shadows to my soul ~

31 Friday Jan 2014

Tags

becoming, breath, connection, destiny, dreams, faith, fearless, gravel roads, knowledge, life, living, love, old maps, passion, poetry, reason, spirit, strength, truth, value, wandering, wisdom, wonder

long the years
to stretch between
ashes to the snow
a memory of shadows
to my soul

once and now
a season passed –
to hold my longing
dear
whate’er I speak
in silence –
the universe
will hear

. . .

yet ~

31 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry, Storytelling

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

becoming, bliss, cherokee, death, destiny, faith, fearless, forgiveness, knowledge, life, love, old maps, passion, postmark, reason, resurrection, sacred intimacy, self, spirit, spirituality, truth, understanding, value, wisdom

how long the sweet
departing –
how dear the ways
recalled
tho time has passed
– somewhere
a moment still
remains of us
eternal
a voice upon
the wind
a passage unforgotten
by our will

. . .

back to me ~

30 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry, Storytelling

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

bliss, breath, connection, destiny, dreams, faith, fearless, gravel roads, kentucky, knowledge, life, memory, old maps, passion, poetry, postmark, reason, restless, seeing in the dark, spirit, star crossed, truth, understanding, value, wandering

dare I now
to close my eyes –
illusions of the same
somewhere
there
a whisper
of my name

falls around
as mystery
I never could concede
to know the ways
to home –
and back to me

hands to reach
a kiss just so
who am I to tell –
the taking from the leaving
when both
have fit me
well

a sky this blue
another gave
one day –
from all the rest
to know of truth
I carried –
a blessing
unconfessed

eases now
as once I knew
the touch
of letting go –
hands were reaching
softly –
eyes were open
closed

. . .

close enough ~

30 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

becoming, breath, faith, fearless, grace, gravel roads, knowledge, life, love, old maps, passion, postmark, reason, resurrection, sacred intimacy, spirit, spirituality, strength, truth, understanding, wandering, wisdom

settle these drums
tender this song –
(remember)
and I shall be made
the place
where memory
melts (into light)
as distance
these musings
to fade

as ink
through the years
pressed between hands
(folded)
the length of goodbye
a voice without
season
sealed into word
and worn into place
(as tears
left to dry)

for a time
(not so fleeting)
as breath
close enough
is kept on a shelf
in the dark
counted (the ways)
mere steps from me now
retrieving the flame
from embers –
a spark

were moments
(of holding)
forever so near
could see out beyond
all we knew
was life
worth returning
(again
and again)
as a star
to believing –
(remembered) us
new

. . .

beyond the reach of why ~

29 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

bliss, breath, connection, destiny, dreams, fearless, grace, gravel roads, knowledge, life, love, memory, old maps, passion, reason, silence, spirit, star crossed, story, truth, understanding, unremembered, wandering, wonder

worry not
o’er promises
to vanish in the light
let kisses fall
as proof
that you were here
as gentle stirs
the morning
beyond the reach
of why –
might reason
be as slow
to disappear

let not your tongue
these secrets bear
as refuge
for the flight
where silence tells
our story
now again
let –
and I (a souvenir)
held within your heart
as whispers
guard the places
I have been

. . .

all of time I know ~

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in folklore, Poetry

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

cherokee, connection, conscious consciousness, destiny, faith, fearless, grace, knowledge, life, love, memory, old maps, passion, poetry, restless, seeing in the dark, star crossed, truth, understanding, wonder

shall I wait
or shall I slumber –
taking all
of time
I know
into worlds
beyond I wander –
into life
beyond I go

kept apart
and sewn together
by a moment
so divine
stitched of want –
as darkness gathered
to warm a heart
the same
as mine

who am I
what name is given
was a girl
a woman now –
was a place
beyond my knowing
come again
for me
somehow

pages bent
the years by passing
ribbon sky
to mark the way –
paths are worn together
waiting
– love we kept
to give away

. . .

wearing thru ~

28 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in folklore, Poetry

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

bliss, breath, connection, destiny, faith, fearless, forgiveness, grace, gravel roads, life, love, old maps, passion, poetry, reason, sacred intimacy, spirit, spirituality, surrender, truth, understanding, value, wonder

winter weave
your lullabye –
let the moon forget
the stone
that was my promise
buried deep
pressed into another rhyme
white
embroidered rose –
dreams remain
of lines I’m sworn
to keep

of graces
held the longer
yearn for me
the same
while quiet waits
our willing to reveal
a poem
we were writing
verse defending verse
strings we thought were broken
echo still

when pulled
into some other life
a moment
love endured –
softer where
the dawn is wearing thru
tempted by
the passing –
of yellow leaves to rain
– as certain as
my falling
into you

. . .

blue this morning after ~

27 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in Poetry, verse

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

breath, canada, connection, forgiveness, friendship, grace, knowledge, life, living, love, nature, old maps, poetry, reason, spirit, spirituality, star crossed, truth, understanding, wandering, wonder

how sweet
the wind
returns the sea –
how blue
this morning
after –
is come for me
a promise
thru the gale

of longing
softly whispered
abide
within this night
come as breeze
to carry me
away

of thought
returned
as soul to soul
was reason
to deliver –
the dreamer
from the soft
embrace
of dreams

Author’s Note: A dear friend sent me this picture
today – a place not far from his home in Newfoundland.
The image was from the summer just past, a kiss
of breeze upon the waves. Thank you, Shea.

. . .

lessons in the letting ~

27 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by tornadoday in a time for telling, Poetry, Rambling, Storytelling

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

becoming, bliss, competition, contest, destiny, faith, fearless, grace, knowledge, life, living, old maps, passion, poetry, publishing, reason, restless, reward, spirit, spirituality, strength, truth, understanding, value, wisdom

Over the weekend, I was involved in the setup of a contest for aspiring writers. It’s an association I’ve had for many years, and almost without exception, I find myself speaking to writers about their talents. I’d like to think that I am both kind and encouraging with that obligation, but I also have come to another realization.

Writing is an art, regardless of whether you are the best. There is one (or maybe millions more) who will find worth in your words. There, your reward. As writers, we can be discouraged when measuring ourselves against another. I suspect that’s true for everything, and not just writing. But the truth is we measure ourselves against a very small population of the world – those who write. Instead, might we measure ourselves against the whole of creation, knowing ours is a gift that needs not publication to be.

The contest I am currently judging has about twenty entries. I refuse to give awards for more than first place, for every writer should assume that if they didn’t win, they were second. And yet, even if it were known that someone was in last place, that still places them ahead of the thousands who never thought themselves talented enough to enter.

If you are an honor student in high school and choose to attend Georgetown because you want to be a lawyer, you should be prepared that it will be tough because you’re competing with the best. If you attend another university, you might find you do better because you’re not discouraged by the competition. Does it make you any less? Of course not, and if you become discouraged and opt out, then what have you robbed the universe of? Your talents – your one of a kind, unique wonderful talents.

I will likely never pen a best seller, but I write….and there, my joy, my gift continuing – my life eternal. Regardless of the others who share my obsession, I am uniquely wholly me. My weaknesses are my strengths. When I get discouraged (thinking everything I write sounds the same), I remind myself of the one who has never read a thing I’ve written. There, I am new. There, I am only.

There, I win every single time.

. . .