The Poetry of Our Living
“The chemo will take your hair,” Dr. says.
“No it won’t,” she declares.
“The hair is mine.
I’ll do with as I please,
gift away as I choose.”
“Want to feel my hair
one last time,”
she asks the next morning
pausing
on her way out the door
as she lays claim to her powers of creation
and the making of meaning.
“It will all be gone by morning,”
she says but seemingly days later
as short hair comes out by near handfuls
she gifts to the birds for their nesting
offers to Wind for the blowing of
releases in small ceremonies of letting go
even as she turns to living.
Convergence
That the impulse to create
lives within us, within me,
is testament to our lineage.
I am, and we are, after all,
children of the universe herself.
How this innate gift for transforming and shape-shifting
for giving birth while death is yet eating
how I honor or not this tension within
reflects the aliveness of my creative powers.
This is the poetry of my living
the story of my writing…
in search of the spells and seductions
cast by wonder and awe and the mysteries of being
now stirred into the cauldron
with the elixir of attention
as tears and griefs and sorrows angers and rage
sit around the fire together
alongside laughters and joys and ecstasies
rounding out the Circle of Life
while convergent threads from past and present
beseech me to wake up and choose
in this now the future of my creation
the blossoming of my heart’s and soul’s desire.
Reflections:
While these two poems began their births separately, the second one in draft form weeks before the first one presented above, they come together here as a convergence of one. Each is a reflection into the nature of change and of our human response, the powers of our creativity for navigating life’s sometimes insurmountable challenges.
And as one who has presented numerous retreats and programs in the realms of each of the areas of change and creativity, I still feel like a novice student. There are many formulaic patterns, presented to us by gurus of all stripes, on how to navigate change and ‘take charge of our