Tag: inspiration

Community

I just want to apologize to everyone for the long hiatus. Things have been just crazy with life in general. I am sure that you heard my story of how I got started in poetry. I started writing in middle school and have been in love with it ever since. I use it mostly as an outlet… a way for me to try to get my feelings and thoughts out on paper so I had it somewhere instead of just in my head.

Another reason why I enjoy writing poetry so much is that it gives me a way to connect with others. I really just happened to stumble across Deep Underground Poetry and thanks to a friend of mine who also joined. I am thankful to that friend because Deep Underground Poetry has become a community. It has given me a chance to connect with other writers and it is an environment I feel safe in to be myself and share my work. Here is a quote by Mary Karr who describes it the best. “Poetry is for me Eucharistic. You take someone else’s suffering into your body, their passion comes into your body, and in doing that you commune, you take communion, you make a community with others.” That is what poetry really means to me, especially in the poetry community.

This post is dedicated to the Deep Underground Poetry community and to Bluevelvete who’s work I have been following. The following poem is a competition I participated in and received runner up. Thank you for being an inspiration and giving me the push and drive I need to keep writing. I thank each and everyone from the bottom of my heart. This community has been welcoming and has welcomed me with open arms.

Soft like Velvet

Just like flower petals you open up.
When life is feeling empty and
Extremely heavy you are the cup
That always remains full. You hand

Me parts of your soul and spirit
When mine is giving up. Your words
Bring hope. They are my one ticket
To the light in the darkness. Like birds

You fly me to a safer place. So my
Darling, I hope you never stop letting
The words float across the page die
Away. You are the soft and safe netting,

Protecting everyone. You are the ying
To my yang and the sweet to my sour.
You are like my miracle in the spring.
So I am thankful for you in every hour.

One Source of Inspiration: Demi Lovato

I know that I have talked about one of my personal heroes. In fact I think part of the reason why I started this blog was because of her. So if you have been following Messy Ties since day 1 you all know how I feel about her. At the time when I started this blog I also started to read her book Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year. It was a great book. I have also seen her in concert and it was by far one of my favorite concerts. It is also the first and only concert (so far) that I have seen solo. The one thing I really appreciate about Demi is being open and honest about her personal struggles. I also find her to be a more reliable role model than most girls in my generation. I did not have some of the same struggles as her, but at the same time I knew some of the stuff she has gone through. Just listening to her music is inspiring and can sometimes even be therapeutic.

I can go on and on about Demi, but I will let this poem speak for itself. This is for Demi, may you continue to be a source of inspiration not only for me, but for other girls and others who are struggling. You are amazing in every way whether you realize it or not. I will conclude with one quote by Demi. She says, “I have come to realize that just making yourself happy is most important. Never be ashamed of what you feel. You have the right to feel any emotion that you want, and to do what makes you happy. That’s my life motto.” So in other words, do what is best for yourself at the end of the day and you are allowed to feel whatever you want to feel. With Demi’s birthday right around the corner I thought it would be an appropiate time to post this. Happy (early) birthday Demi!! I will continue to be inspired by you every single day. P. S. The poem down below is for a competition I was a part of back in May/June called “Tortured Souls” and I ended up winning. This poem is for all the girls out there who continue to struggle. As Demi would say, you are not alone.

Photo from http://www.picslyrics.net/lyrics/demi-lovato-heart-attack.html?row_id=88437

To Demi – The Warrior Queen

Like a skyscraper that emerges from the dust
You come completely from the ground up.
The hurtful words and pain may dig into your
Skin like tattoos or scars, but never combust
Into smaller pieces, hoping you can be a cup
That is empty. Demi, you are constantly at war

With yourself in the hopes of being perfect like
Everyone else, wanting to be skinny and pretty,
But don’t you know you are perfect like a gem?
You may think you are down to your last strike
Of the game, longing for its close, but the city
Lights still shine for you. As you crave mayhem,

Alcohol and drugs in order to numb all the pain
Within your soul, I know the girl that desired to
Be loved again. You taught me to see the world
Through new eyes because through all the rain
Soaked windows there is the bright hope you
Prayed for every day and night. Your furled

Secrets and insecurities lay buried so no one
Can take them or use them against you. I see
You waiting in the shadows with smiles and
That are just a show or fake. You try to run
Away from the underlying truth. I would see
Parts of you in me. I wished to take your hand

And show you that you are only human, not
Superhuman. You tried to love yourself
And everyone else too like you have never
Been broken before, but you already forgot
You have been broken. You are compelled
To hide yourself so no one sees you as clever

Or kindhearted and no one sees your gentle
Or soft side. I see the girl with the warrior
Exterior and who holds in her tears so she is
Not seen as weak or vulnerable. Your mental
Capabilities of coping are slipping. A corridor
In your heart opens. I feel it rising and fizzing

To the surface. I feel our spirits connecting on
A level no one could pretend to comprehend.
We let all our past memories fade and be gone.
We both know that this will never be the end.

