Melinda Cochrane
  • Melinda Cochrane
    • Melinda Cochrane Books
    • About Melinda Cochrane
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Inspired Heart for Teens
  • Writing Programs
    • Melinda Cochrane Inspired Books and Speeches
  • Author's Digital Poetry Books
  • Melinda Cochrane Speaker
  • Contact
  • Mutiple Streams of Income Book
  • Melinda Cochrane
    • Melinda Cochrane Books
    • About Melinda Cochrane
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Inspired Heart for Teens
  • Writing Programs
    • Melinda Cochrane Inspired Books and Speeches
  • Author's Digital Poetry Books
  • Melinda Cochrane Speaker
  • Contact
  • Mutiple Streams of Income Book
Melinda Cochrane Inspired Books and Speeches

Love in The New Year

1/1/2022

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Picture
Love,
you can walk away from it
just for a little while,
then it calls out quietly in the day,
leading you down
a path you know, or don't know, or know too well,
it knocks you off your feet when you think nothing can,
and then you imagine it,
night becomes morning,
and morning becomes night,
it is so sudden sometimes
comes on so fast, and you wonder again will it last,
will it change you, 
but it does, with the lover's truth and with the lover's lie,
secrets, whispers deep within the aching soul, separating
you from life, and it changes you, and always has,
in history
in books
in wars
in streets
in philosphy looking for more
in every metaphor
in every corner where love finds a soul,
resisting it is useless
resisting it is pointless
it changes, it feeds, and it grows.
love is the truth, love knows. 
By Melinda Cochrane 

copyright 2022
​

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Hope By Melinda Cochrane

2/21/2021

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There's music in the air,
kind of loud,
kind of rare,
I caught the note,
the subtle rising float
above the world,
as people's tear fall,
it rises up and up and up
through the air,
surrounds us as the world
aches with covid
and loss of tranquility,
I hear it,
I caught the note,
Can you hear it?
it is there,
listen carefully for the vibrating sound of the universe
as it circles us, and protects the lost and comforts the doubts,
Can you hear it?
It's about to heal us, soldiers in arms carrying arrows,
as we fear it takes care of us, subtle beats of soundless drums
of angels arriving to guide and protect as we lay sleepless
at night, can you hear it?
It's called Hope,
it's louder above us now, vaccine or no vaccine
its there with mother nature caressing us,
and if you stand still you can hear the marching too,
over hills, mountains, rivers, lakes and streams,
Hope comes down on us like a song, even as it is
floating, floating above
and finding us, listen now, beat, beat, its here,
carry the sound in your heart,
carry it in the day,
carry it through night,
Hope is here - don't give up
Hope drums louder now,
hold onto life and dreams,
for another day.
By Melinda Cochrane ​
Picture
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Etta James By Melinda Cochrane

2/6/2021

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As the music
fills my soul
my hands begin
to write out the tempo in
my heart
and the sway and flow
of song shows itself
in my lines

And then the life
I am wearing moves
too as if the music
and words express
my living and
I sing and my eyes
close and my soul bleeds

The door opens to my inner
life and my dream
falls over
the passionate peace
and I turn it up louder
to block out the noise
from the world moving around me

Then Etta James' song fills up
the space, “I’d rather go blind too,
I love you so much,
I don’t want to see you leave me baby”
closing my eyes again the music
touches my dreams, I don't want 
you to go away, stay here with me,
and my inspiration hits me

The lines drift and the
sun, it shines down on me
and the lines free
from me, then the music
comes to an end
and I turn it on again
so I can start and begin again
the painful ache in me
to live the song twisted
in my veins for expressive
creativity calling out to me

And it ain’t over, ever for me
the lines keep comin’
and my heart, it bleeds me
in every word and line
all in the beat, rhythm and rhyme
to make my dream come true like
a song, sung by Etta James, lingering 
in my life like a longing for the day I say
you stayed and now the dream sings with me. 
( first publishehed at lifeasahumanmagazine
​

