Where Will We

Be tomorrow when
We leave this present behind?
Is there much future
Left for us to find, explore?
We may not know anymore.
Creativity
Beckons with many prizes,
But will we survive
The breaking down of culture,
The wrestling for position?
Ah, superstition
Reckons itself mighty in
The material
Sphere, naming one this, one that,
Begging as it puts on hats.
We need must make peace
With what we experience
Now, somehow, someway,
Or it becomes our portion
Of unquiet yesterday,
Bleeding all over
Present, future being, leaves
Us constant struggle
With only hope to battle
For who we ready become.
We founded ourselves
Among the bold, the rebels,
Those who employ love
To conquer the multiverse
And so, we must continue.
Life swears us nothing
But serves us what we gather
In its give and take
Our dreams, plans, only matter –
If we choose to make them so.
Tomorrow awaits
With a bright, fresh countenance –
Likewise, we may go
Into the fair abundance
Free of angst, full of good cheer.
It is ours to choose
In our freedom, who we are,
Who we will become;
In doing, we can create
A refuge of lovely peace.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Disappeared

Some friends you cannot
Depend to join your journey
When you fall into
Nightscapes, spheres, where trouble lives,
They are only there for cheers.

What they do not know
The beauty in you further
Grows in depths of fear;
You become a hero, bright,
When you conquer the fright night.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Cinque Tanka

The sad can take you
To your knees where you whisper
God, oh, help me, please;
Beg Him, heal the pain that ails,
Trusting life with Christ prevails.


Addendum

I know much better,
How did I come to be there,
Looking at cupcakes?
What happens inside the mind
Can sometimes be undefined.

I was leaving, but
Something took me over, rolled
The cart back so I
Did not have to do much for
Chocolate treats get inside.

Okay, now control
I must expend so all of
Them do not quickly
Take up residence on my
Happily willing body.


I left the dog loose
Knowing I should cage her up
It was a test, yes.
I came home to disaster,
The dog is my love, wrong, debt.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Irrepressible

Some races we cannot win
Though we try and try again,
But we may endeavor to make
Of everything, a thing to take
Away in beneficial learning
Advancing as more discerning,
Improving for the days coming.
Suffering is extremely painful,
But also, can be gainful,
For if we overcome our problems
And even should we not solve them,
We are more resilient in the end,
Than when we did, our trial begin.
Much becomes of having it all,
But along the way, we often fall.
Our failures give us an appreciation
For the moments of approbation
We, in relation ourselves, better know
And realize life is ours always to grow.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan

Going Down Again

For some of us, particularly females, the quest for a weight we deem acceptable is lifelong. My battles started in probably middle school, maybe before. I have been a diet soda addict as long as I can remember.

I have done every diet, gone to every gym, exercised excessively, put my self at risk with amphetamines, fasted. I have rarely liked my body and regularly hated myself.

For me, it was never so much the models and movie stars; it was the derision from my peers, both male and female. When a man I adored said he hated to take me out to restaurants with him because it was embarrassing to see me gorge myself, it nearly destroyed me.

Since 1997 I have been medicated continuously with drugs that cause weight gain and/or hinder weight loss. At worst, I was over 200 pounds.

I longed to take control, but nothing seemed doable. In December 2013, Samsung released the first version of its smartwatch, the Gear. I tend to be if I can, an early adopter. I had read the hype, and on the day the Gear hit the stores, I got one. It had a pedometer but worked from the wrist. I downloaded the MyFitnessPal app onto my S3 and paired with the Gear; I determined to change my life.

I did. At the end of 2014, I was 140 pounds and a slim size 6. At the lowest, I reached 135 pounds.

I did well until I had a devastating series of losses. By 2019, my weight was slipping up. I hated myself again. Depression, suicidal ideation, medication changes, and the fact that Under Armour bought MyFitnessPal and added pop-ups for which my reaction was to ditch the app, worked against me.

In 2020, with the pandemic, minimal contact with human beings beyond the screen, I reached 173 pounds. That was too much. So, I told someone I was bingeing, and the reply was, “That’s not you!” Somehow those three words gave me the impetus to grasp control and wrench myself back from the edge.

A few weeks have passed. I am down to 160 pounds. At this point – last time, I enlisted the help of Body Change coach John Cena. I have no such option now. So it is me against the urge to eat frequently.

I shall win. My appetite is always ravenous because of my prescriptions, but I have to do this, so there you are.

It is a miracle I am alive, and I believe that God shall not abandon me on this journey. I pray, and I do not bring home the things that I cannot resist.

If you think it is easy, don’t. It is not, and never has been.

© Jo Ann J. A. Jordan