In Passing poem - Libations Friday 25 Feb 2011

A reflection upon just how much work we heap upon ourselves by resisting the obvious.

Three Endings and One Beginning Poem - Libations Friday 5 Feb 2010

*** 4 life stories of people I have known: 3 committed suicide, 1 reclaimed their life.

From Denny: It's difficult to stand by and watch when a few people around us are on self-destruct. Sometimes, you can take time and engage as it helps them get through one more day. Sometimes, no amount of talk or company will help because what they need is prayer, the prayer of love and light to shine into their confusion and darkness to make them strong again. The following are only four stories of many I have known who have lived difficult lives for themselves and those around them. I could fill a book.

Since there is so much stress and pressure in America and around the globe this year because of the economic downturn, I thought it was time to write a poem discussing the social issue of suicide. Suicide affects us all. Three of these friends were conservative Republicans who refused to learn to be more emotionally flexible when life did not go their way. The fourth is no longer a Republican.

Why do I bring up the political preference? A few years ago, there was a study about who had the most nightmares and experienced the most fear in life. The Republicans scored high for fear and nightmares, personal rigidity and divorce over the Democrats. Right now a number of our Republican friends are recently divorced. It happened as soon as Bush left office, like a contagion. Once the Republicans were out of power, these Republicans felt powerless and trashed their relationships.

There is a better way to live...




Photo by Adan Garcia @ flickr


Three Endings and One Beginning


I ask into the quiet air:
Are we a society of yearning?

When I’m sitting still in contemplation
Thinking of others who are gone
From this earth by their own hand
I wonder how things could have been.

I ask into the stirring air:
Are we a society of depression?

We have beautiful homes, air to breathe,
Holidays to enjoy, people to know,
Awesome food to share with friends,
Yet still we revel in the darkness

Are we really here in this abundant life
Just to pay the bills, show off to the neighbors,
Buy expensive electronic toys and games,
Scrambling to get rich quick and forever?

When we ignore the simple things in life
When we sideline people trying to friend us
When we take for granted our partners and family
When we push away all that supports us - can we be happy?

I ask into the turbulent air:
Are we a society of suicide?

This year three friends killed themselves.
One was a builder undiagnosed for depression
Who clearly cycled in and out of excited highs
And lowest anti-social lows yet no one dared
Confront him to help because he employed them.
John increased his life insurance a few months before
Then he took his gun and shot into his heart
Dead in his truck on a construction site where
Some horrified Mexican painter found him.
John left his wife and children deep in debt
Never considering the legacy he left them.




Photo by nattu @ flickr


Another friend was a waitress who started
Her life far too early at age fifteen married.
Her story was perhaps the saddest for sure.
She married her first love, had three girls
Then they divorced later only to begin anew
Five years later when he was found with cancer.

She still loved him so much she mortgaged
Her tiny house to pay for his medical bills
The insurance companies denied.
When she found he was terminal and
The foreclosure papers came in the mail
She started drinking heavily and got into her car.

They were about to move in together again
Like life was once before, so simple and rich.
She drove to her husband’s yard angry.
Angry at life, angry at her rash choices,
Angry he was now terminal, angry.

She called out to him, he opened the door
Only to find her quickly pulling the trigger
Killing herself in the car - while the motor hummed.
She did not want to live when he was soon to die.
Judy forgot all about her three teenage daughters
Who are now orphaned twice for her sister to adopt.
Judy never considered the legacy she left her daughters.





Just last week we heard about yet one more.
A severe alcoholic on self-destruct
Chasing easy wealth and chasing women.
He grew up abused by a harsh father
Only to now abuse everyone around him.
He had a loyal young wife and two children
Who were patient and loving, always there
Supporting him at every turn, no matter what.

He ignored them for his own selfish world.
He abandoned them emotionally every moment.
He loved no one but only himself exclusively.
After years of abuse and neglect his wife left.
Natalie is a beautiful person inside and out
Who deserved a second chance at real love.

She separated, began to date again and
While on a date dining out, Rene showed up
Angry and drunk. He had just lost his job.
He had lost his wife and children, his home.
He lunged at the other man, stabbing him.
Rene left quickly, went home where the police
Arrested him. Yet the next day he got out on bond.
He foolishly called Natalie to pick up where he left off
Fighting with her over the phone like it was the other night.
The man was stuck in life, determined to destroy all in his path.

Rene yelled and screamed about what he demanded,
Never listening to anyone other than his own words.
Then the screaming stopped and he grew too quiet.
Natalie was about to speak; it was a long pause, then
She heard the gun shot over the phone; Rene killed himself.
Rene never considered what legacy he left to his children.

