Month: December 2019

  • Poem: Fireworks and Flames – 31/12/19

    Poem: Fireworks and Flames – 31/12/19

     While our nation burns,
     our fireworks are set to go ahead.
     Through the cameras, through our eyes, 
     we have watched 
     our bushland and towns and livestock ablaze.
      
     While thousands will gather to celebrate
     the burning brightness of spectacular sparkles,
     uncounted others bend their heads in sorrow,
     their lives in turmoil, for some, everything lost.
      
     As the masses will view the pretty, sparkling display
     keep in mind that today and others,
     brave men and women are risking their lives
     to save what is ours,
     
     what is burning to the ground,
     while you delight in viewing an uplifting display 
     remember to silently hold tribute to those 
     who are without on this New Year's Day. 
     
     © 2020 Lauren M. Hancock. All rights reserved.
     All images signed “LMH” 
     are copyrighted 2019-2020 by Lauren M. Hancock 
     and all rights reserved.
    
    Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

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  • Poem: Bumbling Bumblebee – 31/12/19

    Poem: Bumbling Bumblebee – 31/12/19

     
     I am a bumbling bumblebee,
     I flit from flower to flower, 
     bough to bough,
     tree to tree. 
      
     I am in awe of what 
     Nature has to deliver,
     I sip, 
     I suckle,
     I collect: – 
     I leave.
      
     Bumbling from each flower to the next,
     I make my way around as though 
     I’m in my own duplex,
     where in the darkness of night, 
     I will not stumble,
     I know all the corners and turns, 
     the pieces of the puzzle.
      
     But then I reach a foreign plant,
     one which I have no awareness of,
     confusedly I ram into the branches,
     buzz, buzz, buzz, 
     grr, grr, buzz!
      
     The pollen on my back legs
     starts to disengage from my twig-like limbs,
     and there is nothing I can do because
     I must be under attack: 
     will my worker bees help me please?
      
     Falling, falling, 
     I am so bumbling,
     silly little buzzing me, 
     I should have investigated the scene before stalling.
      
     At the appearance of a swarm of wasps,
     I am required to quickly leave.
     
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock. All rights reserved.
    
     All images signed “LMH” 
     are copyrighted 2019 by Lauren M. Hancock 
     and all rights reserved.     

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  • Poem: Anything But Ordinary – 30/12/19

    Poem: Anything But Ordinary – 30/12/19

     Allow me to throw all this 
     seriousness out the window,
     watch it rise, then drop, go, 
     weighted, begone!
     It’s as though an exhilarating breath 
     has been taken inside of you
     Inhale, exhale, you crave another round.
      
     Where life could be so simple, 
     so pure, so you,
     one of perfection, a life of independence,
     where in this life, of your reality,
     everything is light, feathery, and airy. 
      
     Your words move softly from your lips,
     your fingertips dance over naked skin,
     and touching your arm makes the 
     hairs on your neck raise,
     you don’t need another here, 
     to feel grateful and amazed.
      
     Because you are perfection, dear, 
     even with your self-labelled flaws,
     they’re your signs that you are unique,
     be careful with your heart,
    
     do not denigrate yourself,
     talk down internally 
     because you, sweetheart, 
     are anything but ordinary.
     
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock. All rights reserved.
     All images signed “LMH” 
     are copyrighted by Lauren M. Hancock 
     and all rights reserved, 2019.  
    
    Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay
    

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  • Poem: My Shadow, She Follows, My Shadow, She Reassures – 30/12/19

    Poem: My Shadow, She Follows, My Shadow, She Reassures – 30/12/19

     Someone has taken away my shadow,
     cleanly stolen her from me,
     I am greatly displeased,
     I need her alongside me.
      
     She shows that I am actually real,
     in shape and form I am in existence,
     my shadow once was there to 
     provide this assistance
     I miss her being here, I need her reassurance.
      
     Why should I require a shadow of myself 
     to know that I am real?
     What part of me requires 
     this rubbish notion that if she is absent,
     has flown,
     then I am nothing but airiness and untruth?
      
     I cannot speak any more for myself 
     now that I am alone
     but without her, I feel in 
     lesser ownership of the 
     corporal being
     I call my earthly home.
      
     That being said, now I realise that I can 
     shift between forms,
     surely, her loss now seems a glorious prize!
     I am not bound to the earth by her presence,
     I can slip and slide in and out 
     of whatever existence. 
      
     But when I try, it is embarrassing, 
     I cannot make any
     shape-shifting movement
     not even to become a tree or a 
     lonesome shrub which I wish to inhabit.
      
     Then I reach a mirror image in the 
     glass alongside me,
     a storefront in the street,
     and saddened, I notice that who has returned?
     It is my shadow,
     Quietly present and meek. 
      
     I stamp my foot,
     irritated by her return,
     but it is as though she had never truly left,
     it had really been a result of the 
     clouds temporarily obscuring the sun.
      
     My mood is angered and I am bereft,
     but, I'd best return to being grateful for this 
     other part of me,
     the reminder that I am bound to this earth,
     at least for now,
     until a message from heaven is sent.
      
