Sky-dancing

A murmuration sky-dancing
moving to its own rhythm
echoes the music
I hear in my car.
The sky plays out
its own symphony
blending colours into the mix
as earth slowly turns
and sun begins to disappear.
Everything moving in harmony.

My spirit roams freely
shifting with the changing
directions of the birds
blazing with the shadow-play
of colour and light
rolling with the turning earth.
Everything moves in harmony.

©16 Feb 16

Burn all the books

I have absorbed
thousands of words
from books and now
I can let them go.
Open the windows of the mind
to set them free
so I can be myself and
not who the words
describe me as being.

I have learnt many things
and knowledge has become
like a cluttered, dusty attic
full of boxes containing
who knows what.
Let’s build a bonfire
and burn all the boxes
set the knowledge free
so I can be myself and
not who the knowledge
defines me as.

My life has become a tapestry
woven from other people’s
ideas and thoughts
that I have collected
or imbibed along the way.
The time is ripe to
unpick all the stitches
let the threads dance on the wind
blowing where they will.
Set them all free
so I can be myself and
no longer shaped
by others’ limitations.

This is no loss
but a great freedom
letting go of what I am not
to reveal who I am
and always have been.

I am no longer a collector
of things or ideas
free to be myself.

© 14 Feb 16

Seams of pure gold

Broken and suffering
I fall to my knees
feeling I have somehow failed
in this race of human existence.
In life thus far
I have not managed
to achieve perfection
happiness or
enlightenment.
Now I am no longer sure
what they mean
what I am aiming for.
A cloudy veil descends
among my thoughts
stealing away clarity and
clear judgement.

Exhausted by my efforts
I finally let go, give in.
Take my imperfections
my foibles and failings.
Do with them what you will.
I surrender.

Gently
kindly
I am lifted up and reformed
soldered together with
seams of pure gold
that do not hide
or cover up
my suffering, my failings
but embrace and celebrate them.
I am pieced together with
a gossamer golden thread.
An object made beautiful
by announcing the scars
the hurts, the wounds and
letting them sit side by side
with seams of pure gold.
The cracks that formed
allow the light that was always present
to shine forth
revealing for myself and for the world
an inner being of oneness
that has been patiently waiting
to be set free.

No more seeking
for perfection
happiness
enlightenment.
I already am what I seek to become.
The light that shines
is revealed through the cracks.
Kintsugi*

* Japanese form of pottery, mending broken pieces with gold.

© 7 Feb 16

I lay down

Today
I lay down those qualities I thought were my gifts
those aspects defining ‘me’
that have instead become shackles.
What previously I clung to
as a life raft
now drowns me.
My whole world has been turned
upside down
and righted again to its proper place.
In doing so
I am free.

I lay down
the shackles of the mind
and embrace words of truth
pouring forth from my heart space.

Heart speaks of true freedom
that is ever-present
unbound
unlimited.

Heart speaks of a being
moving freely
as wind blowing across the moors
as wind playing with waves across the sea
as wind dancing to an eternal tune.

Today
I lay down my shackles
and embrace the wind that moves me
speaks my heart’s language
teaches me the dance I knew
before I forgot.
It has been waiting in my bones
for this moment.

© 6 Feb 16

The bundle of words

When we take hold
and say
‘this is mine’
‘this is personal’
it becomes a time-lapse video
of speeded up growth.
The bundle of words
becomes a mountain of abuse
a torrent of hate
an unmanageable burden of suffering.

When we let go
and say
‘this is yours’
‘I don’t need this’
it becomes a pin
deflating an overgrown balloon.
The bundle of words
is just a bundle of words
that cannot hurt.
The suffering it produced
can be seen with
kindness and empathy.

Instead of screaming
‘I am hurt’
I whisper
‘can I help?’

© 1 Feb 16