Category: Poem a Month

She is vulnerable, trembling.

I become a quiet, 
listening presence –
a soft invitation.
I ask her,
“What do you need?”
She may open,
find her words,
tell me her story.
If I listen with my
wholebeing,
she may cry.
I care for her tenderly.

She may ask me
to hold her secrets
in my heart,
ask me to show her
how to still
her haunting, insistent voices,
how to find safety
inside herself,
how to find her Light.

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Questions for Contemplation

What is your relationship to fear? How do you typically respond mentally, physically and emotionally when fear shows up in your experience?

This poem explores the possibility of gently befriending, opening and listening to fear when it arises. If you are drawn to this idea, you might experiment with what is presented here the next time fear arrives, asking questions that feel right to you in the moment.

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The
forests
oceans
mountains
yearning
for kindred spirits
who will listen deeply to them,
hear their hearts beat,
feel their grief,
see their Sacred beauty.
They’re longing for kindreds
who will honor
their precious lives –
lives as precious as ours,
Love them.

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Questions for Contemplation

If you were to engage in a conversation with a tree, river, crow, dolphin, or any other aspect of the natural world, what would you like to ask?

If you’d like to explore this, you will be writing two letters: one to a tree, for example, and one from the tree to you.

Find a place to sit comfortably. When you are ready, close your eyes and take a few minutes to settle in and relax. Imagine a tree that you’d like to connect with. Then write a letter to the tree and ask one or two questions, such as “How are you doing? What do you need?”Pose your questions to the tree as if you’re writing to a good friend.

When you complete this first letter, sit quietly again for a few minutes and stretch a bit or take some long, deep breaths. Suspend your doubts, stay present and relaxed, and write what the tree is communicating to you in response to your questions.

You can write these letters as often as you’d like with any aspect of the natural world and bring any and all of your questions.

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I became wary
of comfort zones,
started feeling how uncomfortable
they actually were –
cramped
no breathing room
no wild
no free.
This need,
this longing for
safety
predictability
ease
was driven by my fear.
Oh, my…
as I stripped the layers away –
This isn’t a comfort zone.
It’s a hiding place.
It’s a cage.

Then, I could either
try to forget
what I’d seen and felt
or
do what I did –
start risking
a life that was me.

teach us
how to let go
into the Dark’s gift
of holding and deep mothering.

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Questions for Contemplation

As you reflect on the times that we are living in, what is one area that is particularly challenging for you, either personally or in terms of the impact on others, the earth, etc? What soul medicine might be helpful for you in navigating this challenge?

Is there one line or phrase in the poem that is evocative for you and that you’d like to explore? If so, you can write the words at the top of a blank page and free write for 10-15 minutes in response to the line or phrase. Then, take some time to review what you wrote and see if there is anything that you want to contemplate further in quiet reflection.

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Poems want to help us
open beyond the confines 
of the linear mind,
ignite our Magic and Mysteries,
offer medicine to our fears
in these troubled times.
They want 
to point us to
feathers and Angels,
the presence of the Infinite –
and Love,
the whisperings of the Moon,
wisdom of the creatures, forests, 
oceans, sky, mountains.
They want 
to share beams of Light and Joy
where Hope has darkened,
show us how to 
mend our wings 
and the gashes 
in our hearts.

Poems want
to teach us
the Ways of the Dark,
help us find
the still-festering wounds 
from our past
that are tangled 
in our roots, hearts and bellies – 
invite them to tell their stories,
teach us 
how welcoming grief and sadness
humbles us, softens us
so we are able
to feel, care and love 
more deeply,
teach us 
how to let go
into the Dark’s gift 
of holding and deep mothering.

Poems want to bless us
and teach us 
that we are blessable.

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Questions for Contemplation

As you reflect on the times that we are living in, what is one area that is particularly challenging for you, either personally or in terms of the impact on others, the earth, etc? What soul medicine might be helpful for you in navigating this challenge?

Is there one line or phrase in the poem that is evocative for you and that you’d like to explore? If so, you can write the words at the top of a blank page and free write for 10-15 minutes in response to the line or phrase. Then, take some time to review what you wrote and see if there is anything that you want to contemplate further in quiet reflection.

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I want to deeply
see
feel
hear
the everywhere pain –
grieve the losses,
turn towards
the despair and anguish,
turn towards
the shivering tears and fears,
towards the children
our brothers and sisters
our gasping Earth Mother.

I no longer
run to the Light
as I did in my Light-chaser days,
rush to escape
heartbreak
loss
pain –
rise above the darkness.

And….and…..
I want to empower
my voice and courage,
grow my heart bigger than it’s ever been
and tend gently to its wounds,
move away from attaching
to the separate ‘me my mine’
and the self-centered wishes,
share BIG Love.

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Questions for Contemplation

Do you relate to the words ‘world pain?’ If so, you might contemplate and/or write about what these words mean to you.

If you like, you could also reflect on how you are navigating some of the challenges of these times and see if there are any ways of being or qualities you’d like to strengthen in yourself, as I write about in the third stanza.

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Don’t rush me
to the Light.
I need to
soak in my tears
in the mothering darkness.