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock. All rights reserved. 
    
    Unless otherwise stated, 
    all "LMH" images are copyrighted 
    by Lauren M. Hancock and all rights reserved 2019-2020.

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  • Poem Trilogy: As Close as Could Be – 29/12/19

    Poem Trilogy: As Close as Could Be – 29/12/19

    Part I: The Ebb and Flow of Healing

     Press forth,
     her gesture whispered,
     you can do it,
     reach that realm.
      
     Her hand gently pressing the 
     small of my back,
     encouragement to reach that certain angel.
      
     An angel who would heal me,
     remove from me all 
     the pain and 
     suffering
     that I was feeling,
      
     brought upon me by a being 
     so nasty and calculated,
     I don’t know why or how I loved him. 
      
     With him I felt the drag,
     with her I was allowed to
     be myself,
      
     I could stay awake until three,
     write, draw pictures, sing, dance,
     do anything.
      
     Feverishly I wrote and wrote,
     wrote and posted, 
     in my crumbling state of 
     heightened illness,
     I made sure I was heard by my world.
      
     These people, I did not know
     who I had reached,
     whether I was well received
     or even understood.
      
     But the numbers didn’t matter,
     it was the act of self-expression,
     to be prolific in my work 
     was very important.
      
     It was most important 
     that the ideas were expelled from me
     like endless buzzes from a 
     curious yet insidious bee
     turned rogue wasp,
     I wanted to be belligerent in my exposes,
     to a certain degree.
      
     Because some needed to be spoken of,
     others needed to be hidden and taken care of,
     but I most needed healing –
     purging was my means of achieving this.
      
     Meditation also called to me,
     I practiced it religiously,
     sometimes thrice daily. 
      
     And once I removed the 
     sin from my system,
     forced upon me via devilish means,
     I felt a sense of tearing,
     a breakage within,
     I wept and wept as though 
     a staining upon my soul
     had been removed. 
      
     I healed in her presence
     but I still longed for the perpetrator,
     in both my mind and reality 
     he was the culprit
     but of my heart, 
     somehow he would be my saviour.

    Part II: The Cost

     He came into my life, 
     she came into yours,
     jealousy seemed to rear its ugly head.
    
     We had always had each other,
     but now we had lovers to occupy our 
     hearts and time,
     less and less did we see each other, 
     and when we did, 
     mostly talk did we of our others in our lives.
      
     Becoming tamer and more domesticated
     we calmed in times of love and lust,
     another’s hand to hold and to accept us
     for who we really were in life.
      
     They seemed to be more
     than our friendship could provide,
     but these unions came at a certain cost.

    Part III: Who I Once Thought You Were

     Who I once thought she was,
     is not who she is now,
     her new identity is now sharper, 
     harsher,
     well defined,
     strikingly and painfully real.
      
     Her care, love, and concern,
     dispersed to other sources,
     grown apart, it does seem,
     new friends in her current life courses.
      
     We were like slippery fish playing together,
     rolling in the deep, 
     enjoying each other’s company,
     slapping our tails playfully, 
     even taking on a curious eel 
     who simply wanted to grin.
      
     Then, prolonged silence, 
     we would no longer speak,
     for an age it would be that we would 
     not bother to take our fill of 
     each other’s words or efforts at counselling.
      
     Disapproval from both ends of the spectrum,
     who knew what was unfolding, if even anything?
     The silences initially made me angered,
     but I would not call, I would not give in.
      
     And so, I observe the changes, 
     not the physical, but the mental and emotional,
     it appears there is a great disconnect 
     and unsurprisingly 
     I can feel the presence of it. 
      
     My fellow slippery finned friend who was 
     once well featured in my life,
     where day by day we shared each other’s moments,
     then side-by-side we fell from one another’s 
     stories, both public and private. 
      
     And now it seems as though we are
     on the way to becoming strangers,
     it’s amazing how these things can unravel,
     this notion of being “best friends”
     it sometimes ends in upheaval. 
    
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock. All rights reserved.  

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  • Poem: Stay a While – 28/12/19

    Poem: Stay a While – 28/12/19

    N.B. This post may be triggering for some people. Please consider if you may be prone to being negatively affected by reading this post. 
    
     Stay a while, they said to him, 
     consume, consume, 
     of us, 
     take your fill.
      
     There is nothing in life  
     we cannot fix,
     blindly drink, 
     devour, ingest,
     take us in,
     we are your fuel. 
      
     Then,
     Stay a while, 
     They say to him, 
     as he sways from side to side,
     excessiveness his served meal, 
      
     Stay, my friend, stay, 
     an echoing voice calls,  
     the past dragging him behind 
     to a voice he once knew well. 
      
     Stay, my darling, please,
     her voice begs of him, 
     as he foams at the mouth, 
     his eyes rolling terrifyingly,
      
     Go if you must, 
     his mother’s saddened voice is faint, 
     barely a whisper, 
     as she strokes his hair,
     wipes away the slick sweat.
     
     In a moment she knows he is lost. 
      
