author / speaker / hope-filled poet
living much of life ‘on alert’
hoping we are enough
to get through what is next
instead of soaking in the moment
~~~~
enjoying the now
gathering the goodness
of what each hour has to offer
relishing the flavour, the texture
~~~~
—what trauma may have stolen
is dreadful
but the last laugh is coming
and is ours to reclaim
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
today
look at someone you love
and say:
~~~~
“you don’t need
to do a thing
or be a thing
or achieve
any single thing
to be valued–
you just are”
~~~~
repeat that again to some
people that
mean the world
from a heart that truly
believes it for those
that you adore
~~~~
then look in the mirror
and say it again—
for that is also true
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
we often think that courage looks like
scaling mountains or leaping out of planes
~~~~
it might be fighting the fires of danger
or standing up for someone when the crowd retreats
but it is also opening the heart again after hurt or loss–or worse
~~~~
it is following a dream or risking rejection once again
it is finding a spark of hope in the darkness
or choosing to see the good in the mess
~~~~
but sometimes courage is simply just getting out of bed
~~~~
—no matter what your courage looks like today, it is worth celebrating!
©Heather Pound 2022
i remember feeling fragile during summer
perhaps more so with the scarlet in the trees
so when winter came, i closed the window
waiting for the surge of cold to pass
~~~~
and cozy in my blanket, cup of
tea in hand–i pause
~~~~
not peacefully at first, because accepting
the need for rest is perhaps the most
difficult, but important part of healing
~~~~
even the trees know that seasons change
and healing comes
the sun will shine
and all things bloom again
~~~~
—rhythms of life can be learned and the need for rest is not failure or weakness
©Heather Pound 2022
she watched her friend and smiled
cheering her on, enjoying her success
~~~~
an engaging woman on her own
but in her smile for her friend
~~~~
from the heart that lived within
–why, THAT woman was radiant!
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
©Heather Pound 2022
someone i admire was asked
how they came through the hardest
times and made it out the other side
~~~~
the answer was simple, they paid
attention to beauty and no matter
what else came their way
~~~~
beauty was always there, always
available, always free–if someone
takes the pause to see
~~~~
it’s as if they said that while
famine, war and shame exist
—there is also THIS
~~~~
no matter what the world throws our way
no matter what happens within
the confines of our frame
~~~~
there might also be a tree of brilliant yellow
right outside the window or a cat curled
tight upon our lap for warmth or a bird
~~~~
serenading in the garden just because it can
with dew upon the daisies in tall grass
so, while there is evil and ugly
~~~~
–and make no mistake, there is–
there is still always, now and forever
always also THIS
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
when you say that you
cannot see the way forward
so how can you have hope
~~~~
i reply that if you can see
the outcome, then hope is
not needed, no, hope lives
~~~~
in the place, the space, the
part of you that can believe
in possibility and better things
~~~~
especially when you cannot see
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
childish faces from time past
cherished grins and beloved frames
–how is it that a single photo
can take your breath away
~~~~
take you right back to the details
of that moment and to a place
where you miss those people
who still exist, but who have
~~~~
grown and changed and if possible
made you love them even more
but yet it would be inexplicably lovely
to go back, to spend even one hour with
~~~~
who they also used to be, to pull them
onto your lap and cuddle once again
to listen to their chatter on the events
of the day, of what went right and
~~~~
what went wrong, to be the one that gets
to hear these precious things, to smell
their skin and capture that moment in
greater detail once again because you
~~~~
blinked and now they’re grown and
while you wouldn’t change the person
they’ve become, you still miss the one
they used to be
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
Heather Pound 