Category: Poetry

Today I Won’t

  • Today I won’t be the good girl, the nice girl
  • The girl who gives the last cookie to someone else
  • The girl who takes the burnt edge
  • The girl who lets others cut in line
  • Today I won’t be the one who gives
  • The one who cleans when others won’t
  • The one who volunteers when no one else has the time
  • The one who listens endlessly to whining
  • Today I won’t be the Madonna
  • The girl who covers up so others won’t be offended
  • The girl who watches her language
  • The girl who mothers adults
  • Today I won’t be taken advantage of
  • Today I won’t give everything to those who give  nothing
  • Today I won’t live for others
  • Today I won’t put myself last

#poetry

Something soothing

  • There’s something soothing about the dingy room
  • The sounds of water swirling away the dirt
  • The sounds of clothes being beaten dry in a metal drum
  • The chattering voices talking about the mundane, the extraordinary
  • There’s something beautiful about the battered mismatched washers
  • Washing the clothes of poor folks
  • Washing away the sweat, the blood, the tears of honest labor
  • Washing the clothes of children, mothers, fathers
  • There’s something comforting about the warmth coming off the dryers
  • Filling the air with humidity and scents of fabric softener
  • Warming cold bones in winter
  • Causing swooning and sweat in the summer
  • There’s something homey about the people
  • Moms washing clothes for their families and chatting with their friends
  • Children running and playing with their friends
  • Folks helping one another opening the heavy doors
  • There’s something lonely about the laundry
  • As closing time nears and the lights are shut off
  • The attendant mopping the floors and shooing folks out
  • A lone, dropped sock left behind

Bear Comes Calling

Bear stands in the distance…
Waiting, waiting, waitingBear Claw
I walk toward, fearful of the unknown
Bear waits, waits, waits

Approaching bear with respect
My heart thuds with fear
Her claws, her teeth, her strength
Slowly, cautiously, I walk

Comfort rises off of her
Love, caring, knowing
My fears released
I look at her

She glances back
Without words, I know to follow
She leads me into a rock covered entrance
I stand for a moment, eyes adjusting to the dark

My thoughts race as I try to make logic
Let go of thoughts, she instructs
Feel, be, sense, know
No, No, NO, I whimper, it must make logic

The coolness settles me
Bear skulls line the walls, bringing comfort with their wisdom
Know, she says, just know
Do not hold so tightly to ideas and misperceptions

Know your heart, your wisdom
Sovereignty is in your heart
Sovereignty is knowing you
Sovereignty is claiming you

Sinking into the cool earth
I whimper as the logic that has sustained me is taken from me
I stare into the abyss of knowing
Feeing her warm bear breath as she lays beside me

I sink into her warmth, feeling nurtured
My eyes close, dreams dance
Logic flies away
Dreamtime fills my soul

Know, know, know, she whispers
Feel, feel, feel,
Believe, believe, believe
Be your truths

A cool breeze tingles my nose
I awaken, I stretch, I feel, I know
Bear has gone, but bits of fur remain
I trust her knowledge, I trust my heart