Mandy Ricks

Tag: Wednesday Thoughts

  • Shelter

    Peace isn’t always found in grand places.

    Sometimes it’s a small shelter, a familiar view, and knowing you’re safe enough to watch the world instead of run from it—learning that not every battle has to be fought.

    -Mandy Ricks

    Inspired by Willow, (my cat), Chief of Security, Keeper of the Coffee Table Fortress, and Watcher of All Things.

    Willow

  • Difficult

    People called her difficult
    without ever knowing what she had survived.

    They saw sharp edges,
    but not the hidden shaking,
    the resentment burning low in her chest.

    She learned to hide it all behind polite smiles
    and half-finished replies.

    There were nights she stayed alive out of nothing but spite.

    Days she moved through ordinary conversations
    while entire sections of her were quietly collapsing behind the walls.

    Still,
    she kept something alive in herself.

    Not hope.
    Not happiness.

    Just a small stubborn refusal
    to become as cold as the people who hurt her.

    And honestly,
    that probably saved her life.

    -Mandy Ricks

  • Winters

    Cars moved.
    Coffee steamed behind the glass.
    Somewhere, someone laughed too loudly.
    The old man kept walking toward the shop,
    carrying all his winters at once.

    -Mandy Ricks

  • Strength

    Real strength comes from quiet consistency more than dramatic gestures.

    -Mandy Ricks

  • Never jump first

    Summer arrived in a ball of heat
    and humidity.
    People bask in the sun wishing for
    a great tan, an icy drink, and a hot companion.
    And it’s true, your summer wishes may come true,
    But sometimes the sun shines too bright,
    blinding us to things that aren’t gorgeous at all.
    So, remember, stay on guard, and never jump first.

    -Mandy Ricks

  • Too fierce to mourn

    Scarred hands clutch broken dreams.

    I bled through nights no on dared to scream.

    Ashes crown the ones who burn.

    Each wound a page no chance to turn.

    Still, I rise, too fierce to mourn.

    -Mandy Ricks

  • Shifting Sands

    Broke my chains with trembling hands.

    Built a kingdom from shifting sands.

    No hero came – I wore the crown.

    Found my fire when the world burned down.

    I am my own salvation now.

    Mandy Ricks

  • Tiptoe

    Life’s too short to tiptoe through someone else’s rules. -Mandy Ricks with Willow

  • Facades

    I’d rather see your battle scars. Your lines, wrinkles, and wounds, Than you facade. -Mandy Ricks

  • Graceful harmony

    Evening rolls in, softly, gently, a soothing reprieve.

    And as the leaves turn and drop with graceful harmony so does my need to please.

    -Mandy Ricks

  • Great Love

    Do small things with great love.

  • Fall

    Fall: Where summer’s promises start to break as fast as they were made.

    Regrets cling like early evenings watching the sun say goodbyes.

    The heat of day starts turning to a dark coolness promising more.

    Have we really aged as much as our hearts feel worn or is it just another summer gone in a pile of selfies and beach days?

    See you again next year.