Heather Pound

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

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