Heather Pound

a couple of years back storm clouds appeared 
and in a very short space of time
unusually large quantities of water
dumped from the sky, sudden

parts of the land were overcome 
and places that had looked the same
as long as residents’ memories recalled 
became far too saturated

and gravity
swiftly won

soil, rocks and trees slid down hills 
covering over roads and paths

and reminded the humans
they can build and create
but that nature is mightier still 

sometimes people experience this too,
personalities that have always appeared ‘stable’
are suddenly drenched by circumstantial storms
and are weighted down, down, down  
until burdens prevail and damage occurs

and that person may not be ‘themselves’ 
for some time… 

awkwardly scooping at mud, despondent 
frantically searching for pathways 
not apparent 

so just assure them 
this is okay

that like a landscape
they just need some time 
they will find themselves again

and if this is you
please be patient
because you will find yourself, too

	-weathering storms is a part of life
	 and even landslides grow flowers 
	 with time

heather pound 2025

Photo by Boon Panthalany on Unsplash

you ask what you can bring
what you can contribute
what you can do to have:
a goal worth following
a story worth telling
a life of meaning

and you think the answer will be:
a lengthy list of tasks
mighty feats to test your strength
rules that must be followed
patterns observed religious

but the answer surprises 
completely takes you back

since the Person you have seen
perform impossible things
stands before you simply
saying—

‘all the work that you must do
      is to 
            believe’

sounding far too simple really

but belief
is the root 
that everything else 
grows from.

and if not wrestled with
is the place 
where issues of faith
begin

---john 6:29

heather pound 2025

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

i made the wedding late
all 150 guests waiting 
by only realising when 
i began to dress myself at last  

that while i brought the dresses
for the bride and all the bridesmaids
          i neglected to bring mine

the day before this, as i sat in automatic
car wash (after the rehearsal)
my husband rang to say the police 
had called to inform that shortly before
i had filled my car and just driven away
stealing petrol up the road
         distracted

there are quite simply days like these
and we might as well laugh
(at least in hindsight) 
at those moments when minds
that often support us well 
         glitch

and things that others whose
thoughts are currently flowing free
might roll their eyes and mutter
         “well there they go again”

but, hey, my promise to you is this:
if your behavior is suddenly
peculiar  
	unusual 
		or odd
I will not think of you as……less

instead i will wonder what stress,
what tiredness, what thing 
you just might now carry
	that’s now producing this

		---absolutely everyone makes mistakes

heather pound 2025

Photo by Serafima Lazarenko on Unsplash

you hear the clearing of a throat
first whispers of a hum
not quite on pitch but 
comforting all the same

as your heart, that has hibernated long
awakens
thawing slow in springtime sun

and before too long at all 
(or perhaps at long, long last)
your heart, that has beaten all along
faithful 
          but silent 

raises its head to open its mouth 
          and sings…

and that long-awaited sound
and the gladness that it brings
is worth every, single moment
of a lengthy winter’s wait

heather pound 2025

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

what must he have thought as the rooster crowed
and the memory came of words recently spoken
that he would deny not once, not twice
but thrice

certain of his devotion, upon his own his strength 
claiming he never-ever 
would falter…

…but then the rooster crowed 
when faced with mortal fear, alone

and failure 
pierced his soul

then he fled away to weep 
humanity confirmed
needy, broken, fragile heart 
(like yours, like mine)
now seen…

yet later, as ‘the rock’ he would become  
he admitted his blind spots
was open to change  

since the crux of his pride tearfully
painfully  
	unforgettably 
washed away 

on the night of his deepest shame

	--our biggest failings often lead 
   to our greatest strengths

heather pound 2025

Photo by Marco J Haenssgen on Unsplash

he followed me through dark hallway
into the courtyard where i lived
and when i turned uncomfortable, 
he leered and came close, groping 

i shoved him away, told him to leave
in the language that he spoke
and ran up spiral staircase 
to the safety of my home
fastening main gate behind

telling my husband what happened
i unpacked my bag of groceries
purchased to feed our family
at the local outdoor bazaar

a few minutes later, i turned
and there he was 
in the doorway smirking 
three stories up, darkness behind.

arriving at my cry, my husband
ushered him back the way he came
and some of our neighbours 
joined the fray, indignant 

and later we considered that 
he was perhaps too stoned 
to realise

that my home was not a brothel,
that i was not for sale 
like other unfortunate women 
100 meters up the road

that night i was safe
but women i passed daily 
were absolutely not

i was grateful--  
and discounted this experience
as ‘not as bad’ as theirs
shoving it down, ignoring 

even though for weeks
i startled and turned 
while at my kitchen bench
senses and body remembering

and became hypervigilant 
when leaving my home
at all

it wasn’t until much later
that i learned trauma is trauma 
is trauma

it is never a competition
and someone else’s will always 
be worse……..always

that even smaller events just pushed aside  
can build upon themselves, like stones 
in a fence increasing  

that even mine were valid 
needed to be acknowledged 
(not relived, but recognised) 
in order to begin to heal
	
	--please know and understand 
            that yours are valid too

Photo by Amy Elting on Unsplash

there is no right or wrong way 
to do this

it does not need to quickly turn 
into deeply meaningful lessons learned

it does not have to be comfortable
or easy 

or ever really ‘make sense’

and there are no certain amount 
of sanctioned days before 
you must then be okay,

sometimes grief is simply meant 
to be…… 

and then 
it is meant to be carried

-this is how healing softly, slowly steals in

heather pound 2024

Photo by Ingmar H on Unsplash

when we are invited to walk 
into the home of someone new,
we come in softly, sit on the seat shown
        sip on the cuppa offered
                and listen
—our mothers taught us this

we resist the urge to comment 
        upon cracks in walls
                and plaster that’s chipped
--we understand the occupant 
is surely aware of these 

we do not suggest when to start a remodel
        or what décor they should install
--we know this is not our place 

and above all, we would not pick up tools
open tubs of paint
        and push aside the owner 
                 to begin

we would never-ever do this
when visiting a home,
so why do we sometimes assume 
we can try to ‘fix’
        the heart and mind of another 
                uninvited?

Photo by Lena Polishko on Unsplash

We lived for several years in the city that remembers Mother Teresa well. Reading her words while there profoundly impacted me (and they do still), but what people of Kolkata remember is not her words–but the way that she cared. 

Not a bad reminder at all.