I have worn my tear stains like war paint
The flush of agony, despair, and rage, too
I have unleashed keening so potent
The gods stopped to answer
With a path to deliverance
-gws
War Paint
Tag: Surrender
Spring Rain
The first spring rain falls from a darkened sky
Washing away the heaviness from the air
Bringing deliverance of spirit
Offering itself as balm for my weary heart
Through its steady patter beyond my open window
Petrichor rising to ground me
Cool and damp air greeting too hot skin
I close my eyes
Imagining my complete surrender to it
Making an offering of all that scars me
All that weighs so heavily on my shoulders
I welcome this renewal
This forgiveness
This peace
I invite this healing
Surrender to this gentleness
Allow this act of cleansing
Readying my world to reawaken
Readying me to bloom again
-gws
Step Back
Everyone who has ever loved you
Have put their hands up and
Taken a step back
Now they are looking at me
Wondering if now is when
I will finally do the same
-gws
The Rocky Path
I’m walking between worlds
Both in a nightmare
And waking from one
Navigating the rocky path
One footfall at a time
Calling on my ancestors
Those women who each
Did the same in their own way
As I step out of darkness
Into the healing light of freedom
-gws
Season of Truth
I have entered my season of truth
The veil of delusion
Illusion
Deliberate ignorance
Is being peeled away
It is not an ugly truth
I find below the surface
But a blinding
Shining truth
One that offers a promise
Of deliverance from a
Self-imposed bondage
And offers a path
To a beautiful new freedom
-gws
Shattered
It echoed of all the things that have caused me the deepest pain, and with nothing different or looking to be different, I think the final piece of shattered glass crashed to earth. -gws
Sweet Water
Come, thee, to the sweet waters, Child Come, let Her waters wash over thee Come, let them cleanse thy soul Let the sweet waters renew and restore thee Come, thee, to the sweet waters, Child Come, release thy sorrowful tears to Her Come, let the waters soothe the scars on your skin Let the sweet waters bare away thy hurt and pain Come, thee, to the sweet waters, Child Come, cool thy weary feet at Her banks Come, drink from Her cold springs Let the sweet waters refresh and rejuvenate thy body and spirit Come, thee, to the sweet waters, Child Come, lay down thy burdens in Her currents Come, relinquish thy distresses to Her care Let the sweet waters carry away thy worries to leave thee only peace -gws
A Story of Serenity
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
My Step 2 Prayer
I am only in control of my choices and reactions I accept that I am not my own higher power I recognize that in order to begin to experience serenity I must accept that I am powerless over people places and things I will be present in the understanding that "Thy will be done" I know your hand guides my life through all joys and hardships I have experienced many times the presence of your influence when I choose to believe that you have y back through any storm You have never failed to provide and lead me to gentler shores I ask you to oversee my journey through the twelve steps Please continue to place me where I can be taught by the experience, strength, and hope of others who have walked the path of recovery, both before and after me Continue to help me grow and to learn how to care about myself and take care of myself when the chaos of others bangs on my door looking to disrupt my hard earned serenity Help me to be open to truly discovering and uncovering more about myself Help me be brave in the face of hard truths Help me to be brave enough to be true to myself when fear motivates old patterns in my behavoir Help me remember how to show up as my best self or to forgive myself when I don't Guide me from step to step and from day to day as I practice what I am learning on this journey Help me walk honestly and to be vulnerable when appropriate Use my voice to help others when I share my experiences Place me in the time and place that I am needed and that I need Be the gateway that marks my path to a new way of living and continue to speak loudly in my life as you always have Help me to remember you are always beside me, even in the darkest despair You are always the light of hope that reminds me it cannot always be night I surrender to your loving will and plan for my life I am only in control of my choices and reactions I accept that I am not my own higher power I recognize that in order to begin to experience serenity I must accept that I am powerless over people places and things I will be present in the understanding that "Thy will be done" I know your hand guides my life through all joys and hardships I have experienced many times the presence of your influence when I choose to believe that you have y back through any storm You have never failed to provide and lead me to gentler shores I ask you to oversee my journey through the twelve steps Please continue to place me where I can be taught by the experience, strength, and hope of others who have walked the path of recovery, both before and after me Continue to help me grow and to learn how to care about myself and take care of myself when the chaos of others bangs on my door looking to disrupt my hard earned serenity Help me to be open to truly discovering and uncovering more about myself Help me be brave in the face of hard truths Help me to be brave enough to be true to myself when fear motivates old patterns in my behavoir Help me remember how to show up as my best self or to forgive myself when I don't Guide me from step to step and from day to day as I practice what I am learning on this journey Help me walk honestly and to be vulnerable when appropriate Use my voice to help others when I share my experiences Place me in the time and place that I am needed and that I need Be the gateway that marks my path to a new way of living and continue to speak loudly in my life as you always have Help me to remember you are always beside me, even in the darkest despair You are always the light of hope that reminds me it cannot always be night I surrender to your loving will and plan for my life -gws
Words Wishes and Wisdom 