Tag: prayers

Wondering

On By AnemoneLeave a comment

1.
i pray for past awareness
to guide me through this life with wisdom
and prevent the replication of harmful patterns
i pray for present awareness
to embody my aliveness
and keep me focused on my multipurpose
i pray for future awareness
to temper my appetites
and inspire me to dream

2.
i am a porous creature
love flowing, burning, pouring through me
air and fire and water
cleansed and holy by the salt and musk of my body
i am a reflective creature
wondering
perhaps it has never been about the holding
or being held
nor the having
of hands
or flowers
words
lips
letters
tender touches
heartbeats
or vocal tones
perhaps it has always been about the generative transmutations
the animations that exist
upon our leaving each other
sparks
exhales
seeds
spores
expressions of contentment
waves of pleasure
bursts of laughter
a deep thirst
an afterglow of warmth
an offspring
a poem
a dream
a novel not yet nameable entity

3.
and when my death arrives
i will simultaneously rise and descend and disperse
on a kaleidoscoping exhale
of sensation and light and sound and matter
becoming the endless stream of poetry
written into my soul
by all the arrivals and departures of my loves and my loving

*please note that if you are viewing this on a phone screen, the original line-breaks may be distorted, which may impact your reading experience. to view the writing as intended, use of a tablet or desktop computer is recommended.

Seven Prayers (revisited)

On By AnemoneLeave a comment

#1

May the experiences that deliver us
to the brink of breaking
be held as opportunities for evolution.

#2

May we, you and I,
come into awareness
of our powers
of intellect,
our every thought
and imagining–
may we know them as gifts, sacred.

#3

May we always seek each other,
find one another,
and see every arrival with clarity.

#4

May I be fluid
as the creek
pouring down the hill
making music out of every obstacle.

#5

May you shed the skin of your shame
as tears of praise for your persistence.
May you rise
from the shadowland fire-polished,
lion-hearted and lithe–
one hand raised to shield,
one hand open to give and to receive.

#6

May our words be medicine
for the journey
through desecration to resilience.

#7

May I liberate the wilderness
of my love
through an ancient and wordless song,
lulling tigers to sleep
and coaxing hearts to bloom.

(compiled and reposted from February – December 2018)

*if you are viewing this on a smartphone, line breaks may not be accurate and this will impact your reading experience as well as the conveyance of meaning*

Transplanting

On By AnemoneLeave a comment
For my mother, for your mother, for the mother in me, for the mother in you, and for the Great Mother.

 

The tender leaves of the brandy-wine have grown cut and distinct

from those of the beefsteak.

They are ready to begin the process of becoming hardened-off

for the world outside.

Moving tomato starts from house to garden,

from perpetual day under ultraviolet light

to cycles of day and night;

exposing them to sun and moon shine,

to rain and wind–

acts of faith.

I blow them kisses,

I pray for their survival.

I remember the careful sowing of seeds–

the tending, the watering, the watching.

In three days, I will gently tease their dense roots.

I will place them in prepared soil.

I will intuit the pleasure of moving

from the boundaries of a small pot into earth expansive.

*I wrote this poem as a young mother in a rare and quiet moment with a writer-friend at a local cafe. It first appeared, in an earlier version, in the first edition of Voice Catcher, an Anthology of New Writing by Portland-Area Women, 2006.