Heroes and Villains

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I am not the author of your story
As much as that saddens me to admit
You are the wordsmith of your tale
You write yourself as the hero of your own journey
Despite being so often the villain of mine
But understanding how you see your world
Understanding that you can be none other
Than the hero of your pages
Helps me gain perspective into why
You write me as the arch-villain of your narrative

There is no mirror in your story
You cannot see yourself
And as if bespelled
You see only monsters and
Enemies in every shadow
My pages would describe the cause
As a self-afflicted curse
Yours would imply the question
Are villains born or made?
For you would say you are
The result of what others made you
Be you hero or villain
You are forever alone
Shadowboxing every perceived threat
And drawing blood from everyone
Who gets too close for too long
Blinded by pain and unable to
See that the one causing
The most pain for you is you
Like a manifested destiny
It becomes so

As our books sit side by side on the shelf
Yours a story of never ending rage, war, and loss
Mine becomes a story of surrender, retreat, and release
For I am removing myself from your story
It is time to make myself the hero of my own
And write the closing of this chapter
For I can feel the peace and love I deserve
Waiting for me in the next chapters of my life
I am ready to transform my story
Into the self-love story I have long deserved
I hope you find your happy ending
I write a magic wish for that
Into my final paragraph
Of our chapter in my book
Then turn the page to my tabula rasa
Full of potential and possibilities
And the freedom to write my future
As rich and joyful as I can imagine it

-gws

The Shedding of Skin

Today I chose to stay present
I chose to stay in sync with my breath
I chose to stay with the rhythm of my resting heartbeat

Today I chose to just listen
I chose to release my assumptions
I chose to keep my defenses sheathed

Today I chose to show up curious
I chose to leave my assumptions aside
I chose to suppress my desire to make judgements

Today I shed the skin of old behaviors
I chose to make conscious choices in the face of old fears
I chose to prove to myself that I can evolve

-gws

Where I Need to Be

I am right where I need to be, doing exactly what I need to be doing in the time that needs to be taken.  The future doesn't stress or worry me.  The next, right step does, so I will take my time, and place my feet carefully.  I will make decisions studiously.  I will trust myself and my Higher Power to push me toward  the things that need to be done in the necessary time.

-gws

The Castaway

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He washed up on my shores
Broken and ravaged
I offered water and bread
I offered a place at my fire
He attended with gratitude
And we became friends
But the dark water festered
Shadowing his eyes
Corrupting his heart
And no love or attendance from me could cure him
He had to cure himself
I tended the fire and fed his body
And held vigil while he fought for his soul

-gws

A Story of Serenity

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Once upon a time, there was a young woman full of bright hot rage.  If she could have burned the world, she would have.  The young woman couldn't function in the world in this state so she shoved down the rage.  She stuffed it into the darkest, most secure space in her soul.  The trouble was that the hot, acid rage ate away at its container.  The young woman could feel hints of the corrosion.  Sometimes the rage would escape, like a coronal eruption, flaring fierce and hot, leaving the young woman devastated and trying to pick up the pieces left behind in the aftermath.  One day, the woman wasn't quite young anymore.  The wound that housed the rage showed in her eyes in the mirror.  It slipped from her lips as resentments.  It cramped her hands into fists in her sleep.  It tasted bitter in her mouth, and started fragmenting her damaged soul.  One day, she grabbed her keys and just started walking.  She walked with tears in her eyes and sobs in her chest until she found herself in an open space.  In that open space, she laid down on her back, looked to the sky, and she screamed.  She raged and wailed at the sky, emptying herself of all the bitterness that had filled her up and overflowed the hollow space in her soul. She let all of it go.  She gave it to her god with desperation, and prayed to know how to heal.  Her higher power led her to others who knew her pain.  Those people welcomed her without judgement, and offered her twelve small steps that lead her to a new experience: serenity.
-gws