(written after the My Prayers poem but i forgot to upload it)
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i consulted the Tarot today
i spoke to it with respect
i pulled a card for myself
but all i saw was you
on your knees in the woods
two swords on your back
not bowed down
not begging
waiting beside an oak
i stopped before asking it more
i don’t want terrible answers about anyone
there are none
but i felt i might cheat on your behalf
and change the cards in your favour
and that revealed my heart
if you can put a head to this strange tale
i’d be glad very glad to know it
i fell asleep and saw new eggs
flying with sails and propellers
if they were fragile they didn’t show it
i don’t walk on egg shells
how can i? they’re floating in the air
I didn’t care when i saw them there
there was something strange about it
redolent of sunny smiles
the night before was stranger still
full of piglets, flowers and silversmiths
dancing a quadrille, weaving under arches
as they pranced from place to place
underneath the stables
the first night of these three strange dreams
i saw an oak upon a hill alive with flickering lights
spreading along its branches
it shone against the sky
i felt alive, elated
and then it moved inside of me
illuminating arteries, rooted in my heart
a more beauteous thing i never saw
i sat myself beside my throbbing heart
admiring silver sparkles
if you can put a tale to this strange head
i’d be very glad to know it
i remember every detail but no words that I recall
it makes no sense at all to me
i only wonder if i show it
she was once a tight curled bud
white with an edge of tender pink
I could not see the heart
but her perfume was enticing
gently wafted on the air
with time and care she opened
a warm pink blush of petals
and now i see the heart
she is a rose that’s rare
Give thanks for the air that fills you lungs
And the heart that still beats in your breast
Give thanks for all the love you’ve received
And for every time you’ve been blessed
Give thanks for the sun that rises each morning
And the sweet gentle rest of the night
And the dreams that come when you open your mind
And the bright stars above so bright
Give thanks for the times you could help a good friend
Give thanks for a strangers wise words
Give thanks for the food on your table each day
And share what you have with the world
the seasons keep on turning
i gather wood for flame
i think i see you leaving
this time last year you came
the time for winter fires
is never twice the same
this time it may be sorrow
where it was joy before
all the things I had last year
i see i have no more
i remind myself again
to fill the winters store
we must live to journey on
together or apart
i gather all that i may need
before the dark days start
there’s safety in the cellar
and in the hollowed heart
this is a found poem – it comes from my tag cloud on this blog and so it consists of words I use a lot in poems……….
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My Obsessions.
Ancient bards and books,
a breeze full of butterflies
above the Celtic hills.
Cities, clouds, the dance of death,
a desert dragons dream,
dreaming dreams with evening eyes
of fateful fantasy and fire
with firelight in the forest garden
where a girl with a haiku
plays a harp and sings
of heart and home and horses.
Imagination kindles lakes,
leaves, land and love,
love, always love,
magic memories of moons
moonlight, morning music.
At night, the oak overshadows
oceans of passion
paths of peace and perfume,
poems of rain and ravens,
the rocks, the river,
roses by the sea.
The sky a silver smile
when the snows come,
then the song of spring,
sunlight and starlight.
Time towers above the trees.
The wings of winter spread again
above a woodland made of words
Good morning Soul
What a bright sunny day!
My Soul smiles at me
”I’m so glad you feel that way
as the day holds some
challenges
choices
I hope you are well prepared,
as I suggested?”
”Ah my Soul,
is not all life a preparation?
If it’s a challenge
I expect I can manage
I always get by somehow
If it’s a choice
I hope to make a wise one”
There is a doubt
at the back of my mind
about this
but I don’t express it
”What worries me”
said my Soul
”Is you don’t always
avoid the damage.
Ask your heart
how it feels
about this approach.
Are you sure
you are being honest
with regard to the toll
it all takes?”
If I can’t tell my soul
who will I tell?
So I admit
I tire of some struggles.
I ask for further advice.
My soul smiles again
with a tender expression.
”See it all as simple lessons.
One step at a time.
No pressure.
In the final days
it is I who will judge you
with compassion
and understanding.
I love you
above all things.”
I was so glad to hear this.
I may reach a place
where we both are at peace
without further need
of compassion.
All I must do
is save my own Soul
by loving it
more completely.
the complications of the heart are so many
as complex as the veins that carry our blood
i am no cardiac surgeon to feel your delicate pulse
but i feel my own heart beat and my aorta throb
there are times when it hurts and i don’t know why
there are times when i know every cause
some words cause my blood to pound
my head to spin and my arteries swell
though they are small words in themselves
words that perhaps meant little to you
said in some casual off-hand way
you don’t see the surge on the line
i will ingest yet another tablet
that will take care of that, i hope
but my brain needs greater attention
it’s harder to tell what goes on in there
it’s not just the moment that matters
it has all those memories, stored too well
i could go with my guts of course
base animal instinct and insight
the one that makes our hair stand on end
it’s as strong as the sense of smell
it’s the one that sees through it all
but then i would have to trust
walking cures many things
it’s good for your health
it clarifies thought
or retreats from a bad situation
but it brings you home again
i have always trusted my feet
the day i heard the mermaid sing
i struggled homeward
down by Tregudda Gorge,
the sky was grey, the wind was wild,
it blew in from the west
and lashed the waves across the bay
it tore with icy fingers, tugging at my hair
as raindrops filled my eyes
her song was sad and haunting
tears mingled with the rain
without words she filled my heart
and tore my soul asunder
they say that if you hear her sing
you’re surely cursed forever
but there is no greater wonder
than the beauty of her song
a deep felt wish i cant explain
has never gone away
but i would be gladly be twice cursed
to hear her once again
they say love dwells in the heart
that red mysterious chamber
that pumps three billion times
if you are blessed to remain
for your three score year and ten
it’s so good to hear it beat
again and again and again
that reassuring thud in your chest
until the day comes
when you know that your heart
might need an operation
or a little adjustment
or even a replacement
and one thing i guarantee
it will stop in the end
it’s a fickle friend indeed
if love resides in the heart
how can we ever say
that it out lives death and stays?
i want my true love
to dwell in a safer haven
to be carried life to life
if such a thing is possible
i don’t want to forget
i want to be able to find
those people i loved
by some imbedded instinct
the next time around
and hope i may find them sooner
to not waste a single heart beat
so pump away little heart
while you are healthy and whole
but don’t expect me to trust you
to look after love everlasting
or control my deepest feelings
i will keep my love
wrapped round my soul
entwined with my deeper being
soaked into my essence
my ethereal whole
and all that’s essential
to be existential
in some other future world
my soul is always with me
The Dreaming Path 