Time passes… we’re beyond Samhain and Winter Solstice; the year flies by. Through the thinning veil and beyond, galloping towards Imbolc at a mind altering speed.
Already life is pushing up below ground… crocus, belladonna, even daffodil are pushing through the frozen ground… rain has eased the way of their passing from below into the light of extending days and shortening nights.
Calendula flowers opened just post Solstice and crocus are lending a splash of colour, albeit all too short a journey. How bizarre is this. It’s only July.
I have been absent… sorry. Family matters and the loss of two family members, plus a couple of friends, kept me otherwise engaged with the process we all face through our lives… that of grief. All their passings coincided with the sixth anniversary of our eldest daughter. We have decided that May and June may not be admitted into our calendar anymore… I see the sign, ‘no admittance granted!’ I may have to invent some, fill-ins to replace the two rogue months but sadly, they also hold several family birthdays that certainly can’t be ignored.
GRIEF…
Scoured clean
Hollowed out
Grief is never prepared
Loss and despair
Relinquishing control
giving self over
no sense to make
Lives take their course
What is the source
that gives
but with little warning
takes
Time heals
perhaps
but even then
the momentary lapse
takes control
gripping the soul
opening the wound
to the edge
in a forgotten pledge
to never forget
never regret
a soul-walk
a soul-talk
before passing
Surrender
to the light and dark
pain and pleasure
…we are made of both
Surrender
to wellness
that boosts your joy
your immunity
and sickness
that forces you to stop
when you will not
there is no impunity
Surrender
to the world you see
beyond the personal lens
of how you think
life should be
Each believes
their truth is relevant
just as you
ask your gods
to be benevolent
we cannot know
the journey of another
even when
it appears either gentle
or malevolent
Surrender
to the interlude that is you
grow
in the seeded space
of the silent observer
…without agenda
Life continues, the family gathered and we find home in each other’s company and shared grief…
HOME…
Just as we evolve
and grow
thrusts itself aloft
Foundations sunk
into the earth
our feet should seek
this depth
…to strengthen
and yet, to sink in
…to survive
against fire or flood
Warmth
inside a building
…a home
in all the wordly toil
and so
with foundations
in the soil
we hold steady
Heart and hearth as one
…to nurture
…to feed
both brain and belly
To love
to give solace
to those in need
Soaring rooves above
and under eaves
an attic snug
from those same
foundations dug
…grown, to shelter
from the rain
and in that loft
our brain
can assemble anew
safe from those storms
that brew
In this solid structure grew
the plans for family
A building
wrought through work
with ancient timbers, honed
by skin and bone
…a home
Walk softly… let yourself grieve… Awen /|\
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Penny Reilly Artist Beyond the Gate 