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Questions for Contemplation

In many ways we are a ‘feel-good’ culture. We value light over darkness, but both are integral parts of life. A common tendency when we’re experiencing any type of pain is to rise above the discomfort as quickly as possible. Accepting our light and shadows is part of the journey towards wholeness – an ongoing process of uncovering and embracing our human and infinite nature.

The dark contains many rich gifts, such as depth, the capacity to feel, mystery, myth and magic, deep Silence, creative abilities, passion and the ability to feel compassion and empathy for the suffering of others. Exploring the shadow offers opportunities to reclaim parts of ourselves that we’ve repressed or denied.

If you feel drawn to do so, reflect on or write in response to the following questions. What is your relationship to the dark? What gifts have you discovered when you have explored your shadow?

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Poets have a vocabulary that includes
birdspeak
moonspeak
painspeak
angelspeak
plantspeak
cavespeak
lovespeak
crowspeak
oceanspeak
starspeak
deathspeak
griefspeak
weirdspeak

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Questions for Contemplation

If you are drawn to do so, create a short or long list of “Yourspeak.” Possibilities that represent you might include peacespeak, worryspeak, art speak, hopespeak, etc.

Choose one or more to use as prompts for reflection or free writing. Take as much time as you like for each one, beginning with a few minutes of relaxation, followed by opening yourself to feelings, images and sensations. Then you can contemplate peacespeak, for example, and see what arises for you.

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What words

seep deep

into your skull,

calm the thought storms,

show the boulders the way out,

sky the way in?

What are your words

that cast spells,

summon the song of the stone

who wants to love you?

What words

can unearth

your buried pain?

What words are

dense   tense   untouchable,

scare others away,

even the bats and scorpions?

What words

are not yours,

are the inheritance

from your wounded lineage?

What words

are locked in a bleak, grimy dungeon,

sobbing their hopelessness,

dying

to be heard?

What words

thrill your wild,

won’t let you rest

until you howl,

until you claim

your fur and tail?

What words

paint the true shape of you

when you are broken

and

what are your words

when you are

One With All That Is?

What words,

spoken,

bless others’ pain,

soft-stitch the gashes,

kiss awake

the dormant shine,

offer a portal?

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Questions for Contemplation

What helps you navigate challenges and become resourced in stressful times? This poem points to beauty and creative forms of expression as ‘medicine’ for the mind, body and soul. How do you relate to this idea?

What creative forms inspire, nourish, balance and help you heal when you encounter difficulty?

If you’d like to explore this further, choose one form, for example, listening to classical music, and engage in free writing about the benefits to you mentally, physically emotionally and spiritually. You might also choose to write about the benefits in one or two areas rather than all four.

Take a few minutes to relax. Then write for 8-10 minutes, letting words, feelings and images spill onto the page without censoring. Don’t be concerned about grammar or punctuation. Have fun.

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wait in the bedroom
while I sleep,
ready when I am thrust awake
by the cries
of my sisters, brothers, the children.
I am derailed
by seeing with raw eyes
how we have abused and destroyed
the creatures, oceans, mountains, forests –
stunned by the madness
of these times.

Words, colors, shapes, sounds –
loyal friends
that reach into me,
move fearlessly
towards the caged pain,
thaw the icy numbness,
teach me the ways of the dark.

The books on the table,
beauty on the walls,
music in the air,
breathe sanity
into the spinning flames,
announce the presence
of the Sacred,
illumine the Soul threads
that point me
to the fields of Wisdom and Love.
I ask for guidance
to help me find my way
in this broken world
and show me
how I can give back,
how I can help.

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Questions for Contemplation

What helps you navigate challenges and become resourced in stressful times? This poem points to beauty and creative forms of expression as ‘medicine’ for the mind, body and soul. How do you relate to this idea?

What creative forms inspire, nourish, balance and help you heal when you encounter difficulty?

If you’d like to explore this further, choose one form, for example, listening to classical music, and engage in free writing about the benefits to you mentally, physically emotionally and spiritually. You might also choose to write about the benefits in one or two areas rather than all four.

Take a few minutes to relax. Then write for 8-10 minutes, letting words, feelings and images spill onto the page without censoring. Don’t be concerned about grammar or punctuation. Have fun.

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Tonight
a cricket chorus,
firefly light show.

Tonight
fish slow dance
in their dreams
after a day of
cool    clear    clean    calm.
No hooks,
no screeching parties
irritating the lake.

The crows,
strangely quiet this evening,
resting up, I imagine,
for tomorrow’s
raucous performances.

Tonight
my granddaughter settled
under Mommy’s wing
and their icy tensions thaw.
They move inside night
and read the stars.

There is a mountain of Silence
across the lake,
suggesting that I look
without words, that
perhaps the tumultuous waves
still roiling in my chest
might become this Peace.

Tonight
is an invitation
to forget the day’s
 accumulations and losses,
enjoy Impermanence
and Freedom.

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Questions for Contemplation

Is there a line, phrase or stanza in this poem that speaks to you? If you’d like to explore this further, choose one and reflect on it for a while. What is evoked in you? Take as much time as you’d like to contemplate or write whatever comes to you.

If you are drawn to do so, spend some time reflecting on the last stanza. Experiment with “forgetting the day’s accumulations and losses.” What is your experience of doing that?

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