Poetry is manifesting wings
so feelings can fly free
-gws
Poetry is…No. 6
Category: On Writing
Poetry is… No. 5
Poetry is art born from the
skillful sculpting of words
-gws
Poetry is… No. 4
Poetry is reclaiming the voice
from fear, doubt, and shame
-gws
Poetry is… No. 3
Poetry is triage for the
open wounds of trauma
-gws
Poetry is… No. 2
Poetry is the screaming
ache of the breaking heart
-gws
Poetry is… No. 1
Poetry is salve for the
philosopher’s soul
-gws
In the Company of Poets
I love being in the company of poets
Words flowing in raging eager rivers
Cleansing souls in their deep waters of truth
The air in the room stilling reverently
To allow voices to take up every bit of space
As the walls, like the audience, lean in to listen
Poets mold experience and emotion like clay
And through alchemy, transmute these raw materials
Into golems of living language
Puppeted by skillful tongues
In rooms filled with those eager to experience
The wonderment of such masterful magic
I am left in awe and enchanted with inspiration
Yearning to find myself an acolyte
Amongst a coven of gifted poets
Happy to surrender myself to their castings
Enraptured and enchanted again and again
-gws
Panels of Poetry
I do not wish to cover my walls with too many paintings and pictures
I wish to cover my walls with panels of poetry
I want beautiful words to surround me
Like a sacred spell
Speaking truths and insights
Prayers and pleas
Into my home like a silent Gregorian chant
Poets' words holding a vigil of inspiration
Painting my walls with observations and emotion
Experience and wisdom
Humor and passion
Poetic versions of our human condition
Illustrated in language
Forcing me to pause every time I pass by
And ground in this moment by reading
Someone else's soul imprinted upon my wall
Reminding me of the depth and breath of living
Reminding me to look for the beauty inherit in experience
Reminding me to feel deeply and love fiercely
Reminding me to embrace every moment regardless of its pleasantness
I wish my home be a celebration of
Poets dreamers philosophers and storytellers
My home will be no dead poets society
But a celebration of the living truth of their words
May all who cross my threshold find something that speaks to them
And after sitting within my walls
May they leave feeling just a little more deeply than when they arrived
-gws
Storyteller Heart
With awkward ineloquent rhymes
I started breathing life into words I tattooed
Onto untold reams of pressed dead trees
When I was still learning how to tell my story
I held too much inside
I needed a pressure valve
An escape hatch for my muted voice
That had so much to say
But hid from the light of day
To hold space for my soul which felt so keenly
I juggled words in my mind
Like a magician rolls coins across his knuckles
A dance of language
Choreographed to the rhythm of heartbeats
Raw and unrefined
But as necessary as air
I worried about those early musings
Sure they were self-indulgent nonsense
Important to no one but me
But that was the point
The words were important to no one but me
The way they should be
If others understood them
If others were moved by them
Then I was doing something extra that was right
I gave my voice the space to tell my story
Released my experience as art
Defined by my own rules
A baby poet learning how to
Let her storyteller heart fly
-gws
Tell Your Story
Tell your story
Detail your plot twists
Describe how you penned your own ending
How you dreamt your next prolific chapter
You are proof that dragons can be slain
Villains can be outwitted
That the condemned can become the hero
Be the light that illuminates someone else’s
Pages through your inspiration
Show that soul their narrative can be altered
Show that soul their misery can become triumph
Because you have told them it can be done
Because you have shown them it was done
-gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 