by Cheryl W.
Member since:
December 10, 2005

Fifteen Minutes (Two-Word Challenge)

July 11, 2006 11:53 PM EDT (Updated: July 11, 2006 11:58 PM EDT)
views: 72 | comments: 23
Fifteen minutes ago, I was smiling at you,
Loving the way you love me,
Loving the way you take care of me
And the way you tell me I'm pretty even when I don't feel like it.
 
Fifteen minutes ago, all was right with the world,
And all of my restless imaginings were swept away
By the warmth of your smile,
And the tenderness of a touch that feels like home.
 
Fifteen minutes ago,  hope was born in my heart,
All of the ugliness left and I prayed it would never come back,
But the moments passed, and here you are again,
This stranger I no longer know.
 
Fifteen minutes passes and I feel your rage
Just as if I am breathing it in;
It feels a part of me, and I'm shaking and scared
And I want to run and hide.
 
Fifteen minutes passes and I am sitting
Under the stairway where you can't find me;
I pull my knees up to my chin and try not to breathe;
All I want to do is disappear for another fifteen minutes.
 
And then, perhaps, you will change again,
And I won't be so scared anymore.
At least for fifteen minutes.
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Comments: 23

0000-twobraincells-0000 Jul 12, 2006, 12:19am EDT
and this is why one fifteen minutes can be longer than another fifteen minutes.
Carol Roach Jul 12, 2006, 12:28am EDT
15 minutes can seem like an eternity
Jake S. Jul 12, 2006, 1:12am EDT
Very powerful. Great job!
Sandy (Site Psychic™) Knauer Jul 12, 2006, 1:22am EDT
Fifteen minutes too long. This is powerful, Cheryl, and no one should live like this for more than the first fifteen minutes.
Madame Donna C. Jul 12, 2006, 1:35am EDT
Wow, I'm impressed. Very well done.
Marinela Kotsina Jul 12, 2006, 1:39am EDT
just a quarter of an hour ! beautiful !
Kathryn E. Jul 12, 2006, 4:23am EDT
Excellent, Cheryl.
MHN Paree Jul 12, 2006, 5:25am EDT
Sometimes, fifteen can sound like fifty, great job!
Carolyn Madden Jul 12, 2006, 5:28am EDT
Cheryl, while this describes the tragic effects of psychosis it does so with power and beauty. Well done.
0000-ultimateliving-0000 Jul 12, 2006, 8:59am EDT
A point in time that impacts us for the next 15 minutes or days, thereafter. Wonderfully written, yet I am in full agreement with Sandy...the choices we make for each of our thousands of points in time create our lives.

May your choices be life-giving, kind, compassionate and loving to yourself. Well deserved, don't you agree?!!
Ludie Gee Jul 12, 2006, 10:14am EDT
Just stellar - as usual!!
Edward Nudelman Jul 12, 2006, 11:26am EDT
Cheryl, great poem and a very creative use of this week's challenge
Cheryl W. Jul 12, 2006, 11:30am EDT
Thanks everyone. I loved the challenge for this week. It made me think alot of how important a mere fifteen minutes can be.
perry long Jul 12, 2006, 3:06pm EDT
Fifteen minutes ago I was not here. I didn't know this article existed. I didn't have any idea that it would be such a powerful piece. Fifteen minutes ago, I wasn't even considering the idea of "fifteen minutes ago" I didn't know there would be this time and within it such a timely piece about Time. You're right. So much can happen in 15 minutes, never mind an hour or two. Thanks for taking the time to get me thinking about time. Thinking about time. Now that's an interesting concept. And of course it's happening and changing and passing and going all the while you're thinking about it. Thank you Cheryl, for writing such a powerful description of fifteen minutes ago. Intensely. I had a very good time. just a few minutes ago. That was the best fifteen minutes I've never spent, for some time.
Cheryl W. Jul 12, 2006, 3:16pm EDT
Perry...thank you for your very kind comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the poem.
Dan B. Jul 12, 2006, 3:36pm EDT
Wow. are the rest of us invisible under these stairs until we are temperred to chase dragons with a serpent in the right hand? With prose like this I remember why I have not watched television in recent times which changes 360 X 360 seconds every 1.5 days which all too often feels crammed tominutes.
Anne B. Grote Jul 12, 2006, 6:01pm EDT
Beautifully written! And there can be a lifetime of fifteen minutes like those unless you give yourself the power. Anne Grote
Monica Kennedy Jul 12, 2006, 7:07pm EDT
well done Cheryl. You have the reader right there with you, on both sides of the fifteen minutes.
Aileen F. Jul 12, 2006, 8:30pm EDT
You've described this too well!
Nancy S. Jul 12, 2006, 8:44pm EDT
Cheryl, your work is starting to break my heart. It is too honest, and too painful. It frightens me.
Nancy S. Jul 12, 2006, 8:44pm EDT
(That was not a criticism, by the way.)
Cheryl W. Jul 12, 2006, 11:36pm EDT
Nancy....I didn't take it as a criticism. I have always written with my heart on my sleeve in the hopes someone else can relate. But I'm okay....writing is a source of healing for me when I am upset. So whatever I write only serves to make me feel better......and move forward in a positive way
M B. Jul 15, 2006, 2:25pm EDT
I'm new to gather and this is the first thing I've read that I felt compelled to comment on.

I think this was amazing. It's omething I can easily relate to (the concept though not the specifics) and it was very well written. Nice. :)

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