Shelter Me

I am quite able:
to face adversity
to rise to the challenge
to face my own destiny and mortality
to take up the sword for good
to speak out against injustice.

I am equally able:
to fight the good fight
to accept you as you are
to be alone and happy with myself
to run with the big dogs
to avoid the occasional (and un-occasional) pit falls.

But if, I choose,
and you accept,
one simple request from me…
and not that I’d ask you often,
or expect,
on a regular basis that you should…
Would you,
could you,
shelter me…
from my own ability,
to do it all by myself?

by Tricia Bock
5/4/09

(Tricia Bock lives in the village of Nashville, Indiana.  She has self published two books: Making a Life I Can Live and "47".  Both are available at the local book store in Nashville.)

The Thing About Writers

The thing about writers is:
they share.
They are a sharing people.
They have to be.
Without this ability,
they could not publish their work,
or express their thoughts to an audience:
real or imagined.
Without sharing,
they could not read at an open mike night,
or at a writer’s group,
or even to their pet, if they would listen.

They may not see themselves this way.
Many write about being introverted,
then read that bit of writing to large groups,
in coffee houses,
at a library,
or in book stores.
They write about the struggles
of living life alone,
or of the solitary process
that being a writer is…

But without the ability to share the words,
they are truly alone in the world.
And the thing about writers is…
there are too many of us
for any of us
to be truly alone
in the world…

by Tricia Bock
5/6/09

(Tricia Bock lives in the village of Nashville, Indiana.  She has self published two books: Making a Life I Can Live and "47".  Both are available at the local book store in Nashville.)

Open Prayer for the Return of My Waistline

The girl scouts are gone, I shall not want...
They leadeth me to purchase large quantities of preservative-laden cookies,
they chant my name and beckon me near to work their evil task.
They restoreth my inability to resist temptation,
I purchase without thought of consequence...

Yeah, though I walk through the aisle farthest from their table,
they still spy me, their tiny faces beaming, all smiles and sincerity...

Forgive them their trespasses for they know not what they do...
And though I pass through the Slim Fast aisle, I will fear no evil...
my stepper and spandex await me...
as I offer this open prayer...
for the return of the waistline I once knew...

by Tricia Bock
Nashville Resident and Girl Scout Cookie Consumer

(Tricia Bock lives in the village of Nashville, Indiana.  She has self published two books: Making a Life I Can Live and "47".  Both are available at the local book store in Nashville.)