Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Cut Above
    A Cut Above
    A Cut Above
    Ebook168 pages1 hour

    A Cut Above

    By Jen Selinsky

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "A Cut Above" was written during yet another transitional stage of the author's life-after Jen had moved to Indiana. A few months after she settled into her new life, she found her true love. The first poems Jen had written for him are in this book.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJen Selinsky
    Release dateOct 1, 2017
    ISBN9781370192298
    A Cut Above
    Author

    Jen Selinsky

    Jen Selinsky was born in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2003, she earned her bachelor's degree in English from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. In 2004, she earned her master's degree in library science from the same school. Jen has worked as a professional librarian for over twelve years. She has published more than 170 books, most of which contain poetry. Her work can be found on the following sites: Lulu, Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, Barnes & Noble/Nook, Smashwords, and Pen It! Publications. She has also been featured in publications such as: The Courier Journal, Explorer Magazine, Liphar Magazine, and Indiana Libraries. Jen lives in Sellersburg, IN with her husband.

    Read more from Jen Selinsky

    Related to A Cut Above

    Related ebooks

    Poetry For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A CLOSER LOOK AT Dying Wise

      Jan 31, 2018

      A CLOSER LOOK AT Dying Wise
      12 min read

    • Article

      Shape of You

      May 6, 2019

      Shape of You
      7 min read

    • Article

      How To Flourish In Dark Times

      Apr 8, 2021

      How To Flourish In Dark Times
      4 min read

    • Article

      New Directions

      Mar 14, 2024

      Last year I stood at a crossroads, faced with a decision that seemed to challenge every fibre of my being. I was given the opportunity to move to the picturesque surf town of Raglan. However, this meant leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of m

      3 min read

    • Article

      Culture Poem

      Nov 1, 2023

      I hate the idea of cultureAnd I love itThey tell me that I’m tied down to my beliefsThat I believe because I am Because of the colour of my skinLike it wasn’t a choice that I madeTo seek, while HE was there to be found A cell grows in stagesFunctiona

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘I Stay Positive Despite All My Surgeries’

      Oct 27, 2023

      Nearly nine years ago, I had ovarian cancer but it didn’t kill me. Instead, it took away everything I had hoped I would have in life, namely energy and fun. It was tough to wrap my head around the incomprehensibility of cancer not being the worst t

      2 min read

    • Article

      The Truth

      Dec 16, 2020

      The Truth
      6 min read

    • Article

      Saying YES to Life

      Apr 4, 2019

      Saying YES to Life
      3 min read

    • Article

      Letting Go

      Oct 29, 2021

      Letting Go
      7 min read

    • Article

      Letting Go

      Oct 30, 2021

      Letting Go
      7 min read

    • Article

      Emerging From The Shadows of Suffering: A Healing Journey Through A Midlife Crisis

      Jul 7, 2021

      Estimated reading time: 7 minutes — One day, I noticed that I had something stuck to my side. I didn’t know what it was, but it slapped me with every step. Step. Smack. Step. Smack. It was getting in the way and slowing me down. My clothes didn’t fi

      5 min read

    • Article

      Give Me Your Pain: One Man’s Quest to Bear the Pain of Others’ and Heal His Own

      Aug 23, 2020

      — Usually, people think that I’m a strong, happy person…but behind my smiles they just don’t know how much I’m in pain and almost broken…” Pain. How can a person understand life when life was crushed before living it? And what about the crude impact

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Heart of Humility

      Apr 27, 2021

      The Heart of Humility
      3 min read

    • Article

      No Oreos Required

      Oct 12, 2018

      And yet here I am, less than a year to 40, with a brand-new, shiny adjective to describe me. Divorced. A word I am all too familiar with from childhood. By the time I was 11, my parents were each in their third marriage, and I was well aware that the

      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Cut Above

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Cut Above - Jen Selinsky

      A Cut Above

      Jen Selinsky

      Copyright © 2007 by Jen Selinsky

      All rights reserved by the author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Cover Art Copyright © 2004, 2014 by Jen Selinsky and Travis Potts

      ISBN: 9781370192298

      *Not every poem included in this book is dated in chronological order.  This is not an oversight on my part. Rather, I have made changes and substitutions over the years.

      -J.L.S.

      Bliss has come to those

      Who waited with anticipation

      In their eyes—hits them

      Before they realize that

      The concept of happiness

      Has yet to be written

      In their minds.

      Standing atop the

      Mountain, which you have

      Found hard to climb;

      God gave you the will

      To survive, to last even

      Further in the comfort

      Of each other’s arms, for

      That is the one place that

      No man can do harm.

      Souls glowing because love

      Has seen you through to

      Make the world fit

      According to your plan.

      5/27/05

      How much can I actually

      Say in the time that’s

      Allotted to me

      In the little bit of space

      Just big enough for me to breathe?

      I do not have much

      Reason to believe that

      Many of these people

      Are going to be kind,

      Especially when they

      Leave me behind to

      Rot in the sun.

