Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

If it isn't enough

That a soul doesn't know how to pretend being other than who they are

That they are a tiny bit shy around folks they don't know

That they can't help but flit about like a butterfly from thought to thought

That they dance and move to music that wells up from within them

Even though others can't hear it

That they laugh and cry as emotion moves them

If that isn't enough

*Perhaps it should be

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

The House of Blue

Visions flash through my head
As she rises from the dead
The girl I use to be
Sometimes she calls out to me
I grab my keys and I'm out the door
Heading to a place I've lived before
An old dirt road and a house of blue
Back to the girl that I once knew

Once upon a time her life was mine
Once upon a long ago time

Sitting on the side of that road
Seeing her with her bedlam load
Two little ones and a long journey
I reach out to pull them close to me
Lessons to learn, oh, she learned them well
Broke me free from a Sleeping Spell
Sacrificed all that she knew
To set me free from a house of blue

*Once upon a time her life was mine
I owe that girl for a long ago time
She carried the life that was mine

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

I Wonder

I wonder if where you are you can see me here
I wonder if where you are you feel the wetness of my tears

I wonder
I wonder where you are

I wonder if where you are you can feel this ache inside
I wonder if where you are you hear my whispered prayers at night

I wonder
I wonder where you are

Where do their souls go when loved ones are gone
And who do the left behind have when lost and coming undone
I wonder...I wonder where you are

I wonder if where you are you hear me catch my breath
When thoughts of you take hold of me and won't loosen their grip

I wonder
I wonder where you are

I wonder if where you are you remember my name
And if somehow I could find you now...would it be the same

I wonder
I wonder where you are

Where do their souls go when loved ones are gone
And who do the left behind have when lost and coming undone
I wonder
I wonder where you are

*I reach out for you
But you're not there
And I wonder where you are

To my Mother, Father and sister Clara who now reside in Heaven. Much Love to you all.

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

You Don't Have To Be Good

You don't have to be good
Living just to do the things they tell you, you should

You don't have to be right
Tiptoeing all around your heart, afraid to live your life

You don't have to repent
For being a woman who lives her life without their consent

Woman of the heart live from your soul
Dig in the Earth, where came the rib
Breathe from your soul
Let bare foot keep time with Magdalene's Choir
Let it bless your lips and bless your hips
And set your blood on fire

**No, You Don't Have To Be Good

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

Said Soul

"When your vows have finished feasting upon themselves

I will be here.

When Anger's Storms subside

I will be here.

When the Chameleon mimicry is stilled by truth

I will be here.

I am very patient." Said her Soul.

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

She's Arrived

Last night as I lay in my bed, just outside my house
I heard the familiar patter of her footsteps
As they mingled with the rustling crimson and golden "fallen of just yesterday"

I leave my window open, waiting
To breathe in her delicious scent, that heavenly bouquet of
Upturned earth and crisp cool air that's been kissed by Gulf of St. Lawrence

Oooh, she's arrived

Her full hips, gracing Horns of Plenty, sway as she shimmies and struts about our island
Gathering firewood for Samhain and climbing the birch, the poplar, the maple
Adorning their leaves with Byzantine colours, cinnamon and mustard

Oooh, she's arrived

And as Islanders dream of abundance, she slips in through cracks and crannies
To sample pickles and jams
And to bless every farmer and their harvest as they sleep

Oooh, she's arrived and she calls to us to celebrate, to lift up, and give thanks!

Catherine Ann Howatt-Dickson Jan 2013

Open up your Never Land

Open your Never land to me
I want to map it all
The mysteries, hidden coves, and uncharted depths
Emancipations and self-liberations

Let me explore you
As you share your story
Tracing the geography of your body
Inch by Inch, Line by Line

I want to memorize the rise of chest
The fall of belly
The valley of inner thigh
Freeing your story with reverent hands
Open your Never land to me