POETRY: ROOTS (EDITORIAL): D DOMINGUEZ (INS BY PABLO NERUDA)

Examining the branches of a magnificent tree

Wondering how strong it must be because of its sturdy roots

I thought long and hard how people, too, need robust roots in order to survive

The roots are the absolute foundation of everything and everyone

However, if someone comes along and damages the roots,

Then the entire structure will die

The entity might not collapse right away

But, slowly the magnificence of it all will die a poignant death

It will be all alone

Instead of the splendor that it was all cast in colors too beautiful for words

The marvelous edifice, like a person, will cease to exist—
Pillaged of all its grandeur

We all must die, but it should never be through the fault of deliberate negligence

POETRY: IF YOU FORGET ME: PABLO NERUDA (my favorite poet of all time ♥)

I want you to know
one thing.

You know how this is:
if I look
at the crystal moon, at the red branch
of the slow autumn at my window,
if I touch
near the fire
the impalpable ash
or the wrinkled body of the log,
everything carries me to you,
as if everything that exists,
aromas, light, metals,
were little boats
that sail
toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

Well, now,
if little by little you stop loving me
I shall stop loving you little by little.

If suddenly
you forget me
do not look for me,
for I shall already have forgotten you.

If you think it long and mad,
the wind of banners
that passes through my life,
and you decide
to leave me at the shore
of the heart where I have roots,
remember
that on that day,
at that hour,
I shall lift my arms
and my roots will set off
to seek another land.

But
if each day,
each hour,
you feel that you are destined for me
with implacable sweetness,
if each day a flower
climbs up to your lips to seek me,
ah my love, ah my own,
in me all that fire is repeated,
in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,
my love feeds on your love, beloved,
and as long as you live it will be in your arms
without leaving mine. 

~ Pablo Neruda

POETRY: LOVE SONG: RAINER MARIA RILKE

How can I keep my soul in me,

so that it doesn't touch your soul?

How can I raise it high enough, past you,

to other things?

I would like to shelter it, among remote lost objects, in some dark and silent place that doesn't resonate when your depths resound.
       Yet everything that touches us, me and you, takes us together like a violin's bow,

which draws -one- voice out of two separate strings.

Upon what instrument are we two spanned?

And what musician holds us in his hand?

OH SWEETEST SONG.

FOR B: AS PROMISED: A HAIKU FOR BETHANY 😉!

A Haiku for you

Laughter makes the cow yell moo

Feasting on bamboo

ONE-SIDED FRIENDSHIPS: GETTING YOUR POWER BACK IN A FRIENDSHIP—OR ENDING IT ASAP!

HowDo You Get Your Power Back in Relationships?

^ Define what friendship really means to you and then communicate that to anyone that you desire to create a friendship with in the future.  If the needs and wants are a match, then the friendship will flourish, and it will be a two-sided friendship.

* Sometimes I feel that it is difficult when people do not reciprocate when you reach out and would like to learn some skills to know when to surrender in these sort of toxic relationships. 
                         LETTER FROM "RECIPROCATE":

Thank you. I have built great relationships with some friends, however over the course of the year I feel there are similarities in these friendships that make me feel that a) I am doing something wrong or my expectations are different b) they do not reciprocate that friendship eg: if I take time to wish them on special occasions it isn't reciprocated.  I feel that "friendships that are true are reciprocated" and I feel I need to understand when I need to back away so I do not get hurt.  I wish the relationships to be two-sided, however it is hard to gage and would like learn to be better at observing these situations.  I feel it becomes toxic when it is one-sided as I sort of tend to put people on a high pedestal...hope this makes more sense?  Thank you. signed, Reciprocate, age XX,

Dear Reciprocate, I understand your frustration in this matter and anytime a person feels that a friendship is one-sided that can be very stressful and draining for sure.  Here are some things for you to consider:

1.  It is our "expectations" that cause us more stress and strain in relationships than we can imagine.  We tend to expect others to be mind readers and to know what we expect and want in return.  This is a problem for all involved.

2.  Set some boundaries with your current relationships for now.  Have a heart to heart talk with one of the closest friends in your life at this time.  Before you have this talk please read our article Express and Own Your Feelings and Expectations and Hidden Issues.  Use what we suggest in these article and use the "I" statements and tell them how you feel and then explain to them what they can do that would allow you to feel that the friendship is not one-sided. Don't shame them in anyway - just express how you are feeling and ask for what you need in return.

3.  If the friend is receptive to what you have said then the friendship will improve over time.   If they are not receptive then you must own up to the fact that the friendship is not as strong as you hoped for and then let it go.  Let it go in the sense of stop doing things for this person.  Stop acknowledging birthdays etc and see what happens in return.  Let go of your expectations of them and the friendship.

4.  For future friendships, take them much slower.  Don't go on the giving end unless you can do so without any expectations in return.  Get to know the person and try to learn from them what they would expect out of a good friendship. If there seems to be a fit in what they expect in comparison to what you expect then go forward and work on the friendship.  If not, then let it fall where it may.  No expectations and no disappointments in return.

5. This may be a good time to redefine the word "friendship".  A good friend for me is one that has no expectations of me in return.  I don't expect them to remember my birthday or special occasions and I don't want them to expect anything like that from me.  It all seems like too much pressure and work when there are "unexplained expectations" and someone is bound to be disappointed.  What I do want from a friend is support and their ear when I just need to vent or talk about things.  I want to be there for them when they need the same.  I have defined and explained my needs and they have defined and explained theirs and since there is a match we are able to be friends. 

FOR WEN: I JUST MISS MY FRIEND: LIKE THE DESERTS MISS THE RAIN!

 OMG, Wendy, I have been thinking about you so much lately. So many   

 questions left unanswered. So much life left unlived. I scrolled through  

 many of our texts. Not sure why. Maybe I was trying to find the answers  

 there. I don't know anything anymore. All I really know is that I cried like

 I had not been able to do so in a long time. For certain, all I know is you  

 were extremely important to me. What you and I shared was amazing. We  

 once laughed because we were sure we had been soul mates or kindred  

 spirits in another lifetime. But, what if that was actually what was  

 happening to us in this lifetime, and we were too bullheaded to  

 acknowledge it. What if we wasted too much time on frivolous matters  

 and irrelevant people? What if we blew the chance? The ONE CHANCE!  

 What a fool I was to ignore the signs. All I really know right now is that I  

 miss you, Wen. With all that I am and all that I know and love, I know only  

 one thing—

                                                             I MISS YOU SOMETHING AWFUL! ~ D.

FOR WEN: HEARTBR💔KEN: MISSING MY FRIEND!

HEARTBR💔KEN: PRAYERS FOR MANCHESTER!