In this moment

Photo by Eugene Shelestov https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-burning-paper-in-dark-room-33930

Poem by Katrina Wightman

The past can’t be undone

The future is unknown and may never come

This moment matters

It is all we have

I act not for some uncertain future reward

In this moment I can change the world and make it better.

In this moment I ease someone’s suffering and pain

In this moment I bring them peace, pleasure, or joy

These are the only gifts I can truly give to anyone

including myself

For the past can not be undone

The future is unknown and may never come

Moving again

Photo by Karolina Grabowska: https://www.pexels.com/photo/cardboard-box-on-dark-wooden-table-near-tape-and-scissors-4498152/

by Katrina Wightman

I started the process of sorting through our stuff for our next move. We will have been back stateside for almost a year by the time we leave. Being in the states has made it possible for me to visit my family numerous times, for which I am thankful. I go back for my final visit in three weeks. As I prepare our stuff to be shipped. I am also preparing myself to leave again. As I go through this process I am reminded of the poem I wrote a little over three years ago as we were getting ready to go to our first posting in China.

I hope I was enough

I may not be what you wanted.

But I hope I was what you needed.

Or enough

Or you found what you needed somewhere.

We can only be who we are, where we are, when we are, as we are to the best of our ability.

I am a body in motion.

Racing toward life

Soaking up the sights and sounds

Wanting a bite of it all since I was born.

Remember you always hold an anchor to my heart no matter how far I travel.

And wherever in the world I find myself you will never be far from my thoughts.

I always carry a piece of you with me. Shared memories, stories, and love.

Never forget I am always your mother, daughter, Nona, family, lover, or friend.

You called me a Saint

creative graffiti wall with portrait of frida kahlo
Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

You called me a Saint,

Now you’re thinking that I ain’t

You’re trying to reconcile my purple hair,

And my love that don’t care

About gender or monogamy

With the picture you had of me.

Suddenly all my good deeds and qualities,

Are obscured by your moral blinders about love.

You can’t understand why I had to change.

I didn’t change I just removed the box that I didn’t fit in.

You’re just seeing all of me and it is making you question your reality and morality.

Age is just a number, but it made me wonder who I am living for.

I am too old and too bold to hide anymore.

If the last few years have taught me anything it is that tomorrow is not guaranteed.

I don’t want to die a small colorless version of myself.

Katrina Wightman

I learned it from you

Photo by Kate Galatian

I learned it from you

From where you began

To where you ended or currently are

And all the in betweens

Stepping outside your comfort zone

Venturing beyond where the little girl inside you could image

I am not the first

Nor will I be the last

For I see it in her eyes

 The spark

The apparent fearlessness

You taught me

Showed me the way

I didn’t always see it at the time

But I do now

Wow

Thank you

For as I fly forward

Toward my own adventures

I know it is inspired and braved in large part

By you both

And I am sure those before you

And her path

Their paths

Will be paved in part by you both

And those before you