Butterflies In My Stomach by Mertim Gokalp
Intuition, slips into my mind
like fog on the moors.
Sometimes, it sits perched
on my shoulder,
a dreaded messenger,
I don’t want to listen to.
Small pebbles fill my insides,
then bigger and bigger stones.
I’m heavy with intuition,
like carrying a child
I’m not sure I want
to ever get to know.
Proceeding slowly,
everything is a sign
everything pushes me
in one way or the other.
I make a soup from all
of inquietude’s ingredients
and leave the bowl
untouched.
I sit down instead,
to talk myself
out of it…
Those poor
negative butterflies
trapped,
and trying to fly.
I count my breaths,
to set them free
to let them go,
but I know
what I know.
My intuition tells me
the next kiss,
is a kiss goodbye..
The next time we meet,
he will say so seriously,
that he needs to talk
with me.
While the fog lifts
intuition shrugs,
as if to say,
“I tried to tell you,
it would go this way.”
Then everything I feared,
did not allow myself
to think or hear…
condenses briefly,
in my eyes,
and slowly falls
in tears.
“I knew it”
Karima Hoisan
January 15, 2022
Costa Rica
Digital Rabbit Hole 
Amazing! Another piece of common human experience, in unique verse.
“I make a soup from all
of inquietude’s ingredients
and leave the bowl
untouched.”
That’s perfect.
(And you found exactly the right image, yet again!)
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Thanks Dale..you are the best of the best commentators:) I am so glad you enjoyed that line and my whole poem…and takes a bow, I think they are just making good images, easier to find…so can’t take too much credit for this…but isn’t it great?!!
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Holy shamoley ~ that is amazing, Karima!
❤
David
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*Giggles…When I make your “Holy Shamoley ” meter..I know you really enjoyed that line:) I think this might be only the second time too. Thank you David…I feel, like someone just handed me an Oscar:)🤗❤️🌹
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Those poor negative butterflies trapped,
and trying to fly.
I count my breaths,
to set them free to let them go, but I know what I know…
What an empathy! What an intuition, Karima! The whole piece is simply superb. Artistic expression 💖.
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Ahh Kaushal…you liked those negative buttterflies…I am enjoying seeing various comments with their favorite lines and they all seem to be different.I love to see that:) Intuition can be killer..when you know, you sense and yet you don’t know and you try and talk yourself out of being so negative..I think maybe we have all been there. Thank you my friend, for your rich validation.. I loved this comment❤️🦋🙏
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Powerful Lines Karima!
❤️
“Then everything I feared, did not allow myself to think or hear… condenses briefly, in my eyes, and slowly falls in tears. “
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Thank you so much Cindy, for commenting on this, my latest. As I was saying above to Kaushal, I love seeing how people have chosen different lines as their favorites.. I also think we have all been there at the end when..our intuition was right and all we can do is cry…at the same time.. our subconscious/moves into conscious and says out loud “I knew it” Intuition can be very powerful and quite exact too… When it’s a negative message….who wants to listen?
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It’s soooo true Karima! And of course you’re most welcome. Sorry to be so late.
