Carnations

Ev’ry Mother’s Day
A simple pastel bouquet
Carnations in bloom
To honor your roll in life
As mother and grandmother 

-gws

End of Year Wishes

Wherever this finds you...

May your holiday season be all you want and need
May the returning sun shine warmly upon your path
May your hearth ring with the sounds of laughter and merriment
May the quiet season bring you respite
May the new year make manifest abundance and unadulterated joy

-gws

Touching Grass

Touch the grass of your trauma 
If it helps you remember why you moved on
But do not root there
There’s nothing but poison in that soil

-gws

What I’m Thinking

What I'm thinking is:

This is hard shit.  
That sometimes grabbing that fact by the throat and screaming in its face is necessary from time to time.  
Sometimes sitting in the shadow of that truth is required when our spirits are tired and our hearts so broken.  
And when we're done, we rest.  We breathe.  And we rise and fight some more.  
Because we're mothers.

-gws

Harvesting

I plunge my hands
Into the dark soil
To harvest the fruits
Of gratitude into the light
It is practical work
Grounding work
Spiritual work
To nourish my soul
Drawing upon the root work 
Already deeply planted
I turn my face to the sun

-gws

We Are the Bear

Birthing a new world is painful
Shifting a paradigm is tectonic

Daughters, 
We do not just choose The Bear
We are The Bear
We are the Wild Mother
We are gifted with the power of creation
We are skilled in navigating grief
We are aligned with the cycles of life

Daughters,
We are the builders of community
We are the storytellers
We are the lore keepers
We are the heart and the hearth
We are the fire keepers
We are the fire

It's time to build and burn 
In equal measure

-gws

Unmade

I cannot be a human today
Let alone a woman
I am a raw exposed wound
Showered in salty
Reminders of the abuses 
We have already endured 
And I am unmade

-gws

Smoldering

I still hold the smallest flickering flame of hope
Smoldering painfully in my belly
I keep trying to stomp it out
Smother it
But it persists 
Despite the obvious futility of its existence
It will not listen to reason
Will not extinguish beneath showers of bitter tears
I must endure it
Ignore it
Until it gutters and dies on its own

-gws

My Story To Tell

Speaking one’s truth is an act 
Of rebellion
Of reclaiming 
Of liberation  
It is stepping into the light 
After living in the dark for too long
It is my story to tell
And I will tell it as part of my healing

-gws

Rotten

I am, now, trying to forgive myself for the choices I made while trying to survive
For staying long past the expiration date in a relationship that had long been toxic and rotten
I deserved bette

-gws