My lungs fill as I inhale the smoky haze of the September breeze.
Overcast skies stare down on me until the guilt drenches my bones.
A puppet to the pressures of most I cannot control, gnawing at my ears until the only thing I hear is the deafening sound of my own thoughts.
I no longer wish to be another pawn in this unjust game.
I will grow my wings and wander far beyond.
I shall not be influenced to abide by social acceptance, for I am simply over it.
I am over the influence.
“Irish slang is funny.” --- Is that a fact?
What matters most is its wholesome impact
Revealing good* heart’s zest
To influence with best
Through blest joyfulness, along kindness-act.
*Galatians 6:7, 10 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap...As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
March 28, 2025
3rd place, "An Irish Themed Limerick" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchin; judged on 3/29/2025
Art!
Repeater of dialogues
In the past
With accurate information
Telling the story of nations
The tickets of history
Portraying the beauty of nature.
Art!!
The imagination
Influencer
Every painting
Produce a muse
Steadily giving useful messages...
Art!!!
The soul and spirit
Awakener
Taking the mind
To realms of fantasy
Creating ecstasy
Art is the heart healer.
Living under the influence of unhealthy food
Is not a topic that has been frequently chewed
Unlike its well-known friend: alcohol abuse
The unhealthy food topic is more a recluse
In the past food talk centered around a diet
And half of the population would no doubt try it
Thinking that their weight is mostly what matters
Followed by comments that hopefully flatter
Mostly everyone gets sick once in a while
Or had colds of which we all have a large file
But being under the influence of unhealthy food
Is a thought that’s usually far less valued
Bottle and can labels that come from a barrel
List that drinking alcohol may cause some peril
Yet when has a package of food listed in part
Stating: consuming this stuff may be bad for the heart
But don’t think that I’m looking for Fed oversight
There’s too much already that it feels like a blight
No, it’s all about vital self-education
To help reduce poisonous medications
Or having to visit a health center some night
That have popped up everywhere; speaking of blight
This is more of a write, to help bring to the light
That bad food is like getting drunk every night
You must have a light heart
For the influence to start.
Focus on the hopes of today
With faith in Jesus and no delay.
The daily grace, love and peace
Brings smiles, blessings and release.
We were made to sing and soar!
Don't be earthbound, reach for more!
Influencing others to follow
God's power takes away the pithy shallow,
Leads you in joy with weight like gold,
Seriously, but flying in peace, young or old.
I always will remember when I was young
and wanting to be special in some nice way.
One person used the power in their tongue.
The dark clouds parted, and I felt a ray
of sunny joy come beaming down on me.
The person was my teacher of sixth grade.
She saw in me what others did not see.
My feeling not so adequate would fade.
I had not known that I was capable
of not just learning, but excelling too.
My confidence grew more unshakable.
By junior high, I had a brand new view.
If in my talents I would but believe,
great things with effort I could then achieve.
Is the wind alive? That’s what the Choctaw believed.
The Apache called it, apocryphally, “the breath of the world.”
To them, the wind is the trickster you never see,
a joker on the plain of life.
What’s always arriving and always leaving?
What’s as old as the world, yet forever current?
Ever present and tireless, it seldom sleeps,
holding up jets, herding clouds like sheep,
filling sails, stirring leaves, causing rough seas.
What’s always passing, but already everywhere?
The Cherokee named ‘air’ the ‘keeper of spirits,”
because it sighs, cries, whispers and moans.
They credited it with great power and influence.
Today, we watch the skies with doppler witchery,
we forecast its path, with the gambler's odds - see,
the wind has turned on us, many times - like a tornado.
.
.
Songs for this;
Colors Of the Wind - End Title by Vanessa Williams
They Call the Wind Maria by Harve Presnell
Windy by The Association
From the mass arose, a one of its kind---
Resolved to affect, the whole of mankind.
A brain gifted to influence the lot.
He owes to all, lives he bought.
His legacy lies in clandestine veins,
That rules lands, the inhuman terrains.
Calculating minds surrender to him.
Evil incarnate, he makes heads spin.
Empathy not, revenge he seeks,
Nature's curse, he promises peaks.
Philanthropy a garb, to make up for all
The sins he caused at ambition's call.
He feeds on wealth, he feeds on fire
He is love's craziest desire
He makes his rules, owns them all
Bitterness incarnate, he causes downfall.
Took my hands and spotted the scars
Brainstorming on followers i would set loose
Serving my persona amidst fictitious comrades
Whipped out flaunting dummy soma
Chasing down the soul to bent toward authentic self
Seeking my failings hidden in brandish bits...
Crazy dreams cryptic holidays
Living floating above
It's a carpet or a rug
Living to forge forgetting to follow
But look in the streets
Love is still a companion
How do you find
Something you don't seek
Alice was a killer and as stoned as a pillar
I saw her I's right in the nav of her middle
Back with Jack
Follow the leaders but don't forget
To jump off the path
Where can we go
We all get 2 feet
Don't forget the influence er
Armed with a bat
Take it personal
Be the decision army
They say poets can be whiners
They say challenge doesn't turn panic into a disaster
There were bands I grew up with that I will cherish forever
But it was the love of nature
Always be the biggest thing to me
Never ask why
I is likened to asking someone to love you
I saw you in a basket full of dreams
They say don't do it
I say that's a good reason to
Forget to guard your heart
Make it a sport
Count the alpha-bet back to worlds
You own by rights
You are the only one
You still hit zero before once in a lifetime
Make it a habit
Change their opinion
Or at least
Follow the rabbit
In the grayest of skies, a cloud may roam
But in its darkness, a rainbow can call home
A vibrant beam of hope, a splash of color bright
A promise of better days, a ray of light
Be that rainbow, shining bold and clear
Bringing warmth and joy, banishing all fear
In someone's cloudy sky, be a radiant hue
A gentle reminder, that sunshine will break through
With every arc of color, a smile can unfold
A heart can heal, and a soul can unfold
So spread your light, and let it pour
Be a rainbow in someone's cloud, and help them soar
For when the skies are gray, and clouds seem to prevail
A rainbow's presence, can make the heart sail
Through the stormy weather, to a brighter shore
Where hope and happiness, forevermore.
I don’t know why I’m with her still
She’s a craving I just can’t kill,
She’s a habit I just can’t kick,
I’m an addict – she makes me sick
She burns like “China White” cut wrong,
Harsh as schwag from an unwashed bong.
As bitter as the cheapest beer,
As gentle as pure Everclear.
Her voice rings in my shroom-filled head
She is the meth comedown I dread.
She’s Oxy, fentanyl and crack,
The monkey stapled to my back.
The dragon I chased; she chases me –
The best thing I could do is flee.
But where could I in my hell go
That she, my drug, would not follow?
Do we really care what people think?
Power radiating,
Glistening and powerful,
As she walks the halls.
To influence or to persuade
is not from opposition made
Sit together at the table
~ to antagonists disable
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