We wonder together where such darkness begins
We know how it ends, no matter how many try to stop it.
Darkness comes from a closed harsh heart self-absorbed.
Darkness cannot feed, heal, bring understanding or give life.
Open the door, let in the light and darkness is diminished.
Open the door and loneliness and confusion evaporate.





It’s a bumpy road back to wholeness, walking out of the dark.
Another friend had finally reached the end of his welcome
With everyone around him. He bullied and condemned all
Who would not enable him. His father had taught him to hate women.
Since a teenager he abused drugs and alcohol – and people – twenty years.

His father was the source of his anger and confusion, a crushing manipulator.
When I met the man I realized he was insane, yet he had convinced all
Around him that everyone else was at fault. He harangued his wife
For so many years she finally had a nervous breakdown. He placed
Her on far too heavy medications and told everyone she was insane.
Their sons were confused, angry and resentful. Angry at the mother
They thought her weak not stopping the father’s condemnations.
With years of programming they believed all women were useless.





Then Flynt blew into my life like a storm, trying to dominate
Odious, hateful, high on five tabs of Ecstasy and drunk too.
Everyone tolerated him, his lousy attitude, he was top dog.
He was in my home bullying friends at a celebration.
Then he crossed the line with me by insulting my husband.

No one said a drunk was smart and it was then I decided
Flynt was going to get straight and sober. To this day he tells
The tale of when I physically bounced him out of my house,
Declaring, “You are not going to be an alcoholic, not on my watch!”

Of course, Flynt retaliated with convincing all his friends I was horrible.
They all talked bad about me; I ignored it. People who don’t respect
The truth and don’t have the courage to stand up for it are not friends.
People who will not stand up to alcoholics are not their friends;
They are their enablers, their weak accomplices. Flynt needed
Someone stronger willed than him, someone strong enough
To put her foot in his back and kick hard enough to get him
Across the finish line. Flynt’s new wife turned out to be a mini-me,
Her strong convictions made me smile I was so proud of her.
She would not tolerate his beatings, berating or hating her as a woman.
She left him twice in the first two years of marriage.





For Flynt that was finally it; he realized he did not want to be alone.
His wife and I and a few others kept praying love and light into him
To make him the right kind of strong, eroding the darkness in him.
Flynt has now been straight and sober for four years.
He quit talking harsh and hard-hearted about women and others.

It’s taking time, a lot of time and effort, yet he is doing well in his marriage.
He has finally faced the dark motives of his father and seen the truth.
As he walked away, spending less and less time with his toxic father
Flynt has grow stronger and more loving. He finally freed himself
And the rest of us. Flynt still doesn’t like me but he sure respects me,
Quick to remind all that he didn’t stay an alcoholic “on my watch.”




Photo by claudiogennari @ flickr


Are we a society that care too much about ourselves,
Refusing to risk anything for what matters more?

Real love for others is about risking your ego to be trounced and
Misunderstood and condemned by others who do not love.
Do it anyway. Maybe you will get lucky and someone will learn to live again.



Denny Lyon
Copyright 5 Feb 2010
All Rights Reserved


In the news: Designer Alexander McQueen found dead, Flamboyant British fashion icon an apparent suicide at age 40


*** THANKS for visiting, come back often, feel free to leave comments, a big shout out to current subscribers - and if you are new to this blog, please subscribe in a reader or by email! Have a great weekend - tune in tomorrow for political cartoons!

Angel Diaries: Samuel - Libations Friday! 30 Oct 2009

*** How do you recognize when an angel has truly come into your life? Do you remember your angel sightings or did the moment pass you by?

From Denny: This is a little story poem to be included in a developing book, written from the perspective of the child.





Angel Diaries: Samuel

This new house was different to her and so were the new people.
Everything was different; everything had suddenly changed.
The little girl was now three years old and studying all around her.

When the family first arrived, mysterious people from their old house visited.
Before talking to the parents, one man bent down to reassure the little girl.
He told her she was safe now as the bad woman who tried to harm her had an accident.
He said he and his friends made sure she was dead and wouldn’t harm anyone ever again.

The little girl was relieved, knowing he spoke the truth to her.
The same man repeated the story to the parents and they too were relieved.
The little girl knew powerful people were watching over her.

After the mysterious men left the little girl felt uneasy, sensing other problems to come.
For the first few months, the little girl watched as her parents invited new people into the new house.
She lingered near doorways straining to hear their conversation without entering the room since she was not allowed to participate.

The number of new friends grew and the parties grew louder so she couldn’t sleep.
The next morning, after those parties, her father was grouchy, grumpy and cross from too much drinking.
She had to step on egg shells around his meanness as he didn’t like children.



In the new house, everything seemed to change; the parents were no longer happy.
The father’s new job was difficult and stressful, making him angry all the time.
The mother was nervous and fearful around the father, especially when he yelled a lot.

