Category: Healing

When Hope Has Left Us

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

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

I Identify with Persephone

I identify with Persephone

I am a spring maiden at heart
Celebrating life’s sunshine and rainbows
A believer in growth and renewal
Optimistic and hopeful

I also hold a dread queen in my soul
Content to sit quietly in darkness
Observant and calculated
Unafraid of the shadows
Happy to don my crown
Glimmering with pomegranate seeds
The color of blood
To remind the foolish
I am not the one 

-gws

Villain Era

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

Tabula Rasa

My future is tabula rasa
Full of possibilities

Slow to emerge from the long shadows 
And still brushing off the cobwebs of shame, doubt, and fear
I begin to wonder what awaits me
Who awaits me

The question nauseates me
I'm not ready to open my heart
Nor do I expect to be ready any time soon
And yet I find myself wondering 
Will there be another 
My heart fearfully whispering,
"Will I get a second chance?"

I'm not ready to fall in love again
I am only longing for the magic of falling
The elation that comes from feeling seen
Feeling chosen
Because all I wanted for so long 
Was to feel chosen
To be enough

I am working to remember how to love me
How to be enough for myself
How to appreciate my perfect imperfections
How to forgive the choices I made to survive
I must become reacquainted with me

My future is tabula rasa
Full of possibilities
Bursting with opportunity to craft a life I want to live
And blessed with time to heal from a life I endured
I embrace my next chapter gratefully
Even as my knees quake with each step forward

My blank slate has its first word: freedom
Its second word: peace
I think that's a beautiful place for a new story to start

-gws