The cell was sparse Florescent lights Sleeping platform Stainless steel toilet and sink But the walls They were covered in other people's stories The wall above the cot had been decorated in crayon A large, pink pointe shoe Someone's broken dream on display Doodles and hash marks A newspaper clipping of a local sports team's championship win So many names so the walls would recall their existence So the next inmates had connection to the ones who came before I sat alone with their ghosts Waiting for my turn to leave part of myself behind
Your love has me floating
Like a helium balloon
Tethered to the ground
By a heartstring
Your love caresses my senses
Like the sharp, clean freshness of pine
Endlessly stretching heavenward toward the azure sky
Crowned in misty clouds and enduring
Your love has me believing in forever
Like the love found in bedtime stories and fairy tales
Two hearts forged into an infinity loop
As twin souls merged will do
-gws
I speak with the wild wood whenever I visit its sacred canopy
I speak with the wind as it dances through leaves, laughing in whispering movement
I speak with the soft soil with its carpet of moss, needles, and dry leaves that soften my step
I speak with the fluttering butterfly and the gliding hawk about the feel of the air beneath their wings
I speak with the buzzing bee and the chirping cricket about hot summer days
I speak with the crows about the enticement of shiny things
I speak with the water about its affair with the moon
I speak with the wildflower about its affair with the sun
I speak with the stars about histories long forgotten by all but them
I speak with the sapling about life returned, anew
I speak with Nature about the wonder of her world
I speak with the Universe about the wonderment in all things
-gws
Be where your feet are.
Take note of the air moving in and out of your lungs.
Be still enough to hear the rhythmic ticking of the clock.
These will tether you when you feel you are on unstable ground.
And love.
Share it. Receive it.
Keep your heart open so you can recognize it.
It will help hope stay afloat.
-gws
There is a place deep within me where I go when the world is too much
In that place sounds are muffled
Light is dimmed
All of the harshness that is too overwhelming is dampened down and pushed away
When I arrive in that place, I am already so weary and worn
I'm struggling to breathe
Struggling to cope
Struggling to not give in to the crushing pressure of life
No one can reach me there, not really
In that dark and quiet place I am safe to process my feelings
Safe to release the pressure valve on my emotions
Safe to feel exactly what I feel without worry of judgment or contempt
Sometimes I wish I could just stay there
But I'm a mother and a wife and an employee
The real world doesn't stop spinning
Responsibilities do not stop needing attention
Children do not stop needing guidance and love
Husbands do not take leave of their expectations for what a wife should be doing
Employers do not stop expecting you to show up and be productive
So in that shelter I do my best to let go of what I can
To surrender to the sorrows, the tears, the fears, the doubts, the broken dreams, the disappointments
I let it all flow out like water into this grotto
Hopefully to be cleansed
And by releasing these things I pray to be renewed enough to keep going
Even as my knees shake and my back aches and my voice quivers
And the tears flow
I pick myself up
Straighten my battered crown
Wipe the tear tracks from my cheeks
And reapply the mask as I chant a prayer begging for serenity
And step back into the bright, loud, ever demanding world again
-gws
Sandalwood and oak
Rich spice and damp earth
Earthy sweet tobacco and the bite of wood smoke
Oak-aged whiskey and deeply rich vanilla
Sharp pine and spring rain
Antiseptic eucalyptus
Sweet mint
Woody black peppercorns
And the warm spiciness of cloves
These are the smells of wild and seductive souls
Dancing in overgrown gardens
Gowned in moonlight
Jeweled in dew
Breathing each other in
Trading flavored kisses
Mingling and merging
To become something new
A unique, delightful discovery
Of wild alchemy leaving its memory
Scenting the air with the perfume
Of love and magic
- gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 