Isn’t that the truth. We always mostly know deep down. We’re all human after all so none of us do!💖
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What beautiful prose, Karima. “Proceeding slowly, everything is a sign everything pushes me in one way or the other” This resonates in every fiber of my being. I feel this, and live this; it is a gift, which can be so painful and so rewarding, sometimes at the same time. Your verse is so touching. It reminds me of my recent divorce, and the knowing I had that it was time to move one, yet, the pain that was born in that moment exuded itself from me for an entire year, and still arises today. Oh, many reflections on this wonderful piece of writing, my dear friend. I love it. 🙏✨❤️🌻🤗
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Dearest Jeff, thank you for sharing your personal situation that makes my poem resonate for you. Of course I too have been here (Or I would not know how to write about it:) and interestingly..two my friends here, called me up to see if “anything was wrong”when they read it. Intuition as you say can be a gift and a curse…we know too much at moments when we really don’t want to know everything. I feel your pain of parting that lasted longer than you had wishes and returned when maybe least expected.. Thank you for your transparency and your honesty. All I know is that when intuition meets reality all those trapped butterflies are simultaneously released..and we can then handle what is in front of us… As hard as that has been for me at times, it is still easier than than the not knowing..❤️🤗🌹🙏🦋
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Oh, dearest Karima, that’s exactly so – we do know too much, when we don’t want to know everything, yet, like you, I wouldn’t change this visceral understanding for not knowing. It’s a gift. I agree with you wholeheartedly and completely. You’re most welcome, always. It’s my pleasure to resonate with you and express my reflection and understanding. Always. ❤️🙏🌹🌻✨🤗
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I absolutely loved this! Beautiful beginning lines, going on to become slightly melancholy,and end in a wonderful manner! 🙂
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Thank you so much Veera for leaving your stimulating comment..You are so right, it does have different feelings in different parts..Like that uncertainty we feel, when our intuition whispers something we are not ready to hear:)
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very good 👍👍
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Thank you….WJ(?) I am happy you enjoyed it:)
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🙏🙏🙏
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So beautiful!! Have you ever thought at times that intuition can be like a curse in some ways. I understand this poem too well, I am afraid my friend. So lovely your words and I so appreciate that you call them butterflies 🦋. That intuition can become a nagging sensation or a heavy thing to carry, exactly how you express it so beautifully. I actually prayed that God would take some of that sixth sense away from me because it was too much for me. He did too and I am grateful. Yet I still remain very intuitive. Such a lovely poem Karima. Thank you! Sending you buckets full of love flown by a string of white doves. ❤️🤗🕊🕊🕊
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Hugs Joni dear, I love to save your comments for last..like dessert. They are like dessert for me. How lovely to see what you see in my poetry.❤️ I think intuition definitely can be like a curse.. but it is also a gift..I think if it burdens you, as in your case..I ccan see why you prayed to no longer have it… As I get older, my intuition is more “refined” and maybe I am capable of controlling it more.. but in any case..sometimes it is a nag and a tug you can’t deny.. I would guess.that all serious poets have quite a high quality of intuition..Sometimes I think it is like the 2nd cousin of my muse..lol..definitely from the same family and highly uncontrollable, capricious and when it says we write or this is going to happen…it usually does:) big hugs..I always look forward to your wonderful comments as well as your poetry Joni…Thank you dearest Much love, Karima ❤️🤗🌹🙏
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I had to read this piece loud…coz I could already listen to its sound…much before I even read a single word…powerful lines you’ve written…just like your strong intuitions…the senses…”I knew it”…it’s painful…it touched my heart instantly…but still I don’t consider for a fraction of a second that sometimes an intuition could be negative…in fact, intuition is neither positive nor negative…it is what it is…it’s the human feelings that give it these lables…that instant negative could be an unknown positive later…the beauty lies in being intuitive…it’s the super power we all have but only a few are connected to it…you’ve written this piece with such beauty that emotions can be felt…it even made me to connect with my own “I knew it”…and I sigh as I resight that site…I don’t want to give it a lable…I’m simply blessed coz it gives me both joy & at times, pain…depending on my own state…see, your beautiful writing made me to connect with my thing…which in return, is making me to connect with your writing…that is you…that’s the free flow of energy, Karima ✨
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Ahhh Navin, you have the power to allow me to see my poem, my” intuition” through your eyes…and you are so correct..Intuition is not just negative or positive..It just is and yes, it can be a super power if we know how to handle it. It can also torment us, if we do not, or can not, as Joni points it so clearly in her comment. I personally and recently have gone through a period where my intuition opened up a door that I would have rather not entered..and yet as you say..what seems like a negative at first, can be turned into something positive in our lives..Inshallah…Time is the great changer..if we allow it to act.. if we surrender to that truth, that good can come from something bad.. if we allow it all to play out in our lives…and don’t get in the way, by hanging on to what was and is already done. For me,one of the greatest pleasures is to connect and exchange poetry and ideas..as we are doing now..The”free flow of energy” as you say..Is a beautiful way to share and learn and..always grow. Thank you dear Navin for this comment full of wisdom and understanding…🙏❤️
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You’re welcome dear Karima…it should be me thanking you for writing such a magnificent piece 💫
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*blushes..Thank you for saying that Navin..*beams:)
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