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Dream Your Song

1/1/2021

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​Your song, I can hear,
as if the tune was written for me,
like a stream flowing over small stones polished to perfection,
​the wind blowing
quietly in the trees,

the sun in the sky,
peeking, daring me to fly,
your song I can hear, but sometimes I don't know why,

It finds in me words, words I did not know,
as you pour me from you, as if you too know
the reality of a dream like many
following an unknown path,
but still, but still I can hear your song,

In the quiet of the night
I hear you, silence does not silence you,
when I turn myself over to sleep, it is as if you
are there to reasssure me, it is okay,
it won't go wrong, I am here for you,
sing, sing with me, please sing along,
sing your song,

I hear every tune, every note, every word
in a dream melody like a lark over a morning lake
sounding morning's arrival, I hear it, I hear it so
clearly that my heart cannot help but pound,

I finally hear you in the middle of any storm,
I hear you like I found you somewhere on this journey,
a search for stories, the lark flew
and the words came to me,
and the song within us all,
and that is where the dream sings,
and that is where our story begins,
this is where your dream lives,
dream your song,
it is yours to begin,
​yours to sing.
BY Melinda Cochrane copyright

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It's Quiet

12/26/2020

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It's quiet-
left overs in the fridge
from Christmas,
cookie dough thawing
gift wrap in the re-cycle bin
and on the street
lights shining
with dreams of better days,
wishing Covid away,
but down the street as the snow lightly falls
in the distance, the moon up there glowing,
you can't help but smile
as a star shines brightly above the
houses still resting from the day before
the night, it says, if you listen-
come on now, we have better days ahead,
way better, so don't feel that type of heavy,
we will get through it
don't give up when the fear weighs
on your mind, don't fear the light- it is there,

so when the clouds are too dark remember
the stars and moon because up there
somewhere amongst the things we do not know
the things we can never be sure of,
lives a love greater than the Covid fatigue-
God's there,
never doubt
he will bring us through it all
just like he brings day into night
night into day
dark into light
By Melinda Cochrane

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Teaching in Covid, and the Holiday season

12/21/2020

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Last week, the windows blew quiet cold air through the halls as a gentle reminder that holiday time was quickly arriving. 


​Students wore their masks diligently, and despite it all, their spirits for the most part were up. I walked around to check the last assignment they were to hand in before the holidays, keeping 2 meters with my Darth Vader clear plastic face shield on. I wished someone had also equipped me with a mini-window wiper to keep it from fogging up. Breathing wasn’t as easy either with both mask and shield on, but somehow the students with their masks and me with my PPE managed to communicate. Sometimes with a chuckle at how many times I needed things to be repeated because for some strange reason both mask and shield affected my hearing. I have to be honest, there have been conversations I had in the hallways with fellow teachers where I nodded through half of what they were saying as I could not hear them. 

​
Teachers in the hallways pushed trolleys of laboratories, books, computers, travel suitcases with supplies, and bags of things needed to teach. I decided that several bags could do the task and I quickly began to say to myself every morning, “ Alright, carry, don’t forget your face shield, mask on, oh the computer cord- don’t forget this just in case the charge on it fades, the containers with journals- bring those too". It was almost like a morning mantra- one that was accompanied with my to do list and my don’t forget to bring to class list.
​

Holiday decorations adorned the halls and students began to bring some of the energy that was normally part of the year back into the classes. The hallways were quiet, almost subdued and I missed the students talking at their lockers. The good morning Miss as you passed by them talking was something I longed to hear. You’d catch them as they went into class telling you hello and sometimes as they one or two passed me in the hall, but I longed to hear them laughing outside my classroom door at the beginning of the day

But, in the changes that came with the pandemic, some things never changed, and the holiday season reminded me of this. 

During the last online class, we finished for the day, and as usual I gave them my seasonal message of getting outside, and resting. I announced that class was over, and what happened was something that happens every year in teaching, almost like clockwork- a beautiful set of smiling faces greeting me- this time via online class, but still smiling and saying, “ Have a wonderful holiday Miss” and I think it was their smiles that reminded me that even though there have been a lot obstacles and changes so far in the year, it has still been a beautiful one in teaching.

​I am looking forward to returning to class in January, albeit after a little rest and relaxing myself. 


By Melinda Cochrane 


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Keeps Findin' Me

12/21/2020

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It keeps findin' me
down the small streets
and around the bends,
over highways
and above ground, through
halls, down stairways and
over hills, down paths
in trees covered with snow.
It keeps findin' me
in the dreams, in the songs,
in the days and in the nigihts,
in the mornings and in the sunsets.

It keeps findin me as if it was always
there, always chasin' me, even when
I tell it to go away, give me some rest,
come back another day, when I have more energy.

It keeps finding me no matter what I do, what I say,
what I feel, what I fight, what I push away, what I
forget to do, what I do, what I do throughout the day.