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Lemon Seed

1/29/2021

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There’s a lemon seed
buried between my hope
where God lives and feeds
my dreams of endless possibility
It is stuck there, clogging up my throat
making me lose my tranquility
no matter how much I pray
it makes me scared
no matter how much I say
God seems to fill me up more when alone

When leaves cross my path, or suddenly things
to me seem quieter in my vocal tone
that damned lemon seed
and then when I try to speak
it hurts my throat, I cough, my voice
seems hoarse and tired, so tired

And that seed, that seed growing every day
seems to plant a lemon tree somewhere
within my own spiritual belief and I find
myself holding on to that lemon seed
caressing it with love as if to make the evil leave
and then my soul speaks to listening ears within me
and I know the walk’s going to be next to a grand plot of trees
all with hanging lemons and each without lemon seeds

By Melinda Cochrane
First published at lifeasahumanmagazine

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Dream Your Song

1/1/2021

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Picture

​Your song, I can hear,
as if the tune was written for me,
like a stream flowing over small stones polished to perfection,
​the wind blowing
quietly in the trees,

the sun in the sky,
peeking, daring me to fly,
your song I can hear, but sometimes I don't know why,

It finds in me words, words I did not know,
as you pour me from you, as if you too know
the reality of a dream like many
following an unknown path,
but still, but still I can hear your song,

In the quiet of the night
I hear you, silence does not silence you,
when I turn myself over to sleep, it is as if you
are there to reasssure me, it is okay,
it won't go wrong, I am here for you,
sing, sing with me, please sing along,
sing your song,

I hear every tune, every note, every word
in a dream melody like a lark over a morning lake
sounding morning's arrival, I hear it, I hear it so
clearly that my heart cannot help but pound,

I finally hear you in the middle of any storm,
I hear you like I found you somewhere on this journey,
a search for stories, the lark flew
and the words came to me,
and the song within us all,
and that is where the dream sings,
and that is where our story begins,
this is where your dream lives,
dream your song,
it is yours to begin,
​yours to sing.
BY Melinda Cochrane copyright

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It's Quiet

12/26/2020

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Picture
It's quiet-
left overs in the fridge
from Christmas,
cookie dough thawing
gift wrap in the re-cycle bin
and on the street
lights shining
with dreams of better days,
wishing Covid away,
but down the street as the snow lightly falls
in the distance, the moon up there glowing,
you can't help but smile
as a star shines brightly above the
houses still resting from the day before
the night, it says, if you listen-
come on now, we have better days ahead,
way better, so don't feel that type of heavy,
we will get through it
don't give up when the fear weighs
on your mind, don't fear the light- it is there,

so when the clouds are too dark remember
the stars and moon because up there
somewhere amongst the things we do not know
the things we can never be sure of,
lives a love greater than the Covid fatigue-
God's there,
never doubt
he will bring us through it all
just like he brings day into night
night into day
dark into light
By Melinda Cochrane

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Teaching in Covid, and the Holiday season

12/21/2020

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Picture
Last week, the windows blew quiet cold air through the halls as a gentle reminder that holiday time was quickly arriving. 


​Students wore their masks diligently, and despite it all, their spirits for the most part were up. I walked around to check the last assignment they were to hand in before the holidays, keeping 2 meters with my Darth Vader clear plastic face shield on. I wished someone had also equipped me with a mini-window wiper to keep it from fogging up. Breathing wasn’t as easy either with both mask and shield on, but somehow the students with their masks and me with my PPE managed to communicate. Sometimes with a chuckle at how many times I needed things to be repeated because for some strange reason both mask and shield affected my hearing. I have to be honest, there have been conversations I had in the hallways with fellow teachers where I nodded through half of what they were saying as I could not hear them. 