Cult of Inspiration As An Artist

I know that I have talked a lot about my source of inspiration, especially as a writer and human being. I take pleasure in being a poet because there is inspiration all around me every day. I cannot name a specific thing that I find as my source of inspiration. It could be a situation I have been in or just being an observer of what goes on around me. I just love sharing my thoughts and feelings in every piece that I write. Yes, I do consider myself an artist because I create pictures. I think this quote explains it in the best way. “Art has the power to transform, to illuminate, inspire and motivate.” If I can do at least one of those things with my art then my job is complete. Poetry is not necessarily what we say, but a lot of the time it is how we say it. That is what the next quote by Mahmoud Darwish says. He says the following. “The importance of poetry is not measured, finally, by what the poet says but how he says it.” I can go on and on about inspiration, but I will leave my readers with the following. Being an artist, especially a poet is all about sharing memories, sharing feelings and most importantly sharing thoughts. I hope that everyone enjoys the following poem!! I am going to let this poem speak for itself.

Sharing Memories

The world awaits me, waiting for me to notice
The small ripples in the creek, the tallness of
A mountain or when a couple embraces love.
The world’s beauty is captured through a lotus

Flower that opens its petals for the first time in
Spring and blooms in summer. The steady click
Of a camera; the mental memory. Never be sick
Of the mundane things like raindrops or dry skin

While standing in the middle of a desert because
Being a poet means sharing those moments, big
And small like a heartbreak breaking me like twig,
My heart in half as I clean up the mess. The cause

For concern as I try to navigate through the rough
Terrains of the road ahead and the shadows that try
To entice me. I become observant of tears people cry
As they pretend to be okay and continue to be tough

For the rest of the world on standby. But no one sees
Me watching and observing from the hidden corner
Like a faithful bird watcher. A sorrowful mourner
Who lost love, but it remains in new grown trees,

Roots and flowers. A poet and writer with my pen
Who only wants to write the truth, even if it means
I bring sorrow to an empty table. The truth redeems
 Matters of the heart. Everything is released again.

Rupi Kaur Tribute

I have been discovering and sometimes rediscovering poets. One of those poets is Rupi Kaur. I discovered her maybe about a year or two ago and before I moved I got her more recent book the sun and her flowers. I like her work because her poems are on the shorter side, but get straight to the point. She also includes some kind of drawing to go with her work and I really enjoy that. A lot of her work comes from a female and immigrant perspective. I really come to appreciate that as well. Anyways, here are two poems I wrote just recently, inspired by some of her poems. As I get to read more of her work she has become one my role models and I hope that she can be one for others, especially young girls. I hope that you enjoy the following poems tremendously!!

Body Love Letter (Rupi Kaur Tribute)

Dear Body,  

Thank you for giving me a body that is only mine  
And no one else’s. You are taught to be skinny  
Or curvy because there is no place in between.  

Why should it ever be a boy or man to intertwine  
With to make your soul more whole? It is a pity  
To be taught you need a man’s love to be a queen.  

You are no one’s pit stop or someone’s temporary  
Home. Thank you for your kindness and for carrying  
Life into tomorrow as well as for many years to follow.    

You deserve a multitude of rest when you are weary  
And bone tired. Your secrets try to hide, but burying  
Them is no way to live. You are not empty or hollow.  

You are a ship and a vessel that has survived every  
Storm. You have taken every bullet like a soldier in  
War. The world thinks you need to add some bells  

Here or there. They may even think you are too deadly  
Or natural to survive, but you have grown into your skin  
From a tiny poppy seed. You are my protective shell.  

So I thank you.  

Sincerely,  

Me

And here is the second one.

Unforeseen Heartache

Nobody thought it would be this hard
Losing a friend or a lover, but then
You are thinking of them when a card
From them shows up once again.
The slow, trickling tears come back,
Not like a train that suddenly hits you
Or the onslaught of rain as the black
Sky swallows you. It slowly builds to
The point where you get subtle aches.
There are no words to describe it, not
Even on the radio. They are heartbreaks
You have no time to prepare for. A knot
And other symptoms appear, sometimes
Months later when you are clearing out
Space in your heart for new butterflies
To hatch. When you choose self-doubt
And think of the times when things were
Less difficult you never stop to let this
Loss go completely. Their absence stirs
Within your soul and their love, amiss.

