Walking Still includes treasured memories and heartaches of everyday people. It examines the relationships between men and women, falling in and out of love, the environment and nature, life's challenges such as infidelity and domestic violence, family values, and many other provocative themes. Walking Still takes you beyond photographs, conversations, and dreams as it delves into the depths of life's experiences to capture the essence of the unforgettable memories that touch our souls.

The author takes us on a therapeutic journey by sharing comic moments, love stories, and tragedies through narratives of friends and family. She unveils the beauty of life, along with its mishaps and collisions.

Whether you feel yourself "venting" along with the author in "Cleansing," experiencing the warmth of "Two Grand Divas," exploring the love of "Husband," or just pondering, "... How many tuna cans can you open before enough is enough?" In Walking Still, you will find enjoyment in the rich imagery and emotion of these poems.

As you read some of these powerful, emotive poems again and again, you will find yourself laughing and crying with the author. Their tenderness and honesty will surely find a place in your heart.

Walking Still

Poetic Reflections of Friends, Family, Life, and LoveBy Taaj

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Taaj
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4401-9865-6

Contents

Preface..............................................xiA Friend ............................................3Wishbone.............................................4Broken Fidelity......................................5Aesthetic Clarity....................................8Apparent.............................................10Iceberg and the Lighthouse...........................11Bound in Circles.....................................12Aging................................................13Survivor.............................................14Schoolhouse Blues....................................15Keeping It Real......................................16The Magic Belongs to Me..............................17Cleansing............................................21When Daddies Were Home...............................22Natalia's Butterfly..................................2519 Months............................................26Dinky's Apples.......................................27Crying Wisdom........................................28Mama's Soliloquy.....................................29Cruel Rhapsody.......................................30Blue without Yellow..................................31Grand Divas..........................................32A Grandmother's Plea.................................34Epiphany.............................................37I. Stage of Awareness................................37II. Stage of Discovery...............................38III. Stage of Recovery...............................39Splendid Image.......................................41Natalia's Curls, Kamilah's Waves.....................43She's Called Missy...................................44The Making of a Girl.................................45Ode to Responsibility................................49Who Killed the Cypress Tree?.........................50Menopause............................................51I Will Not Forsake Thee..............................52Admiration...........................................54Sleepless Laments....................................55Unrest...............................................56Solitude.............................................57Quiet Moment.........................................58Suffering............................................59Faith................................................60Life.................................................61Compassion...........................................62Whistler.............................................63Poems from Maui......................................64Warm Good-bye........................................66Sugar Break..........................................67Seattle's Summer Soup................................68Husband..............................................71Honey Child..........................................73Devotion.............................................74Arousal..............................................76Renewal..............................................77My Fantasy...........................................78A Hymn for Him.......................................79By the Lake..........................................80Voice................................................81A Privacy Screen.....................................82Poetry...............................................83A Request............................................84Whispers to Scream...................................85A Finite Unit........................................86Umoja Means Unity....................................87Song for My Sisters..................................88

Chapter One

*Poetic Reflections of Friends*

Everyone needs at least one friend whom they can trust with his or her stories. Life's lessons are learned from making mistakes and sharing what we have learned with others. It is easy to share the comedies and even the love stories, but tragedies are difficult to bequeath to other people.

Friends have inspired the following poetic reflections. Through their stories, I have learned ways to lift myself above life's pain and heartbreak. I have a better understanding of how experiences allow us to heal and transform challenges into opportunities that will ultimately improve our lives and relationships. It is my sincere desire to honor these narratives shared by friends through poetry, while encouraging others to share their experiences in a similar manner.

A Friend ... A friend sent two poems, Reaching deep below the surface, Not skipping across the water Like goslings in surprise Or dunking briefly for morsels. She sent words that submerge Into the lower depths like a submarine As its crew scrubs out the belly Where it's lonely, dark, inescapable, So courageous. A friend sent two poems That spoke of stories, evoking Reality with ebbs and tides, Companion to honesty And like a mighty pelican, Her words make me dive With determination Not to come up empty. Wishbone A gift of a "wishbone" For changing age, She picked up a box, Opened it up And really, There was the bone, End to end; marrow stuck, Representing hopeful intent Sucked of flesh, Gnawed of skin. Scrubbed of grease, Said was clean. Just a piece of skeleton, Was it a gag? A laughable rib? Not these fowl limbs From friend to friend. This trinket was accepted Without a gasp. In fact, when asked, The wish was made On molded carcass, Broken in half For potential order From familiar structure, I sat in amazement That this illogical present Was actually given As an eventful relic. With a yuck shiver, Of all the nerve! My birthday's next In a relationship Far less intimate, Perhaps an exit Receiving bone from chicken. Broken Fidelity Infidelity recycles itself, Parents getting treats from tricks, Destroying their offspring's security, Thinking what children don't know Won't hurt them. But these natural beings Believe in normal things. They're not foolish, Observing what parents are doing Lying to the ones They should love. Too many bedtime stories Were never read And only one tucked them in. Staged illusions Endowed sons and daughters With polygamous futures. Smoky memories of failed good intentions Are now worn like family apparitions Of unicorns who left in the morning And didn't appear until the next day, Or fairytale queens lustfully sighing While kings were away. Dull recollections of wedded bliss Held under stale arms, Between unwashed teeth, Stuck in uncombed hair. No need to clean Where caresses won't be Or kisses no longer linger Both now in the streets. Until the invitations arrive For the pity parties Lovers' leftovers are offered In repentance, Not fine dining But enough to stave off starvation. Kids need to eat, Mortgages need to get paid, And to assuage the lonely For being alone, Doggy bags are accepted With the stench of decay Replacing the romantic fragrance Of a once healthy marriage. Weeping children Who don't understand their anxiety, Knowing something is wrong, But can't call it by name. Their potential for "happy ever after" Shaved off As one...