     Teach them to stay, 
     that life is worth living! 
     she announces to the 
     assembled crowd 
     at the gathering where 
     awareness is raised
     for her son and the psychology of 
     many lost and living others.
      
     They need to stay,
     she beseeches, 
     they need to know we want and need them to remain,
     love will teach them,
     that they need to stay a whole while longer.
      
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
    also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved. 

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  • Poem: The Reverent Red – 28/12/19

    Poem: The Reverent Red – 28/12/19

     We gather ourselves today 
     to consume everything that is red,
     rich tomato soup, 
     delicious garnet apples,
     carefully sipped crimson wine 
     once owned by the dead.
      
     As we consume our favourite hue 
     for the day
     we wonder to ourselves at this tradition,
     a wondrous worship involving 
     splashes of colour,
     a sharpened shade in a bull’s eyes, 
     his enraged mission.
      
     Red, red, red, 
     all around,
     encompassing our eyes,
     enriching the sounds.
      
     Today we celebrate lives saved, 
     vibrant souls rescued who avoided being 
     felled before their time,
     red balloons released in 
     large bunches into the skies,
     each signifying a soul saved, 
     we collectively sigh.
      
     Our ancestors who gave us our existence
     carried us through life
     raised us through their past sufferings
     they were plucked from 
     the danger zones,
     they were released from 
     their war-torn strife.
      
     So today we feast upon all that is 
     rich and red,
     to carry on their memories, 
     we quietly enjoy what we have been given,
     and with gratitude we accept 
     the food and appreciate our lives provided.
      
     We accept that we are here 
     because of the actions of brave others,
     soldiers, saviours, missionaries, 
     nurses, doctors,
     red is passion, red is life, 
     and it breathes within us the 
     thankfulness that this day delivers,
     it is because of their actions 
     that we are breathing life.
      
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
    also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.  

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  • Changes to my Website – from Alice Well Art to Lauren M. Hancock Poetry and Prose

    Changes to my Website – from Alice Well Art to Lauren M. Hancock Poetry and Prose

    Photo by Marta Branco on Pexels.com

    Hi all. I just wanted to let you know that I have made some changes to my website. The https://alicewellart.com link will now redirect to a website under my name, https://laurenmhancock.com. You can use both but content will be on laurenmhancock.com.

    As you will notice, there have been quite a few visual changes, as well as to the name of the blog, which I am now calling Lauren M. Hancock Poetry and Prose. I have decided to go in this direction because my writing has altered from the older style stories I used to write, to now poetry and prose. As always, all illustrations to the posts will be mine, aside from times where I have decided that a photograph would be better.

    Thank you for bearing with me during these changes.

    Lots of love,

    Lauren

  • Poem: Together in the Next Life – 27/12/19

    Poem: Together in the Next Life – 27/12/19

     Helpless waves of injustice wash over me
     as though I am present in the front line
     of the battlefield
      
     where I am made to press forth,
     my life on the line,
     my squad leader thinks nothing of my sacrifice.
      
     As I hurl my body forward 
     into the hail of bullets,
     shrapnel pins my left leg down,
     I am in agony.
      
     My sister in solidarity knees beside me,
     cradles my head tenderly,
     whispering that I’ll be just fine,
     if I continue speaking.
      
     As the mayhem washes all around me,
     brothers and sisters they fall 
     with frightening regularity
     and it is with sadness and a deep pang
     that I feel the life flowing out of me.
      
     In the danger of the moment
     my sister cannot stay but she chooses
     to lay her life on the line
     for me,
     for our friendship,
      
     Bullets continue to hail down,
     like acid rain
     they corrosively reign upon her and I. 
      
     And her, my dearest, 
     who will never let me go,
     together forever,
     our lives will end as we know. 
      
     But while the battle rages around us,
     wave by wave the lines of soldiers
     are forced onto their paths,
      
     my sister and I,
     our love will eternally last. 
      
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
    also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved.  

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  • Poem: Cinnamon Milk – 26/12/19

    Poem: Cinnamon Milk – 26/12/19

     Cinnamon and sugar dusted over my
     warmed cup of milk,
     it comforts me, it makes my stomach smile,
     my grin shine, 
     have a taste of it yourself!
      
     I will prepare yours with the greatest of ease,
     dust and sprinkle it as I please,
     to present this to you with a glowing smile, 
     ahead of a stomach set to be full of liquid
     deliciously worthwhile. 
      
     And how about a shortbread biscuit?
     Santa left a couple on his plate,
     perhaps he’s on a bit of food restriction,
     heaven knows he’d been eating at every house last night!
      
     Paired with some cinnamon sugar and paired with some milk,
     enjoy your time together,
     this time of year is for family and friends,
     such loving proof, the mood overwhelms.
      
     Sip and nibble upon your milk and cookies,
     tell stories, recollect old memories,
     and remember past loved ones,
     who once sat in your spaces with bright eyes 
     and open hearts and expressions so warm.
      
     © 2019 Lauren M. Hancock 
    also known as Alice Well. All rights reserved. 

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