Poetry

Poems from the new book, A Stream of Thoughts

by Peggy Floyd

Like flowers in a garden

We were planted together

Some like orchids, delicate and fragrant

Others like marigolds, strong and spicy.

Like flowers in a garden

We grew together

Different from each other

Yet, forever intertwined.

Like flowers in a garden

We bloomed together

Sharing our colors

Giving strength to each other.

And like flowers in a garden

Some no longer bloom

Yet they continue to spread their seeds

Throughout our lives.

These feelings of not belonging have haunted me from birth.

This sense of no acceptance has diminished my worth.

It is a curse, perfection, for my efforts are never enough.

A self-imposed restriction, it has limited my growth.

For if I’m never satisfied with anything I’ve done

Then what’s the point of moving forward,

"what’s the sense of going on?

And so I strive to let her go, this demon of my past.

It’s time for her to step aside.

There’s a new role being cast.

She has taught me the value of doing my very best.

The time has now come to give her a needed rest.

So I search for a positive mind to replace my sense of lack.

I concentrate on where I shine,

I’m getting Ms. Perfect off my back!

Where would we be if we had not shared a past?

Where would our story have ended

with a different beginning?

What would today be

had we never touched each other or

had we never shared the journey?

The answers remain a secret,

for the present is as it is.

What really matters

is that we have shared a past

and none of us will ever be the same!

Our lives cross and they uncross.

That’s how the threads of life are woven,

Experience of experience.

ONLY FOR A MOMENT

Only for a moment my mind remembers

Only for a moment does a thought of you return.

You are real again, a part of my life

But only for a moment.

Only for a moment you float across my mind

Only for a moment your presence is near

I see your face, I touch your hand

But only for a moment.

I have moved on to yet another spring,

  to yet another autumn,

Our past together a lingering memory

But only for a moment.

She watches as those around her live their lives. She observes all of their actions and she learns from them. She recognizes herself as thought looking in a mirror. Were she not like them, she would be unable to understand their movements.

Once she too was frenetic – fast-paced and driving. Once she too was caught up in the drive to succeed by the world’s standards, creating chaos around her, expending energy to keep up – to DO!

How fortunate she was to have seen the other side, to have experienced the reverse of reality; to understand that reality is actually created by our SELF. And, when it no longer fits, when it no longer serves its purpose, we are free to alter it to our liking.

NO, you say. Reality is beyond our control. We MUST accept what is.

NOT SO. We create our life and having a hand in the design, we can re-design, re-create if you will, what works best for us.

What a wonderful, splendid journey awaits us as we move along changing that which is uncomfortable for us, altering our speed to an easy pace, taking notice of the world around us – OBSERVING – and finding our special place in it all.

OBSERVATION – the corridor to our true self!

Peggy Floyd began writing in 1988 while visiting a friend who was a writer living in England. This friend encouraged Peggy to keep a journal where she automatically began to write in poetic form. Her inner truth opened new, wonderful worlds for her and she has been writing poetry ever since.

This poetry is from her second book, A Stream of Thoughts, a compilation of her poetry and single thoughts about life that touches all of us on the growth path. To order, send a check/money order for $12 to: Peggy Floyd, P. O. Box 271772, Houston, Texas 77277. She would love to hear from you and can be reached at streamofthoughts07@gmail.com