In and out…
Your soft breath tickles my faces
As I lay here listening.
Each quiet breath a joy
In its simple necessity,
Just laying here in the dark.
In and out,
And with each breath
The love in my heart expands.
I lay here and marvel in it,
Take solace in it–
Find peace.
And you, my sweet boy,
All warm with sleep,
Just breathe.
GSS May 2020 – Draft
It’s a strange terrible world
Where the kids on the playground
Warn each other to be wary,
To hesitate
To not talk to you while your child is playing.
These children, still in single digits
Should not be so afraid of people on the playground
Should not worry so much
Or hesitate.
Our children should not need to be wary because my skin is a different color,
Because my hair is wrapped in a turban
Because you just can’t trust anyone anymore.
We’ve created a world where the instincts if children
Have been rendered inadequate
Have been considered less than necessary
Have been set aside because you might be wrong.
You might make a mistake.
I dread the day when my child
Learns that he has to be more careful
That he is privileged because his more colorful heritage is masked
By the Nordic looks he inherited from his father.
That, because we have raised him to be
Compassionate and Kind
Fair and Just
Above all else, based on who someone is…
I fear that he will find a day when
He has to defend that which he accepts unconditionally.
Friendship
Loyalty
Honor above all
Justice.
And yet, I see hope as he plays with others, bright charming smile
And the kids play with him.
And maybe, this world of hesitation and fear can heal.
Maybe, it all really does start on the Playground
6th March, 2019
Growing up we read the fairy tales, and
Dreamt of a lady and lake.
Visions of knights valiant in mail
Charging down a winding path
Excited our imagination
As mists floated at the river’s edge.
Whispers of adventure’s pledge were
So close you could feel it
Swirling around you with poignant destiny.
How does one tell a person
That you admire their very soul?
It is not a dress to say
“Oh how pretty’
Oh, No.
It is not even a deep baritone voice
That trembles throughout your very being
As the notes lift your mood to something manageable,
In times of stress and trial.
Though almost like that.
How do you explain that the words spoken
Open a window to that soul,
Touching something so deep within you?
That you feel as though you have been given
A piece,
Ever so slight –
something to ponder–
Before you hand it back,
And smile.
Here.
Now.
Years later when time has faded
All the childhood dreams have turned somewhat jaded
You stand tall, vibrant and true,
So much, like in the fairy tales we once knew.
So, again, how do you
Remind them, that, even with a distance long
And time that moves so fast,
That every day you still are inspired.
The answer, I find,
Is simple and complex and true:
Love.
Love of family,
Love of Spirit and Soul.
You have stood strong,
Been bent, but not broken,
Determinedly carving your way
To your own personal destiny.
Love fills my heart to each time I see
My own true Guenevere charging forward
Mighty and ethereal, as the Lady,
Mother, Friend, and Priestess
I have always known you to be.
