Crossing Over

By Joy Arnett

Crossing Over is a book about change; places where we step over lines, where lines dissolve and reappear in our lives.

The beautiful poetry in this book captures everything from the plight of the homeless to crossing over the line of sanity into the shadowy world of the mentally ill.

Between the words is the constant theme of embracing the changes in your life with hope for a better tomorrow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joy Arnett
• Release date: Dec 4, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452327976

Joy Arnett

I have been writing down my impressions of the world around me since I was able to put pen to paper.I have been a Registered Nurse for thirty-eight years. A great deal of my poetry reflects my experiences with various forms of mental illness and difficult life situations.I believe we all have the ability to move away from our everyday cache of generalizations and judgments into a place of compassion, understanding and wisdom.I have always wanted to make a difference in the lives of people around me.If my writing helps someone to change the angle of their vision; if it gives birth to new ideas to consider; if it helps in coping with the many problem solving opportunities we have in our lives then I have done what I desire to do.I have communicated with intent and left some meaningful part of myself behind.

Book preview

Crossing Over

Smashwords Edition

by

Joy Arnett

Copyright 2010

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy for $9.99. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Attraversiamo (Crossing Over)

I am reading a book about a woman gone traveling

Today I am in Rome amid Pantheon ruins and naked women carved of stone

Fountains with tinkling bubbling melodies

Sunshine streaming through pizzeria windows

I have smelled basil fresh and green and eaten mozzarella

Made of buffalo’s milk

And thick crusts of bread flavored with rosemary and olive oil

I am sated; content to remain in my reader’s world

I have adopted this woman’s favorite Italian word as my own

Attraversiamo

Today it has meant anything and everything to me

I made it my reply

To every question

I added a small Italian shoulder shrug to make it believable

My husband rolled his eyes

Right before he smiled

I called my daughter Bella

She smiled at me too when I told her it meant that

She was beautiful

I have of late been trying very hard

To learn French

But my words twist around one another on their way from tongue to air

Changing without my permission into the long and soft A’s of Spanish

This is Mrs. Burlett’s fault

She taught me Spanish in High School

She was the keeper of Spanish vowels and consonants

Presided over grammar like an attorney preparing for battle

We were often objected to or over ruled

Until our R’s were perfectly trilled

And we could pronounce Nya

So it seems my brain is hesitant to believe that

Mrs. Burlett is not lurking about

Scowling and pursing her prune-like lips

She was exactly four foot ten

But could reel in all five foot nine inches of me

With one single stink eyed look

Somewhere along the way my tongue moved to Mexico

And hasn’t returned until today

When I said the word, Attraversiamo

It came alive after all these years

Said it wanted to learn Italian

Which is kind of like Spanish with a full musical score

When my friend calls tonight I shall teach her this beautiful word

So we can say it to one another

Simply to hear it cascade from our ears to our hearts

No Matter How You Feel

No matter how you feel about the day

Get up

Wash your face

Get dressed

Have your coffee, tea or lemon water

Then find something pretty to look at

Spring flowers or autumn leaves; a child’s face

Pat something

A cat, a dog

Yourself on the back

Go for a walk

Just because you still can

Amble down side streets or up avenues

Look at people

Notice their faces

Smile

Eat a piece of fruit

Let it drip down your chin

Chew it slowly

Buy some flowers

Put them in a place

Where you will see them often

Be there in your life

Even a day full of problems

Is better than

No days at all

What Really Matters

Today I was thinking about all the time I’ve wasted over the years

Obsessing about the way I looked, how fat I was

The fact that I needed glasses or money or a whiter smile

I got trapped in black thought holes

Where I free- fell for days

Wishing for things to improve my outer appearance

People said I was pretty

The trouble was that I didn’t believe it myself

Here’s what is worth remembering

All the wasted time spent on worrying about diets, hairstyles

The newest cover-up tricks in makeup

What shoes are in, what purses out

Is just that much wasted time

Minutes of your life where you could

Enjoy who you are, where you are

Who you are with

Are you too short, too fat, too thin, too tall?

Are you awkward in public?

Have problems speaking out, or holding things in?

The only thing that truly matters

Is that these things don’t really matter at all

Except to you

My daughter, at two, has taught me some of this

We had a caseworker come over who had a disfigured face

His speech was garbled; hard to understand

She didn’t look twice at his disfigurement

But looked most carefully at him when he spoke

Then she brought him one of her favorite toys

At two she doesn’t care who is fat or thin, pretty or ugly

Disfigured or free of scars

She doesn’t care if someone is a different color

If they wear bells on their toes

Or have an smear of lipstick on their mouths

She doesn’t care how much money you have

Or what you ate today

She just is

And that’s what you are

You just are