There was a girl who was friends with God
The girl was told God was a man in white robes
But her God was a woman in a soft blue dress
Who let the girl sleep protected in her arms
Just the same as she held her own son
-gws
A Girl was Friends with God
Category: Being Me
I Want
I want to live in a cabin between the woods and the sea
I want to smell mossy earth and pine resin at daybreak
Wood smoke and salt air at sunset
I want to be surrounded by books and filtered sunlight
Candles, blank pages, and moonlight
I want to walk with hopes by day
And dance with dreams by night
I want to watch banana slugs explore my garden
I want to hear the chorus of crashing waves
Gulls crying exultantly from the sky
Wind playing chase through the cypress boughs
I want to be free of the chains of expectations
Free of the weight of the looming other shoe
I wish not to drink from any more bitter cups
Fall on any more swords
Remove twisted daggers from my back
I crave peace
Beauty
Lightness
Hope
Creativity
Freedom
I crave relationships that are mutually supportive
That nurture souls
That transact in honesty
Respectfulness
Genuineness
Ease
Love
-gws
Getting Over You (and Other Divine Interventions)
The Universe intervened
In our amber-trapped lives
Cleaving us asunder
Now that your umbra is clearing
I begin to see the Universe has
Gifted me infinite sunrises
Bursting with innumerable possibilities
After half my life with you
Standing you up
Holding you up
I find myself suddenly free
Of the responsibility of you
I delight in the joy of doing anything
Without your judgment
I relax remembering that there are no
Relentless expectations to navigate
I revel in a full night's uninterrupted sleep
I relinquish more and more tension from my body
As each day passes without you
A single divine gift containing
All the possibilities I can dream of
I will not get over you in a day
You have left me a moonscape
Desolate and damaged
I will redeem and reclaim myself
Both shadow and light
Ever shifting and changing
Just like the magnificent moon
-gws
Menopause
What is this nightmare?
Acne
Joint pain
Mood swings
Hot flashes
Night sweats
Insomnia
It's a good thing that men do not experience
The joys of menopause
I'm pretty sure that we would have
Destroyed ourselves long ago if they did
Because this experience is madness
It's like the upgrade to puberty no one wanted
I HAVE SO MUCH RAGE
This has to be the reason women stop
Putting up with intolerable things during midlife
Because I'm ready to take a machete to all of the bullshit
I have zero patience for anything
When my hormones tumble out of wack
All stupidity enrages me
And so many things are branded with
A blinking neon sign that reads
STUPIDEST THING EVER
DO NOT TOLERATE
Now don't get it twisted, gentle listeners
There are no excuses planted here
Do not dismiss my disgruntled reactions
As merely hormonal storm surges
These hormones are the reason I can see
The bullshit so clearly
They are the reason I will not abide the bullshit
One second longer
As I once let go of the Maiden's mantel to take up the Mother's mantel
I now start letting go of my Mother's mantel
To assume the mantel of the Crone
Her knowing look
Her sharp witted smirk
She has seen it and rejected it all
She understands that societal norms
The expectations that sit like weights
Upon her back are not hers to carry
She understands that she is a force
She stops caring what others think of her
And starts caring about what she thinks of herself
I feel these changes calling to my core
Calling the taproot of my soul to descend
Into the tides ruled by my will and Grace's wisdom
Tides that my ancestors waded in
And tapped into before me
The wise women
The grandmothers
The healers and midwives
The matriarchs
I am about to inherit their legacy
But first
I must walk this gauntlet called menopause
This thrill ride is only just beginning
And I already want off
If you meet me and see a feral glint in my eye
Or sweat on my brow
Know it's best to just walk on by
My grasp on my self-control
Is not a secure one
I run on resentments and judgment
Not tightly moored to my higher self
This base self more worldly
Guiding me through this transition
Steeped in ragged ugly truth
So that when I emerge
My crown of silver
Is earned
-gws
Dear Woman in the Mirror
Dear woman in the mirror
How are you today?
Did you sleep well?
I’d like to ask you to be my Valentine?
My Gal-entine?
My number one relationship
Will you dream with me of our happiness?
Will you help me manifest our joy?
I promise to shower you in compliments
To speak softly and gently to you
I will hold your wellbeing above all things
I know I haven’t always been your cheerleader
I have often been your worst critic
And I’m sorry for that
I’m learning how to treat you better
I’m learning how to better support you
To do more than acknowledge you have needs
I wish to meet those needs
I wish to show you the deepest kindness
I wish to reflect your incomparable worthiness
Because you are always worthy
No matter what others say or do to prove otherwise
Would you like a cup of tea?
How about a blanket and a good book?
Do you need a moment in the sun,
Or perhaps a nap buried beneath mounds of blankets?
You and me are the OG
We’ve got to take care of each other
Because no matter who comes and goes
We will always have each other
We’ve endured a lot together
I know you are so tired
I promise you that we will learn to move
From surviving to thriving
You and I
Let’s start today, my Valentine
By promising to say these three words
Every time we see each other
I love you
I love you
I love you
(I love me)
(I love me)
(I love me)
-gws
Shooting Star
I arrived in this world
A shooting star
Trailing dreams
And magic in my wake
-gws
Empty Pockets Full Heart
Forty-eight orbits of the sun
Forty-eight birthdays celebrated
Some happy
Some not
This morning I turned my face
To golden, gossamer sunlight
Filtered through cool, blue fog
I was showered in love notes
Sung to and hugged by my children
My pockets may be empty
But my heart can't be much fuller
-gws
Daughter of Darkness and Fire
This is my season
The season Persephone returns to the underworld
To take up her night-sky crown
A season where darkness rules
And pomegranate seeds glisten
Like ruby drops of blood
Across a dark and mossy earth
A season where candlelight entwines with shadow
And long nights lay steeped in vivid dreaming
In this season I embrace my own darkness
Unafraid of the cold and the quiet
For this is where magic lives
Where the mythical and mystical thrive
Weaving spells amongst the silence
I remember my power just like Persephone
For this is a season where the resolute thrive
I submerge into my own deep waters
My dark reflection staring back at me
As I descend into my true self
Into the rejuvenation that exists
At the heart of midnight
I greet each version of myself
Forgiving myself for every unkindness
Every neglectful moment
In this stillness where I am
Safe and whole inside my power
For this is the season I return to self
Where I remember who I am
A daughter of darkness and fire
-gws
Season of Truth
I have entered my season of truth
The veil of delusion
Illusion
Deliberate ignorance
Is being peeled away
It is not an ugly truth
I find below the surface
But a blinding
Shining truth
One that offers a promise
Of deliverance from a
Self-imposed bondage
And offers a path
To a beautiful new freedom
-gws
My Nervous System Knows
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
Words Wishes and Wisdom 