A New Heart

Courage, my daughter -
your heart holds
the give and take
of this world.
Like breath, take
what supports
you, give away
what does not.

You are strong
enough to stand
straight up for
who you are –
the awesome
truth of you.

Words fall silent;
actions are stilled –
time cannot measure
love that fills the space
between souls,
between worlds.

Memories gather
as rose petals
to guide our way
toward mercy that
forgives forever
the human be-ing.

Courage, my daughter
is what you have –
a river so deep
and swift it carries
hope aloft for
everyone to see.

For my daughter,
Happy, on her birthday.

I find that I need to consciously choose to feel my heart.
Once I do, I wonder why I don’t choose more often.

Growing within me
the spirit and soul
of one Beloved,
catching the color
of my life, the
sweet song of
hearts open wide.

Break through the
dark outline of
my womb into
the light, into
arms welcoming
this daughter,
this sylph.

You perceive magic
mischief in the room -
when you walk
you dance,
speaking you
vibrate to a
harmony sublime.

Gift, you are that
and rare, touching
the sleeper awake,
transforming the
unimagined into
the laughter of leaves
falling all around us.

Take heart though
you see the darkness,
angels adore you
though you ask not,
moving from the
unknown into
elemental rhythm.

I ask for ears to hear,
eyes to see the truth
you paint so beautifully.

For my Beloved on her birthday
April 1, 2012

My name is swallowed
up in the sound of
the world;

not lost, it adds
to the roundness
of the word voicelessly
spoken by every name.

I hear it
filling the space
between us, alive
with possibility.

March 3, 2012

A friend I trust once told me that God did not leave us here without a map.

I used to think that the signs were all around me, just hiding from my everyday awareness (feeling kinda outta touch).

Soft focus … notice that black bird? Is it black? Do I fly? Am I high enough? (No, definitely not high enough.)

Now, I begin to study myself. Am I the map? Am I the sign? So many signals, synapses, neural pathways all connected from the day I was born to the day I depart and beyond.

God help me … I am the cartographer of my human geography.

Unbidden gratitude
raises my eyes to see
more than the face
of the moment;

I see how odd bits
fit together and how
I am better for it.
This small thing
supports my life.

I reimagine the gift -
and choose to know
that you belong
here with me,

and that humanity,
with all its odd bits,
fits together as
one grateful,
connected world.

December 18, 2011

Let me not forget the
warmth of our love
even when I serve
your plate cold.

Let me live in the
home of our heart
even when we choose
different rooms.

Let the law of our
love be written by
my own hand
so that I may always
know my way to you
and see love’s brilliant
light shining upon us.

For Jeshy and Donna
November 5, 2011

We travel across
the years, settle
on one or a few
for a while -
resting, waiting.
The questions change,
never the destination.

Deep in the silence
between one and
another, there’s a
faint sound – familiar,
comforting.
Humming its tune,
we begin to remember
the words, but these
vanish as soon as
they arrive.

What remains is that
silence “in between” -
the original sound -
so deep one can get
lost but for that
bright hope

when the whole
world makes sense,
when love is the
only word worth
uttering, the only
step worth taking.

For Celestia
October 31, 2011