Photography

Of photos.

  • to grow freely. like the flowers.

     it is ok
     to let go of anger
     to quietly forgive those 
     who hurt you in the past
     this is a gift -
     for you. not for them.
     to step out of resentment
     to release yourself
     from the shackles
     of disappointment 
     to be alive inside your skin,
     again.
     to grow freely. like the flowers.
     rising up to the sunlight
     stretching out tall
     feeling hope flood in.
     remembering what it feels like
     to move smoothly,
     exist in the world
     without the burden
     of pain riding your shoulders
     to be weightless. in the best way.
     go on. fly free.
     it is ok.

    ©lotuscarroll2013
    Image & Text All Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license. For image licensing inquiries, email me directly. [email protected]
  • lies and smiles

    …What have I eaten?
    Lies and smiles.
    Surely the sky is not that color,
    Surely the grass should be rippling.

    All day, gluing my church of burnt matchsticks,
    I dream of someone else entirely.
    And he, for this subversion,
    Hurts me, he
    With his armor of fakery,

    His high cold masks of amnesia.
    How did I get here?
    Indeterminate criminal,
    I die with variety—
    Hung, starved, burned, hooked.

    I imagine him
    Impotent as distant thunder,
    In whose shadow I have eaten my ghost ration.
    I wish him dead or away.
    That, it seems, is the impossibility.

    That being free. What would the dark
    Do without fevers to eat?
    What would the light
    Do without eyes to knife, what would he
    Do, do, do without me?

    ~sylvia plath, excerpt from “the jailer”

    ©lotuscarroll2019
    Image All Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license. For licensing inquiries, email me directly. [email protected]
  • bleeding heart

    a heart that does not bleed
    is not stronger than one that does -
    it is simply dead already.



    ©lotuscarroll2019
    Image All Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license. For licensing inquiries, email me directly. [email protected]

    for self portrait sunday, theme: identity

  • snowflakes

    what if we all defaulted
    to treating one another
    like snowflakes, truly:
    delicate, beautiful, unique
    things of wonder
    that reflect light onto one another
    what if it was not
    a point of shame, an insult,
    to be soft and delicate,
    to melt in the presence of warmth –
    like the bleeding hearts in our chests –
    what if we glisten so brightly
    that we wear down one another’s
    hardest edges, break through the ice,
    and all that is left is
    an infinite swirling mass
    made of prismatic pieces of love,
    little geometric wonders,
    floating and bouncing
    off one another, endlessly,
    in all our vulnerable glory?

    ©2018 Lotus CarrollAll Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license.
  • she whispered to me, softly

    she whispered to me, softly;
    her words spin round my head;
    i cannot soon forget them,
    for this is what she said,
    “each day i hide in shadow;
    by night, i kill and eat.
    those who most despise me,
    i sample like a treat;
    when they are not looking
    i dance into an open sleeve…
    instead of complete draining,
    i only give a ‘kiss,’ then leave.”

    she whispered to me, softly, her words spin round my head; i cannot soon forget them, for this is what she said, “each day i hide in shadow; by night, i kill and eat. those who most despise me, i sample like a treat; when they are not looking, i dance into an open sleeve… instead of complete draining, i only give a 'kiss,' then leave.” ____________________ Image All Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license. For licensing inquiries, email me directly. thelotuscarroll@gmail.com

     

    All Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license. For licensing inquiries, email me directly. [email protected]

  • she.leans.in.

    soft breezes blow; her memories stir
    she reflects on lies
    that sounded like love
    the evil seed of deception grew a towering tree
    he thought that it would fruit
    to feed only him
    but wickedness does not equal wisdom
    the tree is now her strength
    and has grown in his absence
    she is stretching her branches to shelter many others
    as a storm marches in
    her deep, strong roots take hold and
    she.leans.in.

     

    soft breezes blow; her memories stir she reflects on lies that sounded like love the evil seed of deception grew a towering tree he thought that it would fruit to feed only him but wickedness does not equal wisdom the tree is now her strength and has grown in his absence she is stretching her branches to shelter many others as a storm marches in her deep, strong roots take hold and she.leans.in. ***** #daysix #blackandwhitechallenge #poemaday ____________________ Image All Rights Reserved No use allowed without a license. For licensing inquiries, email me directly. thelotuscarroll@gmail.com

  • lucid slumber of sadness

    i need you to come now
    and whisper in my ear
    of heartbreak and tragedy
    rap on the walls of my soul
    and shake things up a bit
    wake me, rudely, from
    this lucid slumber of sadness –
    it’s almost morning now
    and there is no time
    in the bright sunshine
    for tears and sorrow
    so come now, quickly,
    before the sun rises
    and fill me up with
    all the agonies i can bear
    so i can wring them out
    and then start anew.

     

    © lotus carroll 2014, all rights reserved