Bouquet of Autumn Leaves

Pick a bouquet of autumn leaves

Heavy paint patterns

Zebra stripe yellow and deep red

Revealed under the green

Collect the yellow maple leaves

That show off against the twilight

Long shadowed sun

Dipping deep in the west

Seeking winter rest

Here the pinch of regret

Of colors having to pass away

A of the delicate fair pink roses

Whose petals now dance on the

Twilight autumn wind

That I too could fly away

To some wind swept rest

Wrapped in rose petals and painted leaves

Speed Bumps

I don’t know about you
But I don’t go gently and slow
Over the Speed Bumps of life
No
I actually don’t see mind coming
This time it was by denial
How in the world I didn’t think
This wouldn’t come back to bite me
After falling off the wagon
Baffles me
But there you have it
I figuratively slammed into my speed bump
And
Tumbling along
Were bundles of issues
Related and deep
Tangled up
In memories, episodes, experiences
And yet I knew it was out there
Maybe I even created it
Working on questions
Breaking old patterns
Forging a new path
Where the old patterns don’t work
Others try to reassure me
This wasn’t a speed bump
Rather a root a tripped on
By reminding me of many good things
Courage
Questions
Getting into the murky muck
And I tried to listen
My head knew they were right
But my heart
Felt wounded
By its own betrayal
I lost faith in myself
It was hard to believe in me
So I love this heart
And my questions
And I forgive me
Finding faith and magic again
So that in time I learn from
My own betrayal
To be honest with myself
To unpack and reveal the hidden pattern
To Love my heart and all of me
So that
The next speed bump I come to
I might roll over it more easily

Dismantling

Listen to what you say to yourself
Especially the can’ts
The blinders we have put in front of ourselves
The fairytales we create to hide from the truth
The tiny roomed prisons we build for ourselves
The world around us hands us the mortar
Dances images before us to bedazzle
To the point of blindness
The rules we grew up and used
Because we didn’t know any better
Through time we get beaten down
Not bothering to try anymore
Because we are not valued
By the world we live in
But beneath all of this
Are the bones of our freedom
The small voice
The nagging thought
That told us something was very wrong
There was something more
Then the shell that fear created
Again there are freedom’s bones
The questions that dig deep
The light that cuts away the excess
The knowing that lets truth
Shutter YES inside you
The patterns
Once seen for what they are
And now no longer work
Taking on the fear
Stepping beyond it
To
I CAN

Morning Thunderstorm

The morning thunderstorm
Rumbling buzz of raindrops
Caught me in my dreams
Where I journeyed
Naked
Laid down
Among the dewed tall grass
With a belly of tears
That trembles next to the earth
Of all that is slighted women
Separated from her strength and wisdom
A thousand cuts of fear
Cry them out to the rain
Thunder to shake the bones
Let the heavy dewed earth
Hold my sorrow
Wet
Let the rain
Wash me
Wet my skin
Dripping it fresh
And cool with beauty’s love
Slick and moist
Sparkling lips glistening caressed
Love bud blessed
Soles softened
Wake to the rain magic
Claiming Goddess hope
Stepping into Beauty’s rain kissed power

Yellow Police Tape

It was yellow police tape
Wrapped around a power box
Under the underpass
As if hiding some violence
By traveling away from where it once was
Protecting some deserted alley or vacant lot
Where the real violence took place
That the wind carried it
In haphazard eddies
To this strange place where all is grey or black or beige
Is a shock all its own

Two poems

Images flicker and fade
Not enough awe or simplicity
To tempt me
To wonder about it in words
That feel like stones
In my mouth
Or muddy ash
It is all I can do to spit them out
Without giving them voice
And the images
Breeze gently away into
Oblivion ‘s mundane memory


After the battle
Mundane patterns
Ordinary routines
Return
Hiding more subtle struggles
And wondering
Where life goes
Dull
Battle sharpens the senses
Strips away the unnecessary
Now to sharpen ordinary life
With passion and hope
Ah! This in between is preparation

Grace and Gratitude

Where does one begin
At a breaking point
Falling apart
Life thrown a curve ball
A vessel dashed to pieces
Revealing a deep vulnerable core of humanity
That wrestles with the deepest questions
In chaos and creation
And by Hope or Faith
Or Grace
Is let go
Life energy spilling out
Into creation
Elements and gritty ground
Between Earth and the Universe
Filling soul with new light
Brilliant with impatience to live
Subtle and welcoming as a warm breeze
Or Spring rain on your face
All this that a heart might burst
In simplest gratitude
Awestruck beauty
A heart’s humble honor
Whose hard urgency
Hurls one along new paths
Opening the way to love spirit’s
Own thankful heart

Cherry Blossom Breezes

The wind
Sent all the cherry blossom petals
Fluttering
On swirling breezes
Showers of white and pink laughter
Dance of springtime
Falling as the wind moves away
Creating petal pink snow
On the green spring grass
With that shock
Spring comes and goes

Tears

Tears
Some scorn them
Or don’t understand them
They seem as a sign of weakness
Or that one might not be as strong as they could be
To be suppressed or controlled
Or they are used for manipulation
In that use it is dishonest
Tears to be trusted should be honest tears
We were given tears for physical expression
To express pain and hurt
Even deep happiness and joy
Tears let the heart speak
Tears also help move the emotions as energy
To pour them out of the body
Cleansing the body
Helping the healing process
Tears are strength
Tears are honesty
Tears help gather strength
Tears allow for falling apart
To let go and show vulnerability
The break open the deepest part of you
Tears make room for new things
Tears tire the body so it can rest
Tears can empty the spirit and allow it peace

Drawing out the silences of my life

Drawing out the silences of my life
Giving voice to things I am too scared to say
Bring them into the light
Giving them words and feeling
That are now just raw glimmers
Ideas on the ether barely having shape or substance
To do this I have to begin with what I have
What my heart really wants to talk about
Then the silence will begin to come forward
So what do I trust my heart with today
What small fear can I name
The fear of not saying want needs to be said
The fear of hurting others
The fear of another person out of respect
Something that lays heavy on my heart
And yet is very hard to speak
But call me to a deeper dedication
To try
To communicate honestly with people
To trust them with my hurts
Even when they have hurt me
Drawing out the silences
Is trying to find truth and forgiveness
Trying to say the hard truths that are so hard to say