It keeps findin' me and never goes away,
the inward callin', to keep this dream goin'
to keep it movin', to keep it, to hold on to it,
to hold it tight, to keep this dream goin',
to keep the story, to write.
By Melinda Cochrane copyright

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Shoes by Melinda Cochrane

12/7/2020

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Ripping open the package
there were shoes in there-
black ones
one-inch heel
fairly simple
brown paper
protecting the leather
from scratches or wear
from shipping
taking the paper away
from the waiting
they seemed to
ask, “Are we going anywhere?”

placed both on the floor
slipping feet within
walking around
they moved up and down
the wooden worn out
floor boards stomping
loud responses
music playing in the background
of memory set aside for
building life
taking them off
placing them at the
foot of a dress

demanding the box
be thrown out
in the recycled trash
and the shoes
stay in promise
smiling at the new leather
the unscratched
newness of possible
caressing night lights
as they sit there at the bottom
waiting for movement from
the demanding dress
the caressing night lights
the possible
By Melinda Cochrane 
also published at lifeasahumanmagazine 






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Today by Melinda Cochrane

12/4/2020

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Today
the blue bird came out of its cage
to sing a melody of love
and the song made the room
remember its silence
as the dried flowers of
time began to age
more quickly 
before the clock
hanging over pictures
framed in hopes
and lost in boxes

But still the blue bird
perched itself on
the hand of the woman
about to enter the next
chapters of her life
and it sang a chorus
of dreams through her heart

As the sun began to rise
in a life with stories
and the bird 
whispered quietly to the
lines in the woman’s face
“you are still alive,
and we should sing together”
then both sang a song
which lifted the sleep out
of life and the dance of
wings about to fly met the air
By Melinda Cochrane © 
also published at lifeasahumanmagzine

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Poetry

12/1/2020

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There are
secrets poets keep
deep within their hearts
like the first time
it was broken
then the last time it was taken
and we keep the secrets of quiet days
when God speaks such gentleness in us
that we cry, cry from the depth of meaning

meaning so many miss
and we share them
in words
eloquent
sometimes simple sentiments
sometimes with a hyphen
to join one thought to the next
secrets that are hard for us to share
they aren’t the secrets of who we forgot
who we never loved, who we loved 
and sometimes who we never knew
they are the secrets of the universe
tucked somewhere between our pen
and our desire to be heard
it is as if,
as if
God is asking us
“What are you going to do,
sit there and say nothing?
Sit there in your writer’s solitude
while the world falls apart?
Do something…”
So we do
and for most of us,
if not all of us
it is the most painful
of experiences,
we go from those quiet days
into louder ones
filled with know-it-all critics
and agents
and then rejections of poems- some times acceptance
like a crown was granted on top of a poet, 
waiting to be seen, waiting to be heard,
but we kill something we had in that quiet
but we want to break it
break it and for that
we are willing to have the world
gaze upon our words as if they knew us intimately
and they want to
and they need to
how else will they explain their very
existence
By Melinda Cochrane copyright
also published at lifeasahumanmagazine







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Humanity

6/9/2020

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It isn't complex,
there is no real test,
nothing for you to index,

It takes good old fashioned compassion,
not a lot of thinking about it to do,
nothing for you to ration 

There is enough for everyone,
we don't need all this hate,
it can be overrun,  

Just see everyone as us, 
the we, we need to be, 
there is nothing to discuss 

Just act like a human,
love, just love and love some more,
 then we will have unity union. 

By Melinda Cochrane copyright

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That's not the way to go by Melinda Cochrane

5/1/2020

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Not the way,
anyone wants to go,
reading newspapers-
morgues filled with COVID-19 
and it is leaving us blue,
holding onto memories of summertime,
listening to the song too,
left us thinking this is not the way to go,
an invisible enemy creeping down 
side streets and through family doors,
as if it lived on its own, wanting to 
invade us and take control,
that is not the way to go,
fear overcoming some
leaves others watching windows
wondering- will this go away, 
just go away so that we can go back
to dancing in the moonlight with 
the people we love, can we just live our way?
and the reality hits that maybe 
this moment in our lives, 
will make us value the true lovers,
the true livers of life, the ones who 
even in the pandemic triumph in their dreams,
who fight to hang on to them and to make them come true,
- that's the way to go,
blazing a trail through the dreams we thought

we could not make so
instead of fear we fought
not to let go- now, that's, that's the way to go.
By Melinda Cochrane

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A story of encouragement in Covid-19

4/21/2020

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As I approach the anniversary of my father's passing, I thought my last memory of him would help people during COVID019.

I was about 9 years old and I went into his room to say goodbye before heading back home to my mother in Newfoundland. 

I leaned in and gave him a kiss goodbye. I walked out of the room and out to the car and was about to get in when my uncle told me to


look up at the window (my father’s room faced the driveway). He was in bed as at this point his MS was getting the better of him. Through the small window, I saw my father. He had managed to pull himself up to wave goodbye and he was smiling – a smile that I hold dear to this day as a reminder that our lives are truly gifts.
​

His illness taught me that our true meaning in life is the lasting effect we leave on others. What did he leave me with? The belief that I could do anything, that I too could pull myself up to any window to see the future as he did. And what he saw that day was his child, his future. 

Although my father lost his battle with progressive MS, I hold his memory close and I am grateful for this memory. You see despite his pain at the time, despite being on a path he knew he could not turn back on he managed to find strength to show those he loved that he loved them. His smile, this small moment is one that has given me strength through so much of my life. He was able to find it even when his days were difficult. So as you face difficult days now try to smile for others, try to find the strength to pull yourself up to a window to see a brilliant future ahead of you. This will end and better days will return.  Smile today for yourself and for others- it may make all the difference.
By Melinda Cochrane 

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