author / speaker / hope-filled poet
what is it that holds you back
from all the things that you
ever wanted?
is it the concept of change,
that dive into the unknown,
the potential risk of fall?
i know that you have all
you need, have prepared
for this for long
and whether or not the motions
are smooth or need correction
on the way
do not focus the fear, my dear,
just focus on the dive.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Abyan Athif/Unsplash
just because you may
not feel ‘right,’
the light may be dim,
and the shades of your
heart are drawn
this does not mean that
something is wrong
‘with’ you, this concept
that it is a failure to
not always wear a smile
–just let it fly away.
and remember that things
may have happened ‘to’
you. things that have
impacted towards tired,
or encouraged your joy to
flee. these things are external
and berating yourself for
their influence will only
add to pain. instead,
give yourself space to
recover, recharge,
regenerate, and be careful
with the charges you lay
at your very own door.
then when the time is right,
turn on the bedside lamp,
stretch and wipe your eyes,
throw up the sash and let
the light shine forth again.
–i wonder why we often hold ourselves to account when things wear us down that are actually outside of our control?
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Julian Paul/Unsplash
you may not understand why this journey is
so hard, why it takes so long with so many
bumps along the way
but as sure as the sun will rise on this morn
and the next, i believe that clarity will come
and all those pesky things that make no sense
right now, will clarify and brighten. and that
one day, maybe not this day or the next,
but one day, it will tell a story worth hearing
and you will see that there was purpose to
each chapter of this tale.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Jayden Yoon ZK/Unsplash
those words
once out
can never
be sucked
back in.
you may say
they weren’t
meant, weren’t
intended, but
the ear that
absorbed will
still wonder,
still ponder
on nights
when sleep
retreats.
guard your
mouth more
than your gold
for its residue
lingers.
—our stories are made of words, so be careful to use yours well.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:eberhard grossgasteiger/Unsplash
there is a space
that is miraculous,
where the things
that were dead
gasp and come
alive once again.
and once you
have seen this,
experienced this,
you will never
breathe the same.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Michele Bergami/Unsplash
the mountain soars above
drawing close her cloak
of cloud white. i wonder
what she thinks of us from
her far off towering heights.
“i am still here,” she whispers
to my ear. “i am proof that solid
things do last.”
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Andreas Sjövall/Unsplash
there you go, peeping out the door
peering through the crack
watching life pass by
and i understand that courage is required
but there’s so very much to live
for lurking out that door.
so while your hand may tremble and it may
take some time, if you choose
again to make a move
and open just a fraction more, then
soon the space will widen and the
light will stream inside
—sometimes healing comes in the smallest of steps–but still it comes.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Jan Tinneberg/Unsplash
i feel the stir of the breeze
slight and soft against my skin
and reflect that the winds of
change move slow, too, in
this circumstance that aches
as breath catches in my chest
and i long for more than i can
do to move heavens and earth
for this.
but mid sigh
i lift my eyes
to treetops waving.
lacy fingers
stirred by a force
in the heavens
that i cannot feel
with my feet
firmly planted
on ground
and oh, how they dance!
and my heart remembers that
there is more than my
limited experience,
my point of view,
perception.
that change
has a force of its own,
that God does things
that my finite outlook
often cannot see
and the beat in my chest
joins in, slowly at first
but as i stay
in that moment hush,
my heart begins
to slip off her shoes,
lifts up her feet
and starts to dance.
—-our perspective isn’t the whole story and sometimes that is where hope is found.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Niklas Ohlrogge/Unsplash
do you know that you have a choice
about what resides between your ears
in that soft, incredible brain? you, not
anybody else, determine if you experience
joy or angst, peace or unrest, fear or faith.
it is your superpower
to wisely wield each day
so, use it well, nurture what you allow to
reside there for long or short seasons, for
it will form who you are and what you do,
how you treat others and what you value,
if you thrive or just survive.
you are not pliant to forces external.
the choice is yours and yours alone.
so do this please–intentionally choose.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Letizia Bordoni/Unsplalsh
it’s all those
small things,
all those things
that pass
each day,
like the yeasty
aroma of your
morning toast
from the next
armchair over
while the tui
outside sings
the rising sun,
or the way we
always mention
the weather
between
soft silence
or sips
of coffee
or recount
things of note
that we’ve
just read.
it’s the little
things like
these
that i soak in
and later recall,
things that inspire
and narrate
that elusive quality
of peace
when needed
on difficult
or stressful days.
the touchstone
used to invite
calm back
into my world.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Casey Horner/Unsplash
Heather Pound 