if we want to heal
we must feel the feelings
while millions of humans before us
have tried to escape this
–there is just no other way
~~~~
they will bubble and brew
and expand until they escape
some way or the other regardless
~~~~
so while highly uncomfortable
to let them out slowly
like the hiss of a bottle of fizz
it is better than bottling them up
for years, uncomfortably tight
~~~~
only to explode or debilitate
with force
despite all of our best efforts
to minimize
~~~~
this is the difficult work
that is healing
~~~~
this takes courage
~~~~
but this is the way to freedom
from those things
we would rather avoid
~~~~
yet hold us captive
while we pretend
to be okay
~~~~
but imagine what it will be like
to finally
be free
~~~~
—acknowledging and paying attention to our feelings is the first and incredibly vital step towards healing
©Heather Pound 2022
i do not care what you have heard
from the lips of a society cold
but you are not your pain
your shame or your despair
~~~~
no, these are things, they
don’t define, they are just
a cloak you wear from time to time
when the temperature drops
~~~~
and the world is cold or sometimes
by habit when sun still shines
and just because they happened
you now you possess these
~~~~
things you never thought you would
but as seasons and styles change
so will the cloak that you wear, and you
yes you, my friend, can make this cloak
~~~~
your helper, take it in your hands, reconfigure
the cut and fit, become in charge of when you
choose to put it on, and fashion it instead
into something beautiful and worthwhile
~~~~
from these things that happened TO you
but never back then, and never right now
and never will they ever be
who you ARE
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
words create thought
and thought creates pictures
and images
and entire scenes of life
~~~~
so carefully choose
what words you allow
into that precious space
then let creativity flow
~~~~
because language is a verb
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
there is a pot on the balcony out front
that has held more ill-fated plants
than i would care to admit
~~~~
alas, while the pot looks attractive from
the drive, i cannot see it from within and
have failed numerous poor pitiful creatures
as they wither and die alone and forgotten
~~~
until i remembered the air plant i was
given that i carelessly tossed out back
it has flourished with my neglect and now
resides in the tragic vessel, content
and i do absolutely nothing for its care
~~~~
now when i come into the drive
instead of seeing repeated failure
i see ‘cunning solution’ instead
~~~~
–it’s okay to adjust expectations into something more manageable
when we walked through the rose garden
and you noticed the droplets of dew
on petals of cream that had
seen better days, this is the moment
that I knew—-
you would be okay
~~~~
because a person that can see the beauty
in moments like these has the skills
they need to gather the light
one ray at a time
and to broaden the cracks
to let more sunshine in
~~~~
be a seeker of the light,
grow this habit
hold it tight
look for the small
and insignificant things
that are beauty at its core
~~~~
and you will always
have the perspective
you need to take your eyes
off of your own despair
on those awful and terrible days
that come as a part of life
and to notice something beautiful
in the world around once again
~~~~
and then to remember that you, yes you,
are also a part of this
~~~~
—-if you need it to be, this is your one job today: look for something, anything beautiful
©Heather Pound 2022
It’s so complicated being human
and living inside a chest and brain
that confuses and exhausts and
sometimes feels buoyant up there
upon cloud nine, and sometimes
feels like a cobra slowly twisting
tighter, stealing breath away
from a heart that wants
nothing more than to exhale
let alone soar high and free
~~~~
—it’s really okay not to be okay
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
Nourisher of life
tall and proud she stands
Neck extended even with
the constant weight she bears
And bear she does, children
offspring to be nurtured
Classifying their needs far before
her own, offering the best
that she has, always on her
mind, nesting in her hair
And yet she blossoms
chin lifted high
accomplished eyes
gathering wisdom
for who else can do
the things she can
Mother
but most importantly, woman.
~~~~
©Heather Pound 2022
I used to think that ‘processing’ meant lessening
unravelling, compacting, release
~~~~
but for those awful, painful things,
it is the vessel that expands instead,
not the grief becoming less
~~~~
Our outsides look the same, but within
and if we let it, our heart first grows a bubble,
then box, then a tent, then a building and so on
and so forth, that better holds the ache
~~~~
This slowly happens over time
and more of that than we’d wish,
but space develops to hold, to handle,
to cope with that original troublesome wound
~~~~
eventually creating scope to allow in
many other things, good things, strong things
that mingle and mix and make the aching less
and lets the sun shine in
~~~~
–grief and pain take time, but the light will find its way in
~~~~
Heather Pound 2022
Heather Pound 