​There’s a traveling girl reaching through my hands
Curiously testing the lock on every door she stumbles across
As she explores this most interesting realm.
This world with all its laws that seem so real
And she laughs at the part me that believes they are.
There’s a traveling girl,
Timeless, brilliant and mad to live on the edge of every truth ever told
Every rule ever made, every game ever played.
She enjoys the view through my eyes
She thinks outside my mind
From a deeper place inside…
And she never ceases reaching through my hand
Towards the handle of every door that I’d always planned
(For practicality’s sake)
To leave unopened.
She’d prefer the locks be broken
The words be spoken
And reality tested
Till it’s forgotten or bested
By this traveling girl
Exploring this fascinating world ~
Where people believe in the rules of time
The limits of gravity
And oh so gladly
Follow the standards set
By all the others that explored this place before…
But not her
None of the rules apply to her
Because she’s just a traveler passing through.
Charity

Amidst the chaos of life
Despite moments of total and utter defeat
Regardless of loss
Pain, heartbreak and disappointment in love
(Or the hope there of)
We
The artists
Are driven to create.
And this
(No matter what else happens in our lives today)
Is what is remembered.
The art is what carries on.
Civilizations rise and fall
Deities even
Come and go
Battles are waged
And passion is sought
Triumphs and failures
Wrought and forgot –
But the art
The creation
The written word
The sculptures
The paintings
The stories and songs
Through the ages
These remain.
And these are the things that matter.
No matter how we strain at the task of survival
No matter the pain, the loss or the struggle
All of these pass
All of these fade
Only the work we create is displayed
When all else is lost
Fades and falls away –
Art goes on.
​
Charity Janisse

 ~We are a spark
a connection
lightening
brightening the sky
as dark
as darkness has ever been
(the deepest lost black
you've ever seen)
we are the shimmer
that breaks through
the night
the light
for less than a second
the brightest bright
flashing light
we transform
transfigure
transmute 
the night.

And

without the darkness
who would have seen it?
without the night
who would have known
the way
you illuminated my life
for one spectacular millisecond in time.

And I cannot live
inside
that moment of lightening ~
(fast it passed
lovely and frightening)
but I am changed
revolutionized
because
the thunder
the tempest
that came
after the lightening electric
~~~
the storm it came...
(the way it always does)
wind howled
rain poured
washed through
cleansed changed
transformed
everything.

and it was worth the storm
goddamn it was worth the storm
the change you brought

It was worth the storm.

​Charity

You didn't realize the extraordinary importance of your sheer existence did you?
You woke up
every morning
thinking you were just a regular person
or less than that maybe
you didn't realize you were everything
and you were
born to make the world
a completely different place
from the one
to which you came.
You didn't know did you
and you still don't?
but me, well I see things you know.
and you...
you make what you make
each and every day
you do what you feel so driven to do
and you struggle too much the rest of the time
and you never knew
you still don't do you?
but you're
everything.
everything you ever wanted to be
the type who's name
will live on the lips
of millions one day.
You may never realize it either
and it breaks my heart
but if you actually knew
how brilliant you are
perhaps you wouldn't be broken enough
to create
such captivating art.

Charity

​

They left it all
went on their way
 unknowing
that the treasure lie
deep within
the safe inside
the things
they tossed, forgot and left behind.

the world doesn't need me
the world doesn't need me
to fix it
or break it
undo it or make it better
but you

you do

you need me
you do
like breath
and warmth
and life
like the end of endless strife
and I have
nothing left to save
no reason now, to run away
when everyone else
sailed their ships
to new land
and left
the things they sought
deep and dark
tangled up and caught
in the place 
they started from
and forgot

they left
without good bye
without taking the time
to look inside
and see that love is not what we confide
in sacred quiet moments
or shout to the world aloud
it just is
what we are
where we come from
at the start
beyond the heart
it is always
with and without form
it makes itself known
no need of my words to wrap it up
and deliver it to everyone
like a present
no
I'm done

because the world it doesn't need me
but you do
you do.

look at the way
you sleep so peacefully
and count on me 
to come through
for you

no the world doesn't need me, but you do.

Charity

​I will never change
Because this is how I create
From a desperate sense
Of restless need
And uncertainty

Emotion in color

Flows through me

While I live my life

To these mad extremes ~
Sane, manic, moved or just utterly unhinged (in the best possible way)
It hardly matters

The desolation drives me
The love drives me
The wondering drives me
The need drives me …
And I will not change
I have always lived
And loved desperately -
I create from this place
I live in this place
It is what makes me who I am

And I am not ashamed.

Charity

In the way you make your art
Art makes you.

A bridge
A road
A channel through
What you would never say
Or hardly do…
It all comes to be
A part of reality
When you create ~
Art screams
Your quiet unseen
And tells the story
You would only dream.

When you write
Paint, create
Your soul
And all you hide
Pours forth
From within
And fills an ocean
Of exquisite
With the you
You thought was hidden.

You.

Inside
Unseen
Covered with care
Hiding from need
Explode
From the depths
Of your soul
Of your heart ~
You
Appear in your art.

Your inner being
Surfaces on a page
In a song
Or splashed across a canvas
Your restless subconscious
Emerges
And says to the world
This is me.

In the way you make your art
Art makes you.

~Charity J

TO LAND

She’s not like other girls
You can’t own her
Just borrow
And share a moment
If she wants it.
But she’s a ghost
Unseen
Unknown…
And she travels
Too occupied with
Making the most
Of exploring this universe
To be taken and kept
She’s not like others
She’s a spirit
Fearless
Wrapped in skin
But living in
The earth
The Dirt
The sky
She’ll fly
And rest in
The eye
Of a storm…
And you
You’re it you know
The only one she ever wanted
Badly enough
To land
For a moment.

-Chatity

It was still so dark this morning as the sun came up that the bottom of the photo is blurry, but I like it! I think it goes well with the poem. The image to me shows that sometimes everything is more clear when we look up... :) And some of us are happier flying than landing ;). ~ Charity

Don't make excuses for your emotions
Tempers and passions ~
Be you.
Feel
Need
Want 
Love 
Express.
If you are angry
There is probably a good reason
Don't ignore it
Look deeper 
Understand it
Accept who you are.
You are not here 
To fit another's mold
You are not here to 'behave'
You are not here to walk quietly at the back of a line
Not even questioning 
Where the others will lead!
You have a heart
A soul, a mind
You have as much right to follow your passions as anyone who ever
Existed.
You were not born to follow
Anything or anyone except your own
Inner guidance.
And your inner guidance is good!
It is so very good.
Within you is the knowledge and understanding of all the ages.
Trust yourself
Love yourself
Feel your feelings
Be exactly, exactly, exactly you.
No matter what anyone else says or thinks 
It is imperative to be your true self
Because no one else can be that person
No one else can be exactly you!
And the universe needs you 
To be you. 
But more importantly
You 
Need you
To be you!!!

~Charity