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
they are never in vain,
all the little things you do.
all the simple, kind, quiet things
done with ease from a heart that
loves and does love well.
just because it is in your nature,
part of your skillset, does not mean
that it is not valuable, not needed,
not desired.
because we are all delightfully
different, if each of us would simply
do the things that we do best, hone
our skills, improve our inherent gifts,
then we would make the world
richer and fuller and finer, and
would add to the beauty therein.
so, keep bringing all of those little
things that come easily to you.
you may value them not,
but someone, and others, and
community will.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Riccardo Annandale/Unsplash
the earth is weeping
after the swirling sky
awoke, opened
her eyes, and let tears
fall as tributaries.
and the wind who felt
confined in all this
emotional expression
took the opportunity
to blow out rage.
and the people just
watched and
remembered that they
were insignificant in
the midst of the power
of the minute ball of
dust and water where
they dwell in the middle
of only one galaxy of
a 100 billion stars and
chose not to think even
further still at the vastness
and terror of it all. instead
they were reminded to
soak up every moment
that they are granted,
to seek beauty whenever
it is found and to remember
to love each other well
—and to live.
-after watching the destruction in our tiny country caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Shashank Sahay/Unsplash
i thought my chest was scooped
out empty, dry
~~
but as i scanned my ever
beating heart, i found
~~
a little bit buried and partially
stale, yet there was still
~~
a tiny-weeny mustard seed
of faith, that everything
~~
could still be worked for good.
and i remembered that all that
~~
must be done was to raise that puny
seed up to the light, to water it with
~~
tears. then light can do its holy work
causing hope to sprout, to grow
~~
and blossom once again. and all it takes
is the humblest, most meagre of beginnings.
~~
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Artsy Vibes/Unsplash
i do not know why people choose
to spend their time worrying about
terrible, possible, theoretical things.
the truth is that the worst deeds that
human beings can do to one another,
are already here, most vehemently exist
and have been for centuries and eons past.
so, if you have been blessed to reside in a
place where you have not viewed or
experienced things such as these, then
please don’t waste your time dwelling
on the dark. it will do nothing to prepare
you for a time when darkness might arrive
and will sap away your joy today. instead
drink up the light, let it soak into your bones.
fill your heart with beauty ‘round, make peace
the place that you reside, and if darkness should
come, it is the light alone that will sustain.
©Heather Pound 2023
image:Julia Florczak/Unsplash
