At first glance, you scare me
Like a terrifying image of the past
With sharp edges, pinchers, and maybe a hidden sting
The packaging of you remains stunningly intact
From this exterior view, you look like you.
✦
With closer curious inspection
You are only the outer design
I could flick away
Or with a breeze of wind
You’d blow away light as the feather you now are
A ghost town of memories.
✦
Every day I awake and
Squiggle away from you.
You hold a past that is no longer who I am or ever was.
I thank you for being the container
For holding space for the very essence of me.
✦
I have crawled out
Flown into the trees
Free to sing and mate.
✦
For now, I have found safe haven
Home in the depths of an inner world
Filled with equanimity, peace, acceptance
Dense with love
Here in the woods of my soul.
Laura, I read this earlier and printed it out to keep on my desk – and then got distracted with a call or email and didn’t comment. As I’m clearing my desk, I read through your words again. It is just so beautiful. One of the reasons I love poetry so much is that I can combine your words with my experiences and mental models of the world to create something so meaningful. You’ve done that for me here. Thank you for sharing such a deep personal part of yourself here. I appreciate you!
Thank you so much, Melissa! I’m very moved by the fact that you printed off this poem. Humbled. Words seem to point toward many experiences and poetry seems to free the heart and mind in ways that sentences and paragraphs may not. I’m grateful you found resonance with this poem. I appreciate you too!
Here in the woods of my soul….. Very beautiful, often words are not meant to be read as they reflect from your eyes to touch you deeply within your heart. I feel your words.
Thank you for your kind, eloquent, poetic feedback, Larry. Sometimes grateful is not a big enough word, my friend.