The Window Seat

Poem Written By: Lyris D. Wallace

 I sit in the window seat,

trying to define myself.

My mind is cluttered,

      yet the page remains empty.

Self-definition can almost be

      too revealing.

Sometimes the mind accepts,

      sometimes it rejects,

and oftentimes,

      it just disregards.

Like most,

      I am defined by experience,

               people,

                         places.

I am a combination of personalities

               and realities.

I am a searcher,

      searching for the necessity of life.

I am a student of WHY.

I am a product of the past,

      a wonderer of the present

               and a dreamer of the future.

I am an infusion of knowledge,

      emotion and strength.

I am moved by the creation around me,

      empowered by those who came before me.

I am less than God,

      created to be more than man.

I am a reaper of harvests

      and sower of seeds.

I am worn,

      but determined.

I am limp,

      but still rising.

I am the face of one

but the reflection of a thousand generations

and yet, I am still being defined.

Creative License

Greetings Everyone!

I just thought I’d share an unknown fun fact with our Literary Enthusiasts and Readers. My sister and I both have kept years of our writing in journals. Journaling back almost 25 years. Collectively, we have journaled most of our lives without the other knowing. Particularly in those life moments that seem to be the most difficult and hardest to manage. We both released our pain inside the pages of our journals. It’s very cleansing to be able to acknowledge pain in this way. As close as my sister and I are we never confided to each other that we kept journals. I wrote about my pain and then progressed to writing poetry within those same journals.

Lyris is an emotional writer as well. When she began to question life’s occurrences death, hardships and all the why's, etc. she wrote about these instances and placed them inside of her journal. Through the years we had much to say. Our first book was a result of all those emotions, words and sentiments experienced through the years. We wanted to create a book/work that not only conveyed our emotions but took on the look and feel of one massive journal. This is why date stamps containing dates and times that our writings were written appear in Different Sides of the Same Coin. After all, there is no expiration date on great writing.

That work was special for so  many reasons obviously writing a book with one’s sister is special in and of itself but the backstory of our being secretive journal writers is a whole other matter. Very recently, we encountered someone that could not understand why our first work appeared the untraditional way that it does and let the appearance of the book distract her to the point that she could not give a constructive review and critique of our work. This was the motivation for me now explaining to our readers why no chapters and traditional page breaks appear in our first book Different Sides of the Same Coin as they otherwise would have had we not taken full use of our creative license privilege.

Poetry books can be as playful as the mind of its creator allows them to be.  For example, our dad was ill and we kind of made the font size a little larger to aid him in his reading of our book. We liked the overall look so well we will continue to use the larger font size in future book projects. Tell your stories and tales how you wish to tell them. Never allow someone outside of your creative process to pigeon hold your artistic and creative flow. When your message penetrates, the reader won’t notice inconsequential aesthetics. Remember writing too, is subjective. Not everyone will receive the message the same way.  Apparently not all will grasp your artistic and creative vision the same way either; and that is just fine. 

It's always great to think outside the box creative license is your opportunity to do just that. Your book doesn't have to look like everyone else's. Never sweat the small stuff! Have the most amazing and beautiful day! 

Thanks for stopping by see you next time-CJJ