What is the meaning of life?" How would you answer.......
Shouldn’t that really be capitalized- “life” I mean? Because living is what we are all about. For some, who don’t believe in a higher power or a “place” like heaven, living is truly all about the here and now. In uncultured civilizations, where rules and regulations and penalties and jail time don’t exist, people allow themselves to follow their own selfish goals. They believe in self-fulfillment here on earth, because this is truly all there is for them. For those who are guided by a higher purpose, as well as by government laws, believe that this life is only a temporary stop on their eternal journey. How they go about living this life determines where they finally come to rest; whether it is a physical state or a state of mind.
So to me, the meaning of life is all about being the most self-actualized (a tip of the hat to uber- shrink Maslow); always striving to be a good person and helping other people. Ultimately it is about living in order to fully live- to meet up with our Creator. If I can capitalize on my talents and strengths and use them for a far greater good than purely for myself, then I am enriching the lives of others. The trick is having balance; making sure that all of that enrichment is spread evenly among my self and others.
So truly for me the meaning of life is all about death. Death of an earthly existence judged for an eternity of life. Could be that we are all here on earth as some very large existential experiment on God’s part to see which way we will respond to that ringing bell in absence of the inevitable meat. What do you think?
Michelle Beckham-Corbin
12/11/06
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2010
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
LITTLE RED SCARS

"Lost & Insecure, You Found Me.....
In the end everyone ends up alone...."
You Found Me- The Fray
Your mantra, only you didn't know it...
I found you lying there hating life
Cutting pain from your soul by slashing your flesh
I reached out my hand and pulled you back to being
Rebuilt your confidence while my life slowly ripped apart
The scales tipped unevenly until I was almost lost,
While your wounds healed and left little red scars
where the blade had sliced
What is the cost of saving a life?
I know the answer to that question
It is the sum of losing your own......
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
THAT PEACEFUL PLACE
Life goes on yes, but the heart carries a whisper
True connections forge a link that never breaks
Long stretches of time can pass
but the memory of your words remain
waiting to be reunited with their owner
Being with you as if no time has passed
Feeling that spiritual connection of two hearts
beating for each other across the world
You are an angel watching over me
you feel my sadness, my joy......"
***********************************
And so she laid the pen down and closed her journal. It was time to meet up with her destiny:
A smile, a touch
shy eyes hidden under the veil of
brightly manicured hands
he whispers words into her ears,
promises of eternal love
of missing her light; her energy
and of longing- the constant ache
he carries with him into the long days
and even longer nights
Work, followed by illness has driven him away
She thought he had disappeared from her life
swallowed up in an unimaginable world
one of foreign scents and sounds and culture
But he had only retreated from the hurt of
what he deemed a rejection
misunderstandings become mountains in the molehills
of no communication
and so it was for more than a year
A chance encounter, or a step on the path of destiny
has brought them back together again
They talk, they smile, they laugh
as if no time has passed
"Nadira- you have remained in my heart always
I carry you with me everywhere I go..."
She hears the words coming deep from within his chest
the familiar voice putting her at ease
making her feel peaceful as if nothing else exists
but the here and now
"I have never forgotten you", she whispers
speaking the words from deep within her heart
Her piercing green eyes stare into his obsidian orbs
becoming lost in their depths
"I have much to tell you, but all in good time
For now I want to look at you
to breathe in your smells
Come to me my angel, my babeee
I want to take in your nectar;
to be rejuvenated by your loving spirit"
And so they were reunited
Two souls joined forever, now together in the flesh
Love provides a cloak that closes off the world
If you only allow yourself access to it's center.......
तुम मेरी किस्मत है. मैं तुम्हारा हमेशा के लिए हूँ.
انت قدري. أنا لك الى الأبد
Copyright Michelle Beckham-Corbin 2009