Those pieces/poems were inspired by her pieces including the underrated heartache, thank you,
https://rupikaurpoems.tumblr.com/post/163061242037 & welcome

Dedication to Dr. Seuss

I have been a huge fan of Dr. Seuss from the time I was a kid until now. Yes, his work is full of silly rhymes and childlike things, but his work is very meaningful, even in today’s world. I loved a lot of his books like “Green Eggs and Ham,” but one of my favorites is “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” and in fact, I got that book as a graduation present from my parents. No matter what age you read that book at it is still a great book to have in your collection. And here is an excerpt from that book.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

I wanted to keep this post short, but I also wanted to show my appreciation for Dr. Seuss. So here is a piece I wrote and I got first place for it on my favorite site DUP, which I have talked about before. Here it is and happy reading!! And thank you Dr. Seuss for being such a huge inspiration! Happy birthday to you.

All the Places You’ll Go! (A Take on Dr. Seuss)

You are traveling to cities and meeting new faces.
You are exploring every new culture and lose traces
Of your previous life. You find new people to fall
In love with and you will have stories to tell. The wall
Will be crumbling and is falling at your awaiting feet.
There are many snow-capped mountains you can defeat.

You conquer anything. Oh, the places you’ll go! And
Yes, you will be on your merry way to stand
Tall against the naysayer’s nonsense. You have smarts
Locked in that big brain of yours and have many hearts
Made of gold beating in your thick-skinned chest.
You choose all you want to be different than the rest.

Oh, the places you’ll go! Memories made among stars
And between blades of grass. Your imperfect scars
You forget about as you closed your eyes and this world
Takes you to a different galaxy. The thoughts that uncurl
And you stand there fully transfixed. You will arrive
At your destination with unmeasured breaths. You drive

Down the west coast with the wind in your hair. Oh,
The places you’ll go! Life is like a fireworks show
Because all you can do is sit back and enjoy it before
It passes you by. You will be watching a new door
That opens and see sights from a bird eye’s view.
Tears sprouting from your eyes helped you as you grew.

Remember the smiles and every time you got splattered
Messes on your clothes. You thought you never mattered
Or would make it, but there you are saying to yourself…
Oh, the places you’ll go! Your love stays on the high shelf
And someone will be lucky to get it one day, but you walk
Your streets. You are like Mary, but ahead of her flock.

Muse and Inspiration

One of the definitions that pops up in the dictionary for the word muse states that it is “a source of inspiration; especially :a guiding genius” (source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary).  So you now know what I am going to be talking about. Muses and inspiration, which is also something that can also motivate you too. What is your muse? What is your inspiration? Those are only a couple of the many questions people ask me, especially when they learn that I write and I have more than one answer for those questions. Sometimes I might say it would everyday life. I might say that a certain situation or place. Sometimes it could be something that could have happened in the past. The list can go on and on. Sometimes my inspiration and muse can take shape. Furthermore, it can turn into a person or vice versa where the person shapes into inspiration. However you want to view that… go ahead. I am sure that everybody has someone or something that inspires them and is a muse. Being a muse dates back years and years. How do you think artists create what they create? There must have been someone to inspire Leonardo da Vinci to paint the Mona Lisa. Without a muse or inspiration there would be no art or music or anything else in this world that we view as art.

This is my opinion, but it feels like there are two different types of people in this world. This quote says it the best. “You’re either the Artist or the Muse. Each comes with its own set of complications; each with its own unwavering power.” There are artists and there are muses. Each one of these people comes with a power. For the artist, it is creating art and for the muse it is being the inspiration/motivation. Like I have said before a muse does not necessarily have to be another person. It could be an object or a major life event. In fact, it could be yourself. One of my favorite artists Friday Kahlo says it the best. “I am my own muse, I am the subject I know best. The subject I want to know better.” I do not know about other people who write or are other versions of artists, but sometimes a muse/inspiration can help my pieces improve drastically. It is because of that I want to take this moment to say thank you to those people, as well as situations and with everything else that been a part of my inspiration. This is for you, although we can also change it.

Muse as a Person

Time stood still when we are face to face.
It is not so much what you look like, but who
You are as a person. I want to continue to trace
Across your chest so I remember it is always you
Who inspires me. You are my muse and my one
True reality. You always feel like the starkness
When all I want is nothing more than to run
Far away from the shadows and the darkness.
You always lift me up and you motivate me
To be a better person. You push me hard
To follow my dreams and aspirations. You see
That I would do the same for you. As scarred
As we might be, we are invincible. The dark
Corners of my mind and the doubts that are
Floating around turn into a beautiful lark,
Flying. Darling, their raw beauty does not mar
Or become ugly like weeds. You somehow
Have that power to turn the wordsmith
Part of me into a songstress and plough
Through the bad days. Your love is no myth