Wrapped in a pink cotton blanket,
Warmed and fed, alive
A storm rises in my mind,
a scene of deep forest, a child.

Hidden amongst shoes,
Marbles and a flashlight,
Dancing in space and in orbit,
A lone soul in its element.

Blank face and sullen eyes,  
A sponge to emotion and to fear
Every week another era,
Tempestuous ebb and flow, tears.

She rides her bike, dreaming away
Another rat in a rusty wheel
Looking for solace, peace and purpose,
Something solid and something real.

Undulating waves and frantic logic
Depths of darkness and wells of joy
Inability to fit the mold,
Painful transparency and unsatisfying toys.

Now she's melting into the song of the violin
The tiptoe of piano
The urgency of symphony
The strength of the drum solo.

The feminine, the masculine
The old and young, near and far
She is all in all,  
A cascading waterfall
A torrent
A body no more.

Rest
Rest from my heavy heart
And tired soul
From contemplation
From the waves of emotion
From the scars of misunderstanding
From the weight of feeling
From the - I pause to watch
To watch a ladybug
Explore the page
My shirt
And disappear into the spine
Of this book

Amidst the humidity and darkness of the forest floor
ants scurry in hyper-speed over invisible highways
mushrooms spread boldly beneath wise wooden giants

At night, black panthers weave through thick overgrowth,
undetected, as birds quieten their hungry young and sleep
But even in the rich darkness of the dense forest
micro flashes of silken pink and yellow cream can be seen
catching the moon's light, glowing like precious gems

By day these colours dim in their translucent chambers
atop the world's most beautiful, fearless caterpillar

This tiny being boldly ventures from one leaf to another
while all others cower underneath
Its crystal spikes hide only soft, sticky goo
and it is no bigger than a fingernail

But don't be fooled by its size and raw beauty,
this bejeweled crown easily summons its strength
to move faster than the angry west winds

Its beauty comes not only from its form
but in its lion-hearted spirit and grace

This confident caterpillar lives
and surrenders to change
without the leaden shackles of fear and worry

and when the time comes
she embraces
and is transformed again
to something new.

I get excited by naps
giddy after one wine
make-up itches my face
always wake up after nine
one tea on the hour
one bath every week
two bags under the eyes
two once-perky cheeks
gardening is my ******
libraries, my *******
silence is my saucy lover
- noise equals pain
my hair is lush, healthy
because I wash it rarely
my legs are nice and smooth
because I let them grow hairy

And the times changed from rage to solace
to watching lilacs intensify with love

Safety of the heart has been my cure, the catalyst
and science of healing the nourishing water

And when I am safe I am every bud awakening,
the trees whisper to each other my nickname

Glass spheres of dramatic scenes spin precariously
over my head, unbroken, a beautiful dancing mobile

Beliefs of self, of life, of others, of you, I cleansed as often
as sleep and darkness calmed my mind and repaired each cell

A chapter down, a lesson learned and an expanding mind
Is all that's needed to wash away the charred residue of ego

The times evolve unseen to the naked eye, but slow,
in such the way a larvae flickers to a queen bee of gold

I had mercury and sulphur coarsing through my veins
but the oils nourished my bones while I tore at my skin

My mind grew and stretched and tightened like a wormhole,
resistance was my protection but not my mother's milk

Every step my feet were cut by shards of angry memories
but the skin calloused each time and simply smirked, bemused

I have seen the hurricane,

I have caused the avalanche,

the firestorm met me where I lay in bed at sunrise

Yet here I am.

You look at me sideways, puzzled by my anger
I breathe in the discomfort letting the sediment
fall on my memory, adding that much more weight

I haven't been asked why I'm angry yet
just denied the right to have a voice
imprisoned by my own brittle passivity
and molten fear of non-acceptance

You built the cage for me
and now I stand,
a 6-foot pillar of gold
behind bars of sand
unable to move

Anger, my dark friend in the shadows, has been patient.
He took notes when you said I was wrong
before I even got to finishing on the light I'd found,
on the excitement I found in the reaches
of my creativity, my consciousness.
Anger pinched me to bruising as I sat there,
a passive observer of grey lifeless bodies

You look at me and my anger and slam the door
in our faces, rendering us homeless, cold, starving.
He prefers patience over years, while I anxiously
pull at every eyelash, pick at every wound, shrink.

I want you to see my alabaster skin
and smile of purity
I want to show you my matted fur
and smoking breath

I want you to ask me why I'm angry.

Let the birds feed
and the bugs burrow
allow all of life to be
Tend to your garden only to let it flourish
and watch it sing to you reciprocally

It's not just the colours that paint your vision
and soothe each thirsty soul on earth
The fruit bears witness to health and light
the sacrificial sweetness of rebirth

So let each whisper of wind cleanse,
every velvet leaf caress each fingertip
kiss Mother Nature with every inch of skin,
bow to her wise rivers and sip

Tend to your mind-garden and honor each thing
give to the earth back what it gives you
kneel,
drink,
bless,
open every pore
be intimate with your origin
and welcome sneaky little changes