Pandemic Ponderings

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

Dating Site

Fingers fly over faces, some smiling, others

stoic, then the occasional blurry one, or

the pic that’s 20 years old.

 

Profiles abound, shuffled through like a deck of

cards—which one is a winner—place

your bets.

 

Although slightly ashamed of it, my image is

paraded for all to see, fortunately, the name has

been changed to protect the guilty.

 

Online, members are searching, hoping to find the

diamond in the rough, the Trophy Wife, or

runner-up girlfriend.

 

Although anthropologically fascinating, the viewing

feels artificial. Still, it’s the safest way to proceed,

or is it?

 

by,

Joan Ellen Gage

(Note, image above is from online dating photos).

 

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 

JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

A Gift of Kindness, poetry and digital art by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

THe gift that keeps on giving 2

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

Poetry for Na. Breast Cancer Awareness Month– By Design, Poem & Video by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

By Design JEG copy

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 

JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

 

Be the Tree, digital art & poetry, by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

Be the Tree quote JEG

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 

JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

A poem for International Women’s Day–One Tribe, by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

DSCN0546

ONE TRIBE

Have you felt

with passing years

a more pressing

need to connect

with other women,

to share observations

and laughter,

to offer advice

or garner wisdom?

Do you feel drawn

as if by a magnetic force

to be with your own kind?

For these women

are a tribe, your tribe.

No one else will ever

understand your struggle

as they will.

Women are our people,

when we come together

we feel a oneness,

a sisterhood united.

When we come together,

we are at home.

 

From the book, Water Running Downhill!,

by Joan Ellen Gage

 

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 

JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

Paper-thin, poetry and photo by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

Paper Thin 2

Paper Thin

How delicate, fragile

the ego, the self, the dreamer

the flesh, unprotected

tender, soft bellies exposed

ripe for the tearing

the wolf, the critic

The faith, the bold front

disappearing under scrutiny

before the faceless masses

what was surety, melting

hardened heart hibernating

hiding, behind apron strings

We are surrounded and

constructed of similar fabric

paper-thin construct, tearable,

crushable thinness, words and

deeds rend us, collapse us

ill wind shears us apart

leaving us helpless and betrayed

I promise I will not

huff and puff and

blow your house down

will you do the same for me?

 

by Joan Ellen Gage

 

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 

JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

Spun to Death, poetry and photo-creation by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

stoptheworldiwanttogetoffsignedsmaller

Spun to Death

This modern amoral, truth-spun (Let’s

not call them lies) world, sends me

under the covers, hiding from the daily

talking heads delivering todays

affronts to hearts that still

beat for humanity and brotherhood;

hearts that bleed and crack

open from the onslaught of

cruelty and cowardice, while our

minds consider madness rather than

try to wrap what constitutes

truth around them.

Can we not bless the poor, the

downtrodden, can’t we feed them, heal

them, help them, can we not

remember we are the same, the

same flesh, the same heart, can we

stand for something more than lower

taxes, something more than our selfish

inward islands, for protecting our own

asses and screw anyone else? I am

spun to

death.

 

by Joan Ellen Gage

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

Are you Waiting for the Rest of Your Life? Photo and poem from Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

Waitint for the rest of your life quote JEG framed

Waiting for the Rest of Your Life

 

Are you content in your comfort zone,

keeping within familiar parameters?

Do you wear blinders to keep your

focus fixed in front of you?

Intent on trudging the well-worn path,

are you afraid of taking that first step

toward the rest of your life?

People have a choice these days.

We don’t have to continue in the

career rut that we created, or

the temporary situation that

became our existence. Our other life, a

parallel universe, if you will, where we

wait, and deny ourselves our lives.

Have you considered a change?

Will you continue to struggle

against the potential current of your own will?

Have you encased your true self in a

web of denial so tight, that your

soul has given up hope of escape

into the realm of life’s possibilities?

How long have you pondered

doing something radical, or

potentially magical, empowering?

Are you afraid of the consequences of your

action, or inaction?

How long will it take?  How long will you

wait for the rest of your life?

How long?  How long?  . . .

 

by Joan Ellen Gage

from the book,

Embracing Your Inner Cheerleader

 

OTHER WEBSITE:  https://joanellengage.com/

 

JOAN’S LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

https://twitter.com/gage_joanellen

https://www.instagram.com/JoanEllenGage609/

 

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

 

 

Carve Your Words Carefully, poetry and photography, by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

carve your words signed

The Pen is as Mighty as the Knife

Carve your words

carefully, with studied blade

trimming unsightly grammar,

hollowing out weak characters—all

spool away as they are cut, like apple

peelings, the unnecessary, the contrived, the

awkward, fly from honed hand as imagery is

revealed. Saw-dusted adjectives and adverbs

lie in disgrace, on the

cutting room floor.

by,

Joan Ellen Gage

 

OTHER WEBSITE:  http://www.joanellengage.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.

INVISIBLE, by Joan Ellen Gage

Posted on by Your Personal Cheerleader/Poet/Digital Artist

 

bird nest 2 signed

Invisible

See me, do you

see me?

I am here, and

exist, just

because I am

hidden in my

nest, just

because I don’t

call to you,

does not mean

I am

invisible.

You are caught up

in your lives,

staying with the

familiar. You

disremember I

am still here, you

forget, and I don’t

want to be

needy, so I

stay in my nest, and

try to

sing.

 

by Joan Ellen Gage ©

 

OTHER WEBSITE:  www.joanellengage.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/yourpersonalcheerleaderJoanEllenGage/

BOOKS:

EMBRACING YOUR INNER CHEERLEADER: http://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Your-Inner-Cheerleader-ebook/dp/B0086WW7AA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&

qid=1340641839&sr=8-1&keywords=Embracing+Your+Inner+Cheerleader

STRANGER IN A STRANGE SKIN: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95140

WATER RUNNING DOWNHILL, ROSE EDITION: http://www.amazon.com/Water-Running-Downhill-Words-Empowerment/dp/0692571965/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447021563&sr=1-1&keywords=water+running+downhill%2C+words+of+empowerment%2C+rose+edition

A Redhead Looks at 60: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/189-7867874-1973650?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=a+redhead+looks+at+60

©All creative works by Joan Ellen Gage are her exclusive property, and Joan maintains the legal rights to them.