Then, one Sunday afternoon, when the father was screaming and the mother, the older brother and the little girl were afraid, a very tall man knocked on the door.
His name was Samuel; he lived just across the street in this sleepy small town.
He was so tall he had to stoop low to fit through the house’s doorway as it was a 100 year old house in New England.

Later, the little girl learned he was almost seven feet tall. Samuel was in his 80’s now and had shrunk to six feet 10 inches. He said he was seven feet tall when he was young.
The family and the little girl had met Samuel when they first moved in and when Grand Dad was visiting for the summer. Grand Dad and Samuel became fast friends as they were close in age.

Grand Dad and Samuel were both mellow sociable men, always in a good mood.
Both Grand Dad and Samuel took a special interest in the little girl and took time to teach.
They told her stories about life, stories from their youth, people they knew and the future. They were amazed she listened to them which only caused them to teach her more.

One day when the father was angry and abusive again, the little girl remembered Samuel’s visits.
She prayed and asked God to send Samuel to stop her father from being so angry.
She knew her father was so tall he didn’t fear anyone but she knew he would fear Samuel who was the only person she knew who was taller.



As soon as the little girl finished her prayer, there was a knock at the front door.
The father went to answer the knock and was shocked to see Samuel standing there.
Samuel said, “I hear someone asked for my assistance.”

The father turned red with embarrassment and stammered his hello, not knowing what to say. He sensed someone told Samuel about his bad temper.
When Samuel came into the living room, the mother breathed a visible sigh of relief.
Samuel came over to sit down on the largest couch, sprawling his long legs out in front of him.

The little girl greeted Samuel as she climbed up onto the brown couch to snuggle up to him. Samuel grinned, winked and whispered low, “I hear you requested me; things will be fine now.”
The little girl was so excited Samuel could hear her in the spiritual silence that she beamed!

The father was annoyed and told the little girl to get off the couch. Samuel insisted she remained to complete her visit.
At that the little girl tried to stand next to the sitting Samuel to prop her arm and lean on Samuel’s shoulder like she did with other loving adults who liked kids. He was so tall and long that his shoulder was way above her head.



So, the little girl decided she would do what she used to do when she was two years old: stand on the lap of the adult to get to their neck to hug them. She couldn’t reach Samuel.
Well, Samuel was not the kind of guy who would scoop up a child to pull them up. He expected her to figure it out and smiled at her to try again another way.
The little girl was drawn into the moment and started to crawl up his chest, digging her knees into his slouched reclined body to gain traction. It seemed to her like a mountain to climb.

The little girl kept sliding down his chest and then had to retrace her knee-steps over and over again. Finally, on the third try she made it all the way up his chest and grabbed so wildly on to his neck she practically seized it. Samuel only laughed as the father looked on in horror.
Samuel winked at the little girl as her legs dangled down his chest without support as she clung to his neck. She pulled herself up to his huge long face that was almost as big as her entire body. Then the little girl claimed her prize and smothered him with cheek kisses and neck hugs as gratitude for showing up for a visit. At that success, he gathered her up with one giant hand and held her up against his neck like a small tiny kitten in need of a cuddle. The two were wrapped in this glowing energy.

The father kept complaining about the little girl being a nuisance but the mother pulled him away. The mother sensed there was something more here than just a child on a visit as she saw the glowing light. The father never did understand because he could not see what the others saw. He could not understand because he could not feel what the others felt.



Samuel visited the little girl for a few years more and then moved away. He came often when the little girl prayed he would visit. The father changed a little each time Samuel appeared, more fearful he would be held accountable of his own misbehavior though Samuel never directly challenged him.

Samuel became known as the little girl’s godfather as Grand Dad used to label him. But Grand Dad knew all along who Samuel really was; so did the little girl and her mother. Before Samuel left, he kneeled down to the little girl and told her not to worry about what life would bring, no matter how bad it seemed.



He said that he was sent from Heaven to help her and the family, now his assignment was done. He instructed her that if she first invited them how other people would come into her life to teach and protect her. And the last thing Samuel promised her was this as he smiled down at her, “One day it will be you doing the teaching and the protecting and you are going to be very good at it.”


Denny Lyon
Copyright 30 Oct 2009
All Rights Reserved

*** Thanks for visiting, everyone, have a great weekend!




Photo Credits

Little girl with red roses Photo by Pink Sherbet Photography @ flickr

Little girl with teal tights holding shoes Photo by randyloodle @ flickr

Little girl with fistful of flowers Photo by mollypop @ flickr

Little girl sitting on outdoor bench Photo by somma1977 @ flickr

Shy little girl Photo by tibchris @ flickr

Beautiful dancer Photo by tibchris @ flickr

Angel and Bird Post Dividers by Sandychosen @ Photobucket

Floral Post Dividers by Shabby Blogs