​
Teachers in the hallways pushed trolleys of laboratories, books, computers, travel suitcases with supplies, and bags of things needed to teach. I decided that several bags could do the task and I quickly began to say to myself every morning, “ Alright, carry, don’t forget your face shield, mask on, oh the computer cord- don’t forget this just in case the charge on it fades, the containers with journals- bring those too". It was almost like a morning mantra- one that was accompanied with my to do list and my don’t forget to bring to class list.
​

Holiday decorations adorned the halls and students began to bring some of the energy that was normally part of the year back into the classes. The hallways were quiet, almost subdued and I missed the students talking at their lockers. The good morning Miss as you passed by them talking was something I longed to hear. You’d catch them as they went into class telling you hello and sometimes as they one or two passed me in the hall, but I longed to hear them laughing outside my classroom door at the beginning of the day

But, in the changes that came with the pandemic, some things never changed, and the holiday season reminded me of this. 

During the last online class, we finished for the day, and as usual I gave them my seasonal message of getting outside, and resting. I announced that class was over, and what happened was something that happens every year in teaching, almost like clockwork- a beautiful set of smiling faces greeting me- this time via online class, but still smiling and saying, “ Have a wonderful holiday Miss” and I think it was their smiles that reminded me that even though there have been a lot obstacles and changes so far in the year, it has still been a beautiful one in teaching.

​I am looking forward to returning to class in January, albeit after a little rest and relaxing myself. 


By Melinda Cochrane 


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Keeps Findin' Me

12/21/2020

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Picture
It keeps findin' me
down the small streets
and around the bends,
over highways
and above ground, through
halls, down stairways and
over hills, down paths
in trees covered with snow.
It keeps findin' me
in the dreams, in the songs,
in the days and in the nigihts,
in the mornings and in the sunsets.

It keeps findin me as if it was always
there, always chasin' me, even when
I tell it to go away, give me some rest,
come back another day, when I have more energy.

It keeps finding me no matter what I do, what I say,
what I feel, what I fight, what I push away, what I
forget to do, what I do, what I do throughout the day.

It keeps findin' me and never goes away,
the inward callin', to keep this dream goin'
to keep it movin', to keep it, to hold on to it,
to hold it tight, to keep this dream goin',
to keep the story, to write.
By Melinda Cochrane copyright

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Shoes by Melinda Cochrane

12/7/2020

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Picture
Ripping open the package
there were shoes in there-
black ones
one-inch heel
fairly simple
brown paper
protecting the leather
from scratches or wear
from shipping
taking the paper away
from the waiting
they seemed to
ask, “Are we going anywhere?”

placed both on the floor
slipping feet within
walking around
they moved up and down
the wooden worn out
floor boards stomping
loud responses
music playing in the background
of memory set aside for
building life
taking them off
placing them at the
foot of a dress

demanding the box
be thrown out
in the recycled trash
and the shoes
stay in promise
smiling at the new leather
the unscratched
newness of possible
caressing night lights
as they sit there at the bottom
waiting for movement from
the demanding dress
the caressing night lights
the possible
By Melinda Cochrane 
also published at lifeasahumanmagazine 






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Today by Melinda Cochrane

12/4/2020

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Picture
Today
the blue bird came out of its cage
to sing a melody of love
and the song made the room
remember its silence
as the dried flowers of
time began to age
more quickly 
before the clock
hanging over pictures
framed in hopes
and lost in boxes

But still the blue bird
perched itself on
the hand of the woman
about to enter the next
chapters of her life
and it sang a chorus
of dreams through her heart

As the sun began to rise
in a life with stories
and the bird 
whispered quietly to the
lines in the woman’s face
“you are still alive,
and we should sing together”
then both sang a song
which lifted the sleep out
of life and the dance of
wings about to fly met the air
By Melinda Cochrane © 
also published at lifeasahumanmagzine

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<<Previous
  • Melinda Cochrane
    • Melinda Cochrane Books
    • About Melinda Cochrane
    • Blog
    • Testimonials
  • Inspired Heart for Teens
  • Writing Programs
    • Melinda Cochrane Inspired Books and Speeches
  • Author's Digital Poetry Books
  • Melinda Cochrane Speaker
  • Contact
  • Mutiple Streams of Income Book