Poetry
03-21-2008
Poetry - I'm Talking to You Fear
Filed Under:
There are countless ways we hold ourselves back from being all we can be, giving all we can give, and letting our light shine far and wide. This little piece speaks to the biggest hold-back of all - our fear.
I’m talking to you – Fear!
Fear of this and that, of their stuff, of out there, of no control over the uncontrollable
Has left me one step away
Fear of failing the test, of looking silly, of showing my true colors and of finding no one likes my true colors, of standing out, of being noticed
Has left me two steps away
And fear of connecting only to be used, of holding one close only to be pushed away or even worse – consumed, of opening my heart to love one more time only to emerge battered and bruised days down the road
Has left me three steps away
So Fear I say, "Scurry off!" and with a confident girlish grin I shout out,
“Mother may I take one giant step?"
One giant step back to center
Back to me
And Fear, with that giant step I will look you old devil in the eye and stare you down
I can do it now, I know
I can let fear go and let love lead
Back to me I leap and you there, Fear, ya can’t scare me no more
I’ll plant these two feet so firm on this spot that neither you, nor me, nor the boogie man can shove me off
None of this one step,
two step,
three steps away
No more self-doubt, no more yeah-but, no more hold back the damn
Front and center, standing tall
Giggles and all
A master of love I will be
Has left me one step away
Fear of failing the test, of looking silly, of showing my true colors and of finding no one likes my true colors, of standing out, of being noticed
Has left me two steps away
And fear of connecting only to be used, of holding one close only to be pushed away or even worse – consumed, of opening my heart to love one more time only to emerge battered and bruised days down the road
Has left me three steps away
So Fear I say, "Scurry off!" and with a confident girlish grin I shout out,
“Mother may I take one giant step?"
One giant step back to center
Back to me
And Fear, with that giant step I will look you old devil in the eye and stare you down
I can do it now, I know
I can let fear go and let love lead
Back to me I leap and you there, Fear, ya can’t scare me no more
I’ll plant these two feet so firm on this spot that neither you, nor me, nor the boogie man can shove me off
None of this one step,
two step,
three steps away
No more self-doubt, no more yeah-but, no more hold back the damn
Front and center, standing tall
Giggles and all
A master of love I will be
03-11-2008
The Journey ... as a place to start
Filed Under:
There is a tug that can happen between tending to others and tending to ourselves. Yes, we can do both and yet sometimes we must become fierce and dedicated about loving ourselves, nurturing ourselves, in order to settle back home into our authentic, centered souls. From that place we have so very much to give to ourselves, our loved ones, and the world.
My favorite poet and Pulitzer Prize Winner, Mary Oliver, beautifully captures this place of calling in her poem, The Journey.
The Journey
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice --
though the whole house began to tremble
and you felt the old tug at your ankles.
"Mend my life!" each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations,
though their melancholy was terrible.
It was already late enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice
which you slowly recognized as your own,
that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world, determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save the only life you could save.
- Mary Oliver
One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice --
though the whole house began to tremble
and you felt the old tug at your ankles.
"Mend my life!" each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations,
though their melancholy was terrible.
It was already late enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice
which you slowly recognized as your own,
that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world, determined to do
the only thing you could do --
determined to save the only life you could save.
- Mary Oliver
