By
Tarah K. Flicek
Slip into a world…a world unknown; where visions of art create hundreds of pages. Frantically, the weighted pen glides across the weathered parchment.
An echo in an empty room reveals a pounding heart; the blood sheds across the white canvas while intrigue fills the silence and a quivering hand battles for continuance.
Mercilessly the pen pounds out images while under the scrutiny of the mind. Salty drops of sweat bead upon the brow; the body
begins to form.
A breath rattles under the strain of creation; so close and yet incomprehensible to imagine. Behind moist eyes, the mind reveals the truth. Facing fears, fighting wars and shedding the last fateful tear…the end draws near.
Alas, the mighty pen ceases it’s melodious scratching thus surrendering to its great reward. Millions of characters, thousands of words and hundreds of pages flutter into view as the sacred Story give birth to its newborn Writer.
By
T.K. Flicek
What is it that tells me “no”?
Is it my mind with which I hear my plight, or ‘tis my heart full of fright?
Success is beating down the door and yet I linger determined to ignore the obvious answers doth faith hold in store.
Just one small step I fear to tread, and yet I wait, for ‘tis the struggle I dread.
Blood, sweat and tears I must shed, to earn the rewards for our daily bread. I do not know which path to choose,
the life of ease or that of dues. A single spark is all it takes to ignite the flame of soul’s true faith.
As I take a step I do now know, the voice inside who tells me “no”. I am the voice afraid to let go, choosing fear rather than to know.
There is a constant bickering inside my head and with every passing day the greater my dread. Desperately seeking the “right place at the right time”, I waste away while life passes by.
I must decide right here, right now to banish the voice that tells me “no”.
A tough, painful journey now paves the way, to a fairytale ending and everlasting successful days.
Labels: angst, battles, depression, frustration, life, self-confidence
By
T.K. Flicek
Breathing softly…my body is calm.
Intoxicating is the scent of perfume that sweeps so secretively into my mind. My head swirls with visions of your blinding beauty. Pumping madly against my breasts, the blood burns through my veins as you draw nearer. No longer calm, I sit and wait.
No words yet spoken, while bodily vibrations tremor with desire…burning desire. Silently begging, yearning for a single touch, I beg for you. Breathing harder…Barely containable, the soul yearns to scream. Then flesh meets flesh. Moisture in your breath glistens upon my nape, while the gentle scrape of your fingernails glide tenderly across my skin.
The long plate of burgundy hair falls gently over my shoulder revealing the innocence of bare milky white skin. Against the light of the moon,
our eyes reveal the secrets within. Trembling with unknown desire, I close my eyes while lips part, beckoning to be touched. No thoughts…no doubts…no fears…
Nearer you draw unto me, your breath so warm upon my face. Screaming, yearning desire echoes in the cavity of my mind. Your fingers bring a wave of new thrills as they slide gently through my silky hair and come to cradle my head.
Begging, pleading desperately I call out your name. Tenderly you reply without unnecessary words. Fireworks ignite the flames of desire as your full ruby lips reclaim their treasure. Uncontrollable passion, unrequited love, and deeply pure untainted trust abound in harmony, as two lost souls become one.
Deep within their slumber, their mind doth roam, to mystical lands, fairy clans, and wise old dragon homes. Untainted and pure is a baby’s mind, open and free from society’s blinds. So journey precious baby to a land of old, and safeguard the magical legend forever to know.
A secret world born to all, but through greed, lust and desire man shall fall. Take care this warning from the innocent babe, keep open your mind and live for today. Cast out the “conforms” of society’s power, and remember the legends of life’s first hour.
By: T.K. Flicek
When planning your next vacation consider your reasons for the trip…relaxation and stress removal, of course! What better way to rid yourself of stress and find relaxation than by strengthening your heart and mind through exercise.
“EXERCISE!”
Wait just a moment, exercise increases the flow of blood to your brain and aids to reduce stress. It also increases the body’s metabolism, reduces the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes. So, let us see how we can incorporate this healthy lifestyle change into the vacation scene.
Vacation Spa Packages
Most resorts and cruises now offer spa packages to accompany there vacation destination. Amongst the list of events, are massages, yoga classes, tai chi, personalized fitness classes, meditation therapy, and nature walks. With so much to offer, it will be easy to choose an activity for each member of the family. The vacation spa not only purifies the body but also cleanses the soul, so, when you return home, you bring a new look, healthy body and peaceful mind.
Nature Retreats
Nature retreats rescue you from the fast-paced world of high-speed, over budgeted, rat raced life. Here you will find solace in the peace and beauty of what nature has to offer.
Healthy meals offer the traveler a way to detoxify their body. Experiencing fun activities, such as, rafting, nature walks, and meditation are a therapeutic part of nature retreats. Returning to nature allows you to reconnect to the simplicity of life and opens up the doors for love and peace to return.
