Tag: journey

Thresholds

I find myself standing upon another threshold 
Bags packed
Affairs ordered
The past at my back as I stand poised to step into my future 
In this liminal space I wish to pause 
To linger in this brief moment 
Between heartbeats
Between footsteps
To reflect on this transition

I have packed the important things
Lessons
Friendships 
Memories
Love 
Potential 
Hope
I have purged the obsolete 
Pain
Fear
Illusions
Expectations
Obligations
A version of a life I outgrew

I note my era of milestones
Marriage 
Motherhood
Misery greater than a person should ever hold

I will miss the map pin piercing the shape of what has been and always will be home
Marking the places and people that ripened me into the woman I am
Whose stories now inform my mythology 

The second hand strains 
I breathe in one more breath 
Infuse the ether of a fading life
Into the nucleus of my cells
As I complete my crossing 
Into the dawn of my new life

-gws

Slay

These poems are a journey 
That began in the light of hope and love
Then slowly meandered through increasing darkness 
They dare to expose the skeletons and demons 
Barely hidden behind my front door for too long
The narration begins in the middle 
After darkness had well fallen
And documents my struggle to breathe
My desperate journey to find myself again 

And for those who live with horrors who wear human faces
If I found my way free
I know you can too
Let these poems serve as proof 
That though it is not easy
Freedom can be won
You can take your life back 
Write the story exactly as YOU wish it to be

Sometimes the dragon burns down the world 
As long as you’re standing 
No matter how wounded
You can slay that dragon
You ARE the hero of your story
YOU get to say when the story is over
YOU get to decide how the new book starts
YOU get to do whatever the hell YOU want
Take my story and forge it into your sword of courage 
SLAY

-gws

The Next Chapter

And so comes the end of the heaviest chapter
The plot twisted dramatically 
In the hands of an unreliable narrator 
Linear time fractured
Slowed
Ran backward 
Perspectives shifted
Creating more confusion than clarity

Muted colors of nostalgia dull recollections 
Emotional sharpness blunted
The hollow ache of a long goodbye 
Completed with the deliberate placement 
Of an arch-ending period.

The next act begins with a page turn
“THE NEXT CHAPTER” written atop it

-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

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

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