Welcome, dear Traveler, to our domain.
We, the keepers of this checkpoint, are here to help you take heed
Listen well to our advice for there are many dangers before you
Pay close attention to all we say, and success shall be yours
Ignore our guidance and know that you will make a wonderful meal for the creatures beyond,
and we have all the popcorn we could want for to enjoy the show.
Fare thee well!
-gws
Little boys!
Little boys!
What is with all of the noise?!
I don’t understand how people so small can sound like a herd of elephants in the hall?
The thumping and bumping!
The hooting and hollering!
How do you not tire yourselves out with your efforts?
Cacophonous giggles and laughs…
Oh gosh! What was that crash?!
Your clothes are tearing as your adventures are wearing…
me out!
-gws
Driving down the roads of my past
I see your ghost everywhere
The halls where I met you
The neighborhood where you lived where we first kissed
The theater where we saw that awful movie on our first date
Years have passed
The place we both once called home is nearly unrecognizable now
So much has changed but the memories of you and me are still
Alive in the footprints of buildings and businesses long gone
Bringing a bittersweet smile to my face as I see muted-color memories
Of what we were and what we never became
We live different lives in different worlds
Practically strangers though still linked inextricably and inexplicably
By threads of fate we never were able to understand
But could only accept without question or comment
Permanent tattoos upon each other's hearts
Placed there by a power who knew that we needed each other once
And who seems to know that we need the memories of that connection as they were yesterday
I hope you see my ghost, too
She's waiting with a hug that has only ever been for you
And may our ghosts continue to share what we no longer do
In a time and place that no longer is
Except in faded photographs and our souls
-gws
I am invited by these blank pages
to bear into the light
the secrets of my soul
my night visions and wild imaginings
fantastical whimsies
and deepest truths
born onto these waiting lines
magic erupting from my soul’s well
each babbling bubble brimming
with something eager to be fixed to paper
transfigured from infinite potential
into eternalized reality
a golem of ink and words
let loose to walk unknown paths along others’ souls
leaving quiet footsteps which will fade
like water on concrete after a rain
my eyes follow the pen strokes
they are rhythmic like the rising
and falling of meditative breath made manifest
casting a spell of freedom and release
-gws
Poetry is my word therapy
It is where I take the overwhelming abstractness of my emotions
And mold it into something comprehensible
Taking the feelings inside
And creating a scaffolding made of words on which to hang
Stanzas containing descriptions, analogies, and written visualizations
I am able to take what is chaotic and undefined
And give it structure and meaning
Like a potter transforms a formless lump of clay
Into a beautiful piece of finished pottery
A manipulation born of skill, practice, and talent
Which creates a piece that describes, conveys, and evokes
The essence of the soul on fire
-gws
The Divine is grand, vast, expansive
But, that is not the most wonderful part
The Divine is also the small things
The small spaces
The moment between inhalation and exhalation
The quiet between heartbeats
The magical place between waking and dreaming
The extra squeeze of an embrace
The snuggling in of a small child
The flicker of a precious memory
The holding of a hand
And the quiet company of another life
The Divine is macro and micro
It is present in the moments of weightless anticipation
And the moments of great emotional release
If we’re mindful and present
We can spot both the large and small moments of
Divinity in the world and our own lives
-gws
By trusting my gut
I am trusting both
my god
and
myself
-gws
Oh, my tiny heart
My darling child
Never, not ever
Will there be a time
That I will not love you
You, whose heart beat beneath mine
You, whose tiny head rested on my chest
You, whose tiny hand disappeared within mine
Never, not ever
Will there be a time
That I will not love you
No matter how big your feelings
No matter how loud your rage
No matter how paralyzing your fears
Never, not ever
Will there be a time
That I will not love you
When you find yourself in trouble
Or if we disagree
Or we get angry with each other
Never, not ever
Will there be a time
That I will not love you
-gws
Maiden lover
Nurturing mother
Crone warrior
Stronger than diamond
Softer than down
Dirt smudged skin
Beneath a crooked crown
Defining her rules
Living her truth
Not letting others
Assign her worth
Not property
Nor accessory
Not trophy
Nor maid
Not defined by the laws
That man has made
She walks through the world
Defined as she wishes
Not seeking her value
In a title of Mrs.
She writes her story
Each ink stroke her own
And defines her world
By the truth in her bones
-gws
Happy International Women’s Day
All we can do is make the next right choice
Sometimes, that choice is easy
Sometimes it is the hardest thing you can do
What do you do when you get to the end of the map
Where do you go when you can’t go back
And forward is so uncertain
You know there is something beyond
But you don’t know what it looks like
How hard it’s going to be
Because there’s no way it can be easy
The unknown is rarely easy
-gws
