Haiku Friday – Choice & Faith

Hello, everyone! Welcome.

I have a friend who is intelligent, kind and beautiful. Despite having these great qualities, among others, she has a low self-esteem. She often berates herself, and she can’t take a compliment to save her life. This saddens me, because her low self-esteem holds her back from achieving certain goals and living a good life. 

Her issues with low self-esteem stems from her childhood. She grew up with a verbally abusive father who called her names like stupid (although she was a straight “A” student), idiot, dimwit . . . whenever she made a mistake as a child. His name-calling escalated to profanity and it would happen for the smallest things, from spilling milk to wrinkling her dress. The silliest things would set him off.

Now she’s an adult, she has a great career, husband, wonderful kids, a beautiful home. She’s made a great life for herself, but whenever she makes the tiniest of mistakes, her father’s voice is in her head calling her names and making her feel like garbage.

I’m happy to say that she’s seeing a therapist for this problem, and she has told me that things are much better. She has no idea how strong she’s been all her life. 

Many people believe that words are just words, but they are so much more. Words have driven many to alcohol, drugs, excessive eating, depression and even suicide. Words have a lasting impact, especially those said to a child. 

Be careful how you talk to others, whether it be your spouse, children, friends, employees or coworkers. Berating someone is no way to teach or communicate. If you speak to someone with kindness, respect and consideration, they’re more apt to listen and comply.

Be smart in the way you communicate with others and yourself, because there are consequences, not only to our actions, but also to the words that come out of our mouths.

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I wrote two haiku today. I decided to use more the feel of the words rather than the actual words. Truth for “Faith”, which is what these haiku portray, and the lack of choice someone with low self-esteem may believe they have.

 

Choice and Faith are this week’s prompt words chosen by Ronovan Hester of Ronovan Writes.

Ron hosts a challenge that anyone could participate in called Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge every Monday, and you have until Sunday to create a post featuring your haiku poem. He is an author and poet and also does author interviews and much more on his blog. Be sure to check it out. Read Ron’s Haiku Prompt Challenge Guidelines for more information.

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You can tell me I

am beautiful but, I will

never believe you.

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If you tell me I

am good for nothing, I will

always believe you.

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Haiku Friday – Style & Fresh

Hi everyone! Welcome back! Happy Haiku Friday!

 

Ronovan is a writer and poet and he also does author interviews and much more. You can read some of his poetry and fiction pieces on his blog. He also hosts RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge every Monday. Anyone can participate. Check out his Haiku Prompt Challenge Guidelines for more information.

This week’s prompt words are Style and Fresh.

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Words torn from the gut

A virgin sheet of paper

The birth of genre

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(Style = Genre / Fresh = Virgin)

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Have a great weekend! 😀

Haiku Friday – Lock & Gab

Hello and welcome to Haiku Friday! Today’s prompt words are Lock and Gab via RonovanWrites Weekly Haiku Prompt Challenge. Visit Ron’s blog, RonovanWrites, and join in the fun! I had a hard time with the prompt words this week. I tried to write a slightly humorous haiku this week. Let me know what you think.

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Babble, Jabber, Blab

by Vashti Quiroz-Vega

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Unfastened the lock

Let yourself into my heart

Gabbed your way back out

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“The road to hell is paved with gossip.”

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“Words! What power they hold. Once they have rooted in your psyche, it is difficult to escape them. Words can shape the future of a child and destroy the existence of an adult.
Words are powerful. Be careful how you use them because once you have pronounced them, you cannot remove the scar they leave behind.”

Dead Words

I loved this poem by a mysterious, talented poet named Barrira. The poetry is raw and honest and if you feel nothing after reading one of this brilliant poet’s poems, well, you may want to check if your blood is red.

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Dead Words

by barrira

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So much of what we want
Goes unsaid between empty
Spaces making the distance
Longer than it needs to be
All the “I love yous’” swallowed
Too scared of rejection we let
The aching hollowness to grow
Inside our chest locking the words
We shut off the inner voice harshly
Our hearts burdened under weight
We choke and stumble around
Never an “I’m sorry” letting our
Pride win over relationships we
Keep losing people slowly till one
Day the road mirrors a graveyard
“Thank yous” squashed under feet
We drive people away without
Realizing we are digging our holes
Only to wake up one day and be
Alone and numb from the inside
With regrets and what-ifs that tear
Us up by the burdens we carry
Till we pick a pen and bleed our
Hearts away letting the dead words
Out filling the voids and aches never
Heard before to let the world glimpse
The burdens of the silenced words
Hoping someone out there will act
Differently and live fully unlike us

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Random News

Today April 22nd, 2015 is EARTH DAY! It is also International Mother Earth Day and National Jelly Bean Day. So hug a tree, talk to your plants, and eat a handful of jelly beans! 😛

Kind Words

I fell in-love with these words . . . 

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“Kind words are the music of the world.

They have a power which seems to be

beyond natural causes, as if they were

some angel’s song which had lost its way

and come to earth.”

~ Frederick William Faber

Tears by Laphet on deviantART

 

Has anyone ever spoken kind words to you that had such an impact that they changed your life, self image, or the way you think about a certain subject? ♥

 

Words!

 

Hello! If you’re like me you can’t tolerate any kind of abuse. Verbal abuse is a serious type of abuse. Yet, I feel it is the most tolerated and less reported. Why? Maybe because verbal abuse does not leave marks on your body like physical or sexual abuse. But don’t be fooled by the lack of physical evidence. Verbal abuse is just as damaging and could lead to death––even if it is by the victim’s own hand. Choose your words carefully. Especially when talking to a child. ♥

 

 

by Vashti Quiroz-Vega

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Words! What power they hold. Once they have rooted in your psyche, it is difficult to escape them. Words can shape the future of a child and destroy the existence of an adult.
Words are powerful. Be careful how you use them because once you have pronounced them, you cannot remove the scar they leave behind.

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What would you do if you witnessed a child being verbally abused? What would you do if you saw a child being physically abused? Would you intervene? Call the police?