Wednesday 29 February 2012

Strength

At times in my life I have felt an intense urge to protect or be strong for the family and friends that I love and care for. This urge has translated into my going beyond the call of duty, in variable ways. It has most times created unhealthy dynamics and co-dependencies (that have taken time, unnecessary pain and patience to heal and change). Although at the time I felt that I was doing the right thing, I now realise that this kind of giving can be disempowering to the person I am trying to help in the first place. Also, it can be incredibly draining on your own internal resources and 'you cannot give, what you don't have within.' We cannot protect people from their pain, but we can respect, support and allow their choices. And love them openly and unconditionally; and see them as whole and complete and fully capable of any challenge that comes their way.

The Law of the Jungle

Now this is the law of the Jungle - as old and true as
the sky;
And the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the 
Wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk the Law
runneth forward and back -
For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the
strength of the Wolf is the Pack.

(Rudyard Kipling)


Know This!

In all the moments up to the moment;
I will be there.

A marble pillar of resolve and
strength;
Draw from me,
I have much reserves.

Rest your load on my shoulders;
I gladly carry it.

Place your fears into my lap;
I will care for them tenderly.

Seek nothing but love from me;
For that is all I surrender.

In all the moments up to the moment;

I am your Goliath, your Hercules,
your oak tree;
Side by side, hand in hand,
Heroically bending to the wills of life -

Up to that moment...

LB

Monday 6 February 2012

Secret

The following poem explores the concept of secrets and how carrying a secret for yourself or others can weigh heavily on the heart. It considers, not only the physiological nature of holding secrets, but also the psychological burden constructed of the lies and justifications we make to ourselves - that help us to merge the truth and the lies of such things into one small being or entity; that may be contained conveniently, but holds a mass of density and weight.

I have first included 'Robert Frost's poem, which conversely looks at the idea of those dark places, as spaces within oneself!

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars - on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.


Secret

I carry myself,
Hold tightly this burden;
Inside - layers
Meted upon it's own foundation stone.

Eyes around me - but do not see,
The secret lurks;
Sullen in it's murky depths.
Slowly it grows!

Despite mass and weight,
I store the extra pounds easily;
Forgetting where they originated -
This intimacy.

Denser and denser I become,
This womb and I;
There is no seperation -
Such divides are none.

LB