Earlier in August, I took myself to a delightful place in the woods by a river, for a retreat time of rest and writing, wondering and wandering, reflecting and receiving. Something about the woods and water does so much to return me home to my soul, to the wild wonders both within and without.
I wrote so much and took so many photos of everything that struck my eyes and spirit as magical and mystical. As always, the hardest part for me is curating and distilling all that I want to share into one offering, a mindful morsel, accessible and absorbable! So – here is what chose itself, at least for this offering!
Note: for reading reference, the bolded words represent the start of a new stanza. Due to the quirks of my editor programs and the vast amount of tedious work needed to manipulate the formatting and spacing of poetry, I chose to keep it simpler and less stressful by choosing that option especially since the desired shape of each poem was preserved!
By the river, stories of being (a poem series)
By the river, a story of being
Right here, right now
no stories about me exist
I am
my own story
We named water, water
We named river, river
We made stories about water
about river
Yet the water, the river
what name does it have for itself
or – are they content to be
to be in their existence
do they need to name themselves
to be
Or perhaps, mayhap most likely
water just is
river just is
and its/their Is-ness
is enough
For me, could it be?
or do I need names
my many names
to convey my existence
expressions of my existence
my manner of being
in this body, this world
to send messages of all my ‘Who-ness’
to not allow my ‘Who-ness’ to be
defined by others
to say, I and only I
name my ‘Who-ness’
Yet – my Who-ness is not the sum
of my Is-ness
my being-ness
my Is-ness is greater yet
beyond Name
I am
my own story
The water is its own story
The river is their own story
And our existence, our Life, our Being
our Is-ness, is
enough
Our Who-ness matters
yet greater be
our Is-ness
*********************************
The water, the river is real
being named doesn’t make it/them
more or less real
or true
their Truth is beyond
their naming
My realness, my Trueness
is beyond name, beyond
all Names
I am
*****************************
Naming matters
names matter
because they express elements
of our Who-ness real and true to us
because they express meaning
highlight nuances, carry
messages, and craft stories
because they are mirrors
because they are a matrix
a latticework
of shared, shareable
meaning, Truth, Life
*********************************
Spirit of River
my teacher be
teach me to flow
and sing freely
as do you
Spirit of River
my teacher be
teach me your fluidity
for I would be free
River Rocks
The rocks by the river
are just rocks
They are as they are –
truth in themselves
real
Yet
just for this time
they represented
stories I told myself
stories that I am surrendering
letting the river
take
They represented
attitudes, beliefs, choices
dead things
that serve, have served, me not well
A choice already made
to let dead things go
to let dead things be dead
yet sealed symbolically
in giving them to the river
The rocks remain real, they remain
true in themselves
untainted, unmarked
only for a moment
did they carry representation
of death
They were clean, remain clean
it is only I
who need(ed) cleansing
They were never dead
it is only I
who need(ed) resurrection
River and rock cannot give
resurrection
yet they can represent
the gift I give for myself
A clean, real life
flowing free
actions, attitudes
beliefs, behaviors
calm, clear choices
deep Love
ever True
