Dipping my toe into crisp yellow ochre

After 50 circuses

50 halos

Each holding the other’s tightly

Protecting

Hiding

Justifying

Smiling

Singing stories, swelling 50 wide

Learning lessons from fickle’s folly

Shaping blindness to a gossamer view

Shift the threshold with a pause from wisdom’s smile

Aware, that steady spell’s favor is now

Start

When you drift away,

you become near

Curse this end that brings you to me

When I touch you at last,

it will be the first

I will lay you down in Auvers-sur-Oise

in fields of wheat

I will lay you down in Paris

in Montmartre

I will lay you down in my heart

forever

Acayucan Just is a word with several fine meanings.  It is the adverb defined as:  merely, only, no more than – that I have a problem with.  http://toastmeetsjam.com/bios/hilary-sloan/ Just can belittle a situation in an instant.  Just can hurt feelings.

My dear friend Rabbit was admitted to the hospital last Thursday.  As you may recall from my post “The Rabbit Interview“, Rabbit is very ill.  I was very torn up hearing the news and spent much of Thursday evening in tears, saying prayers.

On Friday, I was speaking with a friend and mentioned what was going on and how upset I was.  He asked if I was going to go see Rabbit.  I replied, no because there is a great distance between us.  He then asked if I had ever met Rabbit.  I explained, no but we have spoken on the phone and are in contact via email, Facebook and our blogs almost daily.  His response to me was, “Oh, you are just friends over the internet.”

I was saddened by the comment because I felt it belittled this wonderful friendship that I have.

Just a writer’s bond

Just an artist’s kinship

Just shared tears

Just mutual joys

Just hand in hand across the miles

Just….

is an arrow through my aching heart

I have always had the belief that the written word as a form of communication can foster deep friendships and not just pen pals.  I have found this to be true several times in my life and will always be grateful for paper, envelopes, stamps and the internet.

Sending love and positive thoughts to my dear Rabbit.

Update:  One of my new friends, Mynx read this post and decided to write her feelings about just.  Check it out!

As someone who writes on a public platform, I understand that negative comments are just part of blogging.  Not everyone will agree with my opinion or think what I’ve written is funny or even appropriate for that matter.

I have been lucky enough so far that my readers have been supportive and encouraging.  This feeling changed for me this morning when I saw the following comment.

It shouldn’t be hard to realize that, dear. It’s infantile to fail to realize it. Grow up.

Now mind you this was not a reaction to an opinion I had written nor was it a comment on one of my observations.  These unkind remarks were made about a poem I had written over the weekend using the weekly Magpie Tales prompt.  I truly wonder what sort of person would write such an insensitive comment about a poem… especially in a forum where writers gather to support one another.

How would you handle unkind comments?

With regal petals to prove its faithfulness

Violet grants a light scent so one can taste its sweetness

The virtue of the violet can be matched by your own

You greet me on your doorstep and perceive me reappearing

You close the door but I never step away

I am waiting amongst the violets

Remaining ’til you open again to offer me your mute support, which is your virtue’s duty

Fold it up, tuck it away, close your door

I will wait, poised among the violets

Suffering what cannot be

Realizing virtue has forsaken me because there is no other path

I breathe in the sweetness with purpose to suppress my bitter breath

For next time may be new

As I wait amidst the violets

.

.

This was Magpie 57, a writers prompt provided by Tess.  Stop over at Magpie Tales to see what others have written about violets.