      Hostility only begun

      From one who refuses

      To spring from her youth.

      What do you want; why

      Do you find me to be so uncouth?

      I’ve tried, Lord knows;

      I’ve tried to make you

      People satisfied with me.

      And that I’ve tried

      To be over my tears.

      Fears eating me inside

      Out with so much as a

      Humanly doubt that I

      Am all I’m destined to be—

      Anything but a neurotic mess.

      I confess! Just do what

      You will and be quick.

      The pain that takes my

      Body for granted—

      A bruised temple that’s

      More than willing to

      Waste away if I am

      Offered no ultimatum.

      You do not see, you

      Trusted your judgment,

      To which I wish I could

      Have lived up to standard

      Under the security of lock

      And key, if you will.

      Dreams cannot fulfill themselves;

      They must be escorted

      By some kind of human will.

      The bitter pill that slides

      Down my throat every night

      Is supposed to make it all better.

      What recent evidence has

      There been supporting this claim,

      Given out by pharmaceutical companies

      And those who only want to

      Make money from the weak?

      I am here to speak, but it’s as if

      My words are not even heard by anyone.

      Does a person care who wants to see me thrive,

      Or must I still strive through the mud,

      On my belly, just like a snake with no purpose

      And no limbs?

      Whims only satisfied by the dogs who

      Created them in the first place—

      Those who have nothing better to do

      With their time.

      Break my rhyme, break my will,

      Break my balls (if I had any to spare).

      You know what I mean as you speak

      Through muted difficulties, just as

      Quickly as you’ve tossed my words

      To the wayside.

      Darken my doorstep, or as you people see it,

      The other way around.

      I’ve found; I have taken something,

      And I shall do my best to protect

      It to this day.

      Anyway, all these things you make,

      My poor mind feels as though it’s already

      Dying for a meal of wisdom, of which

      It has been deprived ever since I’ve arrived.

      Display my pity with blood and the red

      That comes from the fury in my eyes.

      Circumstance has delivered me here,

      By God, I’ve got to stay.

      I have not felt this way about any place

      Else in the brief period that has been

      Allotted to me.

      Let it be as it is! What else have I to look

      Forward to, except the degradation which, allegedly,

      Is supposed to start soon?

      Being the pretty picture of youth by some

      Who assume the impending doom that tracks man

      Down, like death looming in the doorway.

      See a smile that fades and promises obscurity

      To anyone who happens to have part of the

      Same mind.

      I find that I used to love

      The very thing which

      Slowly turns to hate;

      Save me from this

      Damnable fate before

      I run myself completely mad

      Into circles that are filled

      With confusion and delirium.

      You find me worthy of

      Nothing but a short

      Sum of things, which

      Barely step over the

      Basics of life.

      I am tired, so tired of

      It all that I must

      Now close my eyes to

      See what has become

      Of my anticipated victory.

      I finally had a chance to

      Lunge back from what holds

      Me back from rushing

      Over to their side and

      Gouging out their eyes

      With my fingernails.

      A pretty sight for no one

      When they see my temper

      Flare, enough to give so

      Many a scare.

      You claim that I only

      Did it to myself, but

      The whole world has yet

      To hear your claim, and

      Who’s to say that many

      Would agree with such

      Madness, the kind that

      Is not even brought on

      By me!

      Lowering my eyes to this

      Cruel defamation…

      5/27/05

      Don’t you find it hard

      To think all these things

      In your head, while others

      Talk in the background?

      Collision, only a certain

      Number of minds can

      Resist the voices talking

      Inside their heads, and

      Outside, the world’s all

      A chatter.

      Does anyone cease to talk—

      No sure as not everyone is resting

      All at the same time.

      How fine, how unique

      That these things happen

      At one time or another.

      The sun never sets on

      The whole world at once.

      Now you can understand

      Why I ponder all these

      Things when I am one

      Of those who do not

      Close their eyes, trying

      Desperately to let my

      Soul escape for the

      Night so that it may

      Be free from the thoughts

      Which claim me during

      The day.

      Humans can react in

      Any given way, why I

      Must choose differently

      Is beyond me.

      Carpe diem;

      Carpe noctem—

      Whatever happens to

      Work at the time when

      I try to blossom and show

      The world that I am

      Made of a different kind

      Of thing.

      You’ll see, I’ll try to have

      All of you see why I’ve

      Fallen out of line to

      Pave my own path.

      Oh, don’t even try to

      Tell me that you’ve

      Never been tempted to

      Do the same thing.

      Hear the tone of my heart,

      As it rings for love and

      Beauty that had me the

      Way that it wanted me.

      Have rights to express these

      Things that may shock

      Or delight anyone living.

      In just a small amount

      Of distance of space.

      My hands are right before my

      Eyes to see what appears

      This close.

      All this has been from a

      Great distance before,

      But all is going to change—

      The beautiful slumber of

      The time when we have

      To recharge.

      Has

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1