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Laura Stack's avatar

So much heartbreak… So much courage and love needed. 🙏

I have so many favorite poems. Here are a few. Here’s to courage, community, and faith.

By Teresa of Avila:

Let nothing disturb you

Let nothing frighten you

All things are passing

Patience obtains all things

Nothing is wanting to the one who possesses God

God alone suffices

Patience

by J. Ruth Gendler:

Patience wears my grandmother‘s filigree earrings. She bakes marvelous, dark bread. She has beautiful hands. She carries great sacks of peace and purses filled with small treasures. You don’t notice Patience right away in a crowd, but suddenly you hear her all at once, and then she is so beautiful you wonder why you never saw her before.

Trust

by J. Ruth Gendler

Trust is the daughter of Truth. She has an objective memory, neither embellishing nor denying the past. She is an ideal confident – gracious, candid, and discreet. Trust talks to people who need to hear her; she listens to those who need to be heard; she sits quietly with those who are skeptical of her words. Her presence is subtle, simple, and undeniable. 

Trust rarely buys round-trip tickets because she is never sure how long she will be gone, and when she will return. Trust is at home in the desert and the city, with dolphins and tigers, outlaws, lovers, and Saints. When trust bought her house, she tore out all the internal walls, strengthened the foundation, and rebuilt the door. Trust is not fragile, but she has no need to advertise her strength. She has a gambler’s respect for the interplay between luck and skill; she is the mother of love.

By Maya Angelou:

When we cast our bread upon the waters

we can presume

that someone downstream

whose face we will never know

will benefit from our action,

as we who are downstream from another

will profit from that grantor's gift

The Journey

by Mary Oliver:

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice --

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voice behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do --

determined to save

the only life that you could save.

By Sophie Slosarczyk:

Have courage my love, have courage

Be strong

For times like these

They shall not last long

They are, but a whisper

A speck on the line

Of a life, so beautiful, so loved

So entwined

So take my strength, love and hope

And do not back down

For we need you, my love

Making sandcastles and flipping frowns

My love, my life

Have courage and faith

That all will be well

For, whatever happens, know this

I'm here, we're here, in this

As one

You and I, forever strong

Courage

by Romy Wyser:

My Courage is my Sacred Fire.

Courage backed me when they said it was too risky.

Courage held me when I had to face the unthinkable.

Courage helped me when I’d lost my way.

Courage searched for me when I was blinded from the truth.

Courage whispered to me when I was drowning in a heart full of regrets.

Courage freed me when I couldn’t see the way forward.

Courage inspired me when connections had to be released.

Courage protected me when I stopped showing up for myself.

Courage challenged me when I struggled with the choices I had to make.

Courage taught me which battles were worth fighting.

Courage honoured me when I put my heart on the line.

Courage stood beside me when I surrendered to sacred rest.

Courage respected me when I surrendered again.

Courage alchemised the aches over and over again.

Courage paved the way to forgiveness.

Courage believed in me when I struggled to feel I was enough.

Courage gathered me up when I broke, breathing fire back into the hollow space within.

Courage gathered me, wherever I was – an unwavering light devoting herself entirely to my path.

Courage found me when I broke, breathed, and became unattached to all that I was seeking.

Courage taught me how to ask for what I needed and become unattached to all that I was seeking.

Courage demanded I be fearlessly proud to show up as me so I could follow my north star and feel peace within the belly of my soul.

Courage brought me faith and fortitude wrapped in endless life lessons and unshakeable love.

Courage brought me Sacred Learning carved from the Sacred Wisdom that was shaped by my Sacred Experiences.

This is my Sacred Learning and my Sacred Certainty.

I trust in myself and in all the ways Courage will forever guide me to hold the light, be light, stand in the light, and shine the light.

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HeatherAsh Amara's avatar

These are all amazing... thanks for sharing them with us.

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Laura Stack's avatar

One more…

And Still I Rise

by MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don't you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I've got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

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HeatherAsh Amara's avatar

One of my favorites!

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Laura Stack's avatar

Right?! It would be fun to set this one as a goal to memorize!!! #playtimegoals. Then we just bust it out casually at some event… Like a flashmob for poetry. 🔥

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Laurie McCain's avatar

Thankyou for your life stories, bringing personal context, & poignant revelations about the reality of the numbers involving death in our current times!

Thankyou for bringing soft wisdom to bathe in, shifting our awareness & attention towards non-judgement.

My reverend friend from the 80s would say, "Today I will not judge, criticize, or condemn any person, place, or thing, but rather behold the good, or God, in all."

I love the poem you shared, & will share with my daughters!

I love the challenge you offered: a poem that uplifts & inspires us~ I draw inspiration from Tao Te Ching #8:

"The Supreme good is like water which nourishes all things without trying. It is content with the low places that people disdain, thus it is like the Tao.

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair & generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you love. In family life, be completely present.

When you are content to be simply yourself & don't compare or compete everybody will respect you."

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HeatherAsh Amara's avatar

Beautiful, thanks Kakloosh!

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Juniper's avatar

Such beautiful and important reminders for us all. Thank you for this!

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HeatherAsh Amara's avatar

Thanks so much Juniper! Sending you much love

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Jo's avatar

Good food for thought on a difficult topic. I was sent a poem by Adrienne Rich recently. I enjoyed diving back into her work.

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HeatherAsh Amara's avatar

Adrienne Rich always inspires!

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Jo's avatar

Probably some poetry and Probably Adrienne Rich would approve - recommendation: Steph Tolev - Filth Queen - New comedy show on Netflix.

- Sounds crazy funny and a good pause on the Massive Heartbreak. She is described as: Wild but not Mean.

(No spell check. Pardon typos, if any.)

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Laurie McCain's avatar

Powerful medicine✨🪷✨

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Jo's avatar

https://open.substack.com/pub/andreagibson/p/love-letter-from-the-afterlife?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=ar7bw hello Friends- Sarina mentioned that beloved poet Andrea Gibson transitioned on 14 July. Here is one of her beautiful poems. 🩵💙💚

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