Nothing To Hide

By Lynn DeLong

Inside Nothing To Hide are the familiar stories that touch each life. In a separated and divided world, it is a reminder that we are not alone. Encapsulated in heartfelt poems, Nothing To Hide is a chance to look in the mirror and see the world through a different lens.

I wrote these poems to challenge myself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: 4HeartsEditing
• Release date: May 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9798985861013

Lynn DeLong

Lynn DeLong's writing journey began in middle school. After winning a trip to see "Cats" on stage for writing a poem about cat's eyes, she didn't really pick up the pen again until she was serving time in the military. At that time, she began writing her stories. In 2010, she had a small collection of stories bound in hardback for her child. That was self-printed/published/bound under Lynn's maiden name with a total run of 1. It wasn't until 2020 that Lynn felt the urge to pick up the pen again. She began studying the publishing market, joining social media, and beta reading. Eventually the beta reading shifted into reviewing and editing books. To date she has edited 10 books. In May of 2022 she published her first book. A short poetry volume titled "Nothing To Hide: Spring Poems Volume 1". Lynn wrote a poem a day for an entire year. Each poem was inspired by #VSS365. She is now working on publishing the results of her yearlong journey into poetry. The Spring volume contains poems written from March 2021 through May 2021. The next volume, Summer, is in the works and expected to be published in August of 2022, with two more volumes on the way to complete the set.Lynn DeLong met her husband in 2008. They got married in 2018. They live in Ohio close to both their families. They have a cat, Pony; and a dog, Toby. Pony and Toby both have starring roles in Lynn's blog "PonyTale" which can be found on her website. Links below.Twitter : @Delong252LFaceBook : www.facebook.com/lynDeLongEmail : [e-mail]: https://lynndelong252.wixsite.com/website4Hearts Editing FBpage : fb.me/L.DeLong252

Book preview

Nothing to Hide: Volume 1 Spring 2021

Spring poems to help you grow

By: Lynn DeLong

ISBN: 979-8-9858610-0-6

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-9858610-1-3

Copyright 2021, Gwendolyn DeLong

All rights reserved

Acknowledgements

I want to thank my husband for supporting me and giving me the courage to continue when I thought of giving up. I want to thank my Mom for typing and helping me edit this book. And I want to thank all my social media supporters that commented and liked my daily poem snippets. Your encouragement helped when I thought I couldn’t or shouldn’t continue.

To everyone reading this book, welcome to my mind.

Introduction to Spring Volume 2021

I wrote these poems to challenge myself. One poem a day, using a prompt from Twitter, for a year. This is the first volume, Spring. The poems in this volume were written between March 2021 and May 2021. I have them organized by theme. Each poem was created with inspiration from the prompt words, I have them underlined and bolded in each poem. I also added the definitions of the more difficult words I used.

Sometimes it’s hard to feel seen in this world. I hope this book helps you feel seen.

See Me

Peer into my future tell me what you see

Is my life happy, or full of debris?

Some days I can’t tell where my life is going

So, I just breathe and follow, blind and unknowing

Every life has its ups and downs

Stress and trouble always abound

We need to find a way to deal

When life becomes too surreal

There are tricks to help you find

The peace you want in your mind

Sometimes prayer or meditation

Can lead to peace and celebration

Then there’s moments when you need

To rant and rave when you’re peeved

I understand that needs to happen

For the stress and pain to slacken

I’m right here if you need to talk

I don’t judge and I won’t balk

I’ve been through a lot in my life

I know some tricks to deal with strife

Grief

The irony of grief is that the person you most want to talk to about it is no longer here. - anonymous

Grief takes many forms and has many stages to move through. Over the past year we, as a world, have been hit with unprecedented losses.

I know in my heart that everyone is faced with grief and loss. Over the past few years my family has lost many parental figures, and we are still learning to cope.

Part of my grieving process includes writing. In this section you will find poems about my grandmother who passed away in 2019, and a poem about veterans (since I am one).

Earrings

Flash of gold, gleam of silver

Earlobe shining, full of glitter

Feathers that dangle, chains hanging low

Earrings that shimmer, faces aglow

Dangles, posts, French hooks and more

I have enough earrings to fill a drawer

It’s been over two years since I’ve worn any

Most of them are way too heavy

Or they make my earlobes itch

Causing swelling, just a smidge

A lot are animals, shaped and formed

From the grandmother I have mourned

She wore animal print every day

Matching her outfit in every way

From aardvark to zebra she was well prepared

After her passing her earrings we shared

Everyone got the ones that they loved

Wearing her earrings, it’s like getting hugged

I miss my grandma so very much

Especially when I could use her touch

Or answers to questions that stymie me

Then there are moments of reality

That’s when I need her special hug

To hear her call me lady bug

Holidays

It’s time to paint eggs; except, we won’t

It’s time to bake ham; again, we won’t

It’s time to buy sweets; no, I can’t

It’s time to rejoice; but I can’t

You aren’t here, I can’t find the strength

To celebrate anything, I can’t go those lengths

The holidays always centered ‘round you

Now you aren’t here, we all are blue

It’s hard to decide which traditions to keep

When all we want to do is weep

You were our strength, our core, our rock

You passed away, and now we balk

At doing anything that reminds us of you

We don’t want the tears and grief to ensue

We’re trying to learn, to live our own lives

Even when the grief hits us like knives

It’s hard to remember,