Birthing a new world is painful
Shifting a paradigm is tectonic
Daughters,
We do not just choose The Bear
We are The Bear
We are the Wild Mother
We are gifted with the power of creation
We are skilled in navigating grief
We are aligned with the cycles of life
Daughters,
We are the builders of community
We are the storytellers
We are the lore keepers
We are the heart and the hearth
We are the fire keepers
We are the fire
It's time to build and burn
In equal measure
-gws
I breathe and it is not enough
I pray for help for life is tough
I tire of carrying this broken trust
I wish to just feel safe again
My skin too tight, my mind too loud
I seek to avoid the merry crowd
I am now scared when I once was proud
I wish to just feel safe again
I fell asleep so full of hope
And woke within the hangman's rope
Fear wedged deep inside my throat
I wish to just feel safe again
Trust once lost is hard to earn
Apprehension in my belly churns
Quiet rage, set low, still burns
I wish to just feel safe again
Discomfort visits everyday
A mix of feelings eating away
The world no longer morally gray
I wish to just feel safe again
-gws
I cannot be a human today
Let alone a woman
I am a raw exposed wound
Showered in salty
Reminders of the abuses
We have already endured
And I am unmade
-gws
I still hold the smallest flickering flame of hope
Smoldering painfully in my belly
I keep trying to stomp it out
Smother it
But it persists
Despite the obvious futility of its existence
It will not listen to reason
Will not extinguish beneath showers of bitter tears
I must endure it
Ignore it
Until it gutters and dies on its own
-gws
On this ordinary October day
I did my part to change the world
In a most extraordinary way
I voted
For who I hope will be
Our first woman president
With proud ancestors at my back
My children’s future cast before me
I released my grain of sand into the glass
To do my small part to move us forward
Towards a future the mothers preceding me
Could only hope to dream of
For their progeny
-gws
Oh, how the tears fall
In the darkest of night
When hope has left us
With the dying of the light
The grief and the shame
Consume all they might
When hope has left us
With the dying of the light
Hold on to my hand
Grasp on to it tight
When hope has left us
With the dying of the light
It is anguish that grips us
With its devastating blight
When hope has left us
With the dying of the light
Remember, when dawn comes
How we survived this rite
When hope had left us
With the dying of the light
-gws
Grief is an unwelcome friend
Yet she calls just the same
She sits down right beside me
As she gently speaks my name
She offers me her open hand
Even though I flinch away
Grief’s lived this scene so many times
She knows that she must stay
I beg and plead for her to go
I do not want her here
Yet Grief still sits right by my side
And whispers in my ear
She tells the story of love and loss
Of memories most dear
Until I finally understand
Why Grief is sitting here
Grief comes when something dear is lost
With a simple job to do
Her company is but the cost
Of loving something true
So turn her not away, good friends
Though welcome she’ll not be
Grief reminds us how we’ve loved
With the gift of memories
-gws
Before I enter my “Healed Woman” era
I must detour into my “Villain” era
You see…
I was cast in the villain role for so long
I might as well embrace the casting for a term
With that said…
Do not be concerned at my black wardrobe
My blood red lips
Do not pay mind to my near silent mumbling
As I light candles and cast salt about
Fret not over my narrowed, focused eyes
Rimmed in thick black liner
As I observe and calculate my options
Do not wonder about the herb-coated offerings
Laid out beneath the full moon
None of it is your concern
Cross the street
Avert your gaze
Do not trouble yourself wondering in my direction
I’m embracing my dark side
Doing my shadow work
If my shadow is meant to fall upon you
You will know
-gws
Trying to figure out
who this version of me is
She feels like a stranger,
but I think I might end up
liking her
-gws
You burned every bridge
then burnt your home to ashes
Now you wonder why you stand
naked and alone in the ruins
-gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 