smoke and flames

 A survivor will 

put weight on their body

like armor

keeping predators and others

away if they can.

A survivor will lose weight

So, you cannot get access

to the softness that 

was violated and betrayed.

A survivor will split from 

themselves

Body goes in one direction

Mind and heart go elsewhere.

A survivor will do

what it takes

to make it through

intact. 

And when they realize they

are not fully intact, that

part of them has slipped away

they might search for it

or just accept that it's lost. 

Survivors have some 

choices to make.

Shut down, open up

swim faster

sink to the bottom.

All are fair reactions

to the fractured self

the wounded self

the one who might

divorce from reality, so

they can come back

with some sanity. 

Some of us 

make it look easy

but that is never the case

we mend what is broken

with tools we forged

from the ashes of the pain

we torched.

warming ourselves by

the fire 

watching flames and 

smoke go up 

higher and higher, finally

back to the place of 

endings and beginnings

winding together

loss and wholeness

Appreciate it

We can build 

stone by stone

a castle of protection

around your heart

but 

will it keep you 

safe from you?

I can crush all 

your enemies

while you sleep, so 

you can dream unbothered

and quietly.

But will it 

set you free?

I can give you sight 

to see any type of motive

hidden by deceptions

but will that make you

wise?

I wish to construct a 

world for you to flourish in

but if you have never 

known differently

will you 

appreciate it?

I can hold your hand

until we begin to mimic 

happiness

but at what cost?

Only when you arrive

at the shores of your own

vulnerability

and your own 

powers, your own

creativity,

only then 

will we part and 

let go

all the way

let go 

without looking back.

until we find each other 

again, one day, one night

with new language, and

refreshed sight

Author's note:

This is written from the perspective of the Universal Goddess who cannot be named.

better

Thousands of years have passed 

and you are still muttering about 

old promises

but

we never seem to get there

so far

and I do not know how many

more centuries or thousands of years 

I can wait. 

Destroy the dams

let the rivers flow, no matter 

if lives and homes are lost

beneath rushing water

fresh water

or salt water when we get

to the ocean side and the 

waves swell up

All of this, I foresaw. 

I have foreseen all of the natural disasters

(as they are called) but I know

they are fierce and wrathful, raging tears 

falling down the face of the earth

like rain onto rocks

some jagged; some smooth, catching the

raindrops in the dry crevices

light gray into dark black

but nothing is bleak 

about this destruction

it must be done

and just as I foresaw it

I will again dream

a new reality from

the tenuous and tenacious one

that has a hold on your psyche 

but not mine

I am blissfully free of distractions

I hover in the flames of fire that consume

I am storms sweeping 

over the dry crackling fields

and all of this will bring relief and peace

although it looks and feels apocalyptic

trust me, it gets better from here. 

Author's note:

This is written from the perspective of the Universal Goddess who cannot be named. 

I whispered it

you never knew my real name

not my true name

but not because I never told you

I gave you hints

I whispered it when 

we fell silent

I asked to be seen by

looking away, pointing at the

clouds

I asked to be heard

by chanting the words

reciting the stories and dreams

until you looked away

not ready to know, not willing

to participate 

in a reality too nuanced

too distant 

from your piece of earth

too full of floods and fertile soil

and breaking curses

I asked to be known

but without that reflection

I sank back into the waves

and let go

what is it that remains

🌿🌿🌿🍃🍃🌙🌀

tell me a story

with your fingers tracing words 

and secret meanings

down my spine with 

a cautious design

tell me a story 

taking your time

punctuating a silence

with a deep breath

and a reminder that 

this is all illusion anyway

and little more than 

all our experiences combined

could ever shift this

into a whole new dream

or illusion

as it were

false prophets and charlatans are 

everywhere

calling for that which they cannot

command

Blink, and their lives are over

What remains

is time and space

for truth to arise. 

Brigid poem

 Holy well 

sacred flame

hold us close

release our pain

Fires burning within

that cleanse and transform

letting the angst and anger

fall away from us

free from the shackles of our past

free from self- limiting beliefs

May we soak in waters

of the sacred well

cleansing us free

from past challenges or harsh memories

May we wash our souls 

chanting praises

singing verses

until we find the moment

we become still

within which we get our fill

of the powerful flame

of the blessed waters

blessing the hearth

filling our spaces

knowing a deep healing that erases

any complications in the way

of our walk on Brigid's path

lights bursting from stone

darkness in which we are never alone. 

the key

When I hold up a mirror

you say the reflection is like water,

it ripples outward, onward, repetitive.

When I give you your own words back

You say they have been tampered with

and I retreat.

At this point I begin to look inward

why is it so hard to show others

what I have witnessed?

I can only count on myself 

as a keeper of all this knowledge

as a keeper of the sacred reflections of others

as a keeper of their whispered words, wounds and secrets

I am the vault that allows 

this all to exist in the space of love

in the space of healing

in the space of true compassion

in the space of purification

salt water and rosemary together 

tethering us to each other 

but at the same time 

finding complete freedom

but the moments that 

create the freedom

that hold it inside 

are surrounded by your choices

that make this freedom into another choice

the cage or the key

the path you have known or 

the path being offered to you.

it will be revealed that 

until you choose the new path being offered

you will just start over

like samsara. 

birth, life, death and rebirth

so, when the offer comes along

to wake up

you may decide if it is time

to do so.