©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
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
Heather Pound 