Category: Joy

Cartwheels

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I want to revisit the joy of cartwheels in summer grass
Serenaded by the wing beats of bees and the chorus of hummingbirds and sparrows
I want to drowse amongst dandelions while playing 
Warshak games with passing clouds in azure skies
I want to hide beneath curtains of willow branches
Making friends of the trees with whispered secrets

I want to run time backward
To when summer days were never ending
And daydreams frolicked in the warmth of long lazy unburdened afternoons
I want to sit suspended in the amber of youthful memory
Its glowing lens casting every scene in warm nostalgic hues
Golden hour light cast upon fading Kodachrome images 
That compose dust mote-filled summer slideshows of my heart

-gws

Strange Bedfellows

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Joy and grief have made strange bedfellows in me
As my smile breaks so does my heart
I do not know when their synchronicity began
I do know I wish their relationship would end
Allowing me my lightness
Not pulled down by pain

This emotional eclipse as regular as heartbeats
A quiet walk in cool, cathedral woods
Interrupted by the unexpected sharp snap of a branch underfoot
Sending a flurry of birds screaming into the sky
Like storming clouds suddenly covering the sun on a perfect day

Of course joy needs pain so that they can tell themselves apart
Trauma and struggle have conjoined them in me
No scalpel skilled enough to detach them into their unique parts...
Or at least not yet

Behind each smile lies is a threatening tear
Every laugh has a sob waiting in the wings
I will chaperone this opposing pair
Let them fill me as they will
Sweet nectar and bitter pill
At least I'm blessed enough to feel

-gws

Possibilities

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I fall in love multiple times a day
I am wooed by the beauty of the waking sky
The feel of hot water on my skin
The rich deep smell of brewing coffee
Enchanted with my children's laughter
A stranger's smile as we pass on the street
A friend's text message saying hello
Captivated by the crescent moon in a starry sky
A blazing sunset over a summer ocean
The fog spilling into the valley over the coastal mountains
There's so much to love if one chooses to look
So much to be delighted by
All it takes is a willingness to see the possibilities in the world

-gws




Write

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Write to free the burdened mind
Write to mourn what's left behind
Write to fill the world with love
Write a prayer for a god above
Write to get you through the night
Write to save a stranger's life
Write to make the world make sense
Write without care for consequence
Write regardless of the words
Write so that your voice is heard
Write to free a soul locked tight
Write with rhyme for pure delight
Write of love or foe or friend
Just write and write then write again

-gws
@wordswishesandwisdom

Happy NaPoWriMo! Here’s my Day 19 poem called Write #poetry #wordsmithing #poem #writer #wordswishesandwisdom #poet #poetsoftiktok #poetryTok #NaPoWriMo #NaPoWriMo2024 #poetryreading

♬ Prayer of the Heart – Eric Gilmour

My Nervous System Knows

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When vibrant joy sparks bitter tears
It means that too many years
Have been spent in emotional blight
That no jubilation can put to right

Like a cloud crossing the sun
Or a dissonant chord rung
When my heart swells and glows
My nervous system knows

That this joy will lead to grieving
My chest begins its heaving
Turning smiles into frowns
As the cortisol lets down

How long has this been so
I will not pretend to know
Like a candle smothered 
I unconsciously keep covered

That which makes me take up space
Before I can feel the grace
Of real joy in my blood
I dump it in the mud

I avoid the disappointment
Like a fly stuck in the ointment
I abandon my true will
When he sets on me that chill

And so I am now trained
That joy will end in pain
I know that I must mend
So the sun can shine again

-gws

Ecstasy

(A palinode to Grief)
Ecstasy illuminates 
It amplifies joy
Making time feel inconsequential 
Grounding me deep in the moment 
Called by the here and now 
Allowing full presence in the experience of it
Ecstasy demands we be seated in our bodies 
To experience pleasure 
And laughter 
And belonging as part of the great tapestry of living
Our senses acute and engaged
Begging we greedily partake
In the gifts that life offers
Richly
Vividly 
Intricately
With all of our senses
Inciting never ending curiosity 
And a desire for the bliss of it to never end

-gws