Ski Resorts
Today, ski resorts come with a variety of different activities. There are skiing and snowboarding slopes, hiking trails, which are fun, and physically exuberating. However, if the snow is not your friend, then return to the lodge and discover a healthy alternative. Included in most resorts, today, are indoor gyms and spas, here you will find various relaxation tools to ease the mind and relax the body. Therefore, after a hard day of hitting the slopes and feeling your adrenaline pumping, head into the lodge, soak your muscles in a hot spa, and melt into bliss.
Island Traveling
Head to the islands where you will find exotic beaches filled with surfing swimming, scuba diving and parties. When traveling to the islands you enter a world of beauty and tranquility. Here you will begin to unwind and release your mind of stress from the humdrum monotony of life. Take a dive into the crystal blue waters and experience the natural wonders of the coral reefs and simplicity of aquatic life. On the other hand, grab a board and ride the waves. Allow the waters to relax and cleanse your soul. After a long day in the sun, enjoy the nightlife of the locals as they celebrate the meaning of life.
Exercise is not only going to the gym and sitting on a machine, it is a fun exciting adventure to a new foreign land or the snowy, white covered mountains. Exercise is a return to the comfort of nature and rejuvenation of the soul. Therefore, the next time you are planning a trip remember to include these few suggestions and experience the benefits that exercise really offers.
By: T.K. Flicek
Cookbook? Oh, you mean all those nostalgic looking books sitting in the closets or resting on the shelves of bookcases collecting years of dust.
Wake up and smell the computer processor! With the advancement in technology and the World Wide Web population increasing by the second, it is not much of a surprise to find grandma’s sacred cookbook taking second place to the infamous internet.
From recipe databases (such as Allrecipes.com©) to online culinary education (as seen on FoodNetwork.com©), the limitation of culinary masterpieces are now just a click away. The culinary world has indeed moved into the 21st century.
It is as simple as typing the word ”recipe” into your favorite search engine to find over 500 million pages or the word “cooking” and receiving over 400 million pages. Today you will find websites that contain recipe databases to recipe blogs and simple cooking lessons to online culinary degrees; the possibilities are infinite.
Even one of the most famous cookbooks, Better Homes and Garden Cook Book©, has adapted to the new media by introducing a “Food & Recipe” page to their website, http://www.bhg.com/. Here you will find thousands of kitchen-tested recipes as well as a blog where the consumer can submit their own creations.
Culinary magazine giants, like Bon Appetite© and Gourmet© have also moved into the electronic format to relate to their readers. At http://www.epicurious.com/ you will find a wealth of resources, which include recipes, culinary articles and a community section that allows its members to store recipes, share stories, and even upload their own culinary videos.
The #1 cooking site on the internet is also the #1 cooking broadcast network, Food Network©, http://www.foodnetwork.com/. This website does it all: thousands of recipes, how-to demonstrations for every occasion, personal recipe database, blogs, and culinary education taught by world famous chefs.
The list continues to grow as young and old move into the world of fast pace living. The evolution of the cookbook has indeed arrived. However, has society forgotten the good old-fashioned time honored tradition of the flour-covered cookbook sitting on the counter while spouting out the instructions to grandma? Has the endless resources of information aided the human race to grow or detract from the human quality to commune.
While the individual person continues to increase their time spent “surfing”, remember the good old days where a life long memory developed from a “flour-covered cookbook.”
By T.K. Flicek
As a mother and daughter, this is a subject close to my heart. I grew up in a family of five females and no father figure. So tensions ran high.
Being the eldest daughter, the majority of the responsibilities fell to my shoulders. This included everything from major household decisions to chores to child rearing. I forcibly took on the roll as the adoptive parent; a responsibility that I was not ready for nor desired.
The thing that haunts me the most is the poor relationship with my mother during the crucial developmental years of my youth. It seemed as though we agreed on nothing except that she was always right and I was always wrong. The lines of communication no longer existed. To this day, it is still a struggle to open myself to my mother.
As a child, I was angry with my mother for forcing me to watch my sisters…, go grocery shopping…, or take the clothes to the laundry mat. At that age, I did not understand why I could not just stay home and play with the neighborhood children like a normal kid. All I knew was that I was the oldest and that it was my responsibility. Oh how I wished to be an only kid.
As I became older, I found myself building my own life around the anger and resentment I had for my lost youth. When I became a single parent and walked in my mother’s shoes, I began to understand her struggles and frustrations to walk the road of parenthood alone. However, I have chosen a different path than the one of my mother. I have learned sympathy, tolerance, patience, open mindedness and unconditional love.
I am proud to say that I have forgiven but not forgotten. Because I have chosen to remember the struggles of my past, I have grown into a strong and confident mother and writer.
“Because I said so!”
“Do as I say, not as I do!”
“You’ll understand when you are older.”
Parents and other adults of influence, very commonly state these phrases and variations of them. Children are an extension of yourself, and deserve respect as much as you demand for yourself.
Take time everyday to sit with your children and listen to their problems…their concerns…their frustrations.
Break down the walls of fear and rejection that you might not accept them or their ideas.
Guide, do not force your beliefs, methods, or opinions. After all, they are yours and yours alone.
Do not try to control your children or hold their hands through every step of life. When we fall or fail, we learn; that is the human nature.
DO be an open door, a kind ear, a shoulder to cry on, a steady hand and the sound of reason when all hope seems lost.
Remember you were a child once upon a time, how do you wish your parents were with you?
By: T.K. Flicek
Before you speak, listen.
Before you guide, follow.
Before you teach, learn.
Before you trust, speak the truth.
Before you leap, do not be afraid to fall.
Before you give, learn to receive.
Before you believe, find faith.
Before you love, first love yourself.
However, to live...Oh, to live you MUST let go...
...of all the pain deep within,
the constant nagging that you can’t win.
...of all the negative words that have hurt you so,
in order to truly live, you must let go!
By T.K. Flicek
Empty spaces in my mind,
magick words so hard to find.
Just one sentence or maybe two,
will help me create a story anew.
Alas I fail my mind is blank,
with all this noise I can’t even think!
But what is that you say?
Tomorrow is another day!
So, put down the pen and go to sleep,
the cure will come within a dream.
By T.K. Flicek
Remember when…
you were a child
and your greatest fear
was the ghost under
the bed.
Remember when…
a stormy night
became a legendary
adventure.
Remember when…
you wore a sheet
upon your back
and flew to the
moon.
Remember when…
a blanket and three
chairs became your
shining castle by
the lake.
Remember when…
a weekend afternoon spent
with your best friend consisted
of sharing secrets and dreaming
of the future.
Remember
when your heart was free to love;
when your mind was open to believe;
when you soul was born to live!
REMEMBER
By T.K. Flicek
Precious gift
wrapped in wool,
on a cool February day
I brought you home.
Daily blessed
with laughter and joy,
I praise the gods
for my little boy.
A little boy
no longer you are,
but forever you will
stay in my heart.
All I request as
you become a man,
is that you will never be too old
to hold Mommy’s hand.
By
T.K. Flicek
Talking and laughing,
remembering the good old times.
Telling old stories,
yours and mine.
Singing and dancing
letting the heart soar,
carefree and happy
out on the dance floor.
Birthdays come and
birthdays go,
we share and celebrate
while we both grow old.
Offering comfort
when life falls apart.
Being a shoulder,
to restore the heart.
Through all the sadness
and hardships life sends,
I am blessed three times over
that your are my friend.
By
T.K. Flicek
A soft tender purr,
the pad of her paws.
A wet pink nose,
she stretches her claws.
A slight little mew,
then she arches her back
while she patiently waits
for her fishy cat snack.
Quietly I watch her
finicky ways,
I smile and laugh,
anxious to play.
I sit on the floor while
she rests in my lap,
then dangle the string
where she bats and claps.
Tired and sleepy she
lets slip a yawn.
Curls up tightly where
she rests in my arms.
Soft and furry
against my hand,
if I ever had to chooseI would choose her again.
By
T.K. Flicek
An envelope in my hand,
this letter returned from you.
Penned in red ink the words,
“I hate you!”
My message unheard
the soft tender words unsaid,
because to you
I now am dead.
Perhaps I waited too
long to say,
how much I miss you
or beg you to stay.
Whatever your reason
I shall never know.
For you have a new life,
and I am alone.
By: T.K. Flicek
Looking out into the darkening sky, she sits alone in her apartment. Five years she lives in the tiny square room to her tormented mind's abusive wrath. Time has jaded her heart and convicted her to fear and loneliness. She yearns for companionship and yet remains in her prison listening to the words of destructive comfort.
"No one could hate me as much as I do," she thought. Control. She remains in control of hatred in her life. No friends, no lovers, simply alone left to wallow in pity and yet this is her solace.
During her twenty-seven years, she delves deeper into despair. "When will I find love?" she cries into her pillow every night. As time ticks forward, she falls further away from existence. Near the end of her life, she notices a soft light flicker before her...
"I'm dead," she said, thinking it a fitting punishment.
As she grew nearer, she realized that the light grew brighter. Prepared to enter the Summer Lands, she walked forward into death. However, when reaching the center of light she found a mirror.
"Come forward," said a forgotten voice.
Looking into the mirror, she saw herself standing tall, standing proud. "A mockery of what I could have had, of what I could have been," she scoffed.
"This is you, if you choose." said the voice.
She watched as a familiar stranger entered the scene. Her lover wraps her arms around... Warmth tingling every fiber in her skin then with a slip of a giggle she sheds one SINGLE tear. So many years alone, so many years afraid, could she leap? Tired of the pain she has caused herself she takes a step forward and reaches for the long awaited love.
In one SINGLE instant, thirty years of suffering shed with a gentle kiss and a reminder from her lost inner child. Her heart ached no longer from self-abuse, but instead ripped wide open to build anew. No longer listening to those sad words of yesterday, she walks down the well-lit path, hand in hand, with love forever longed. Fear fades into nothingness, allowing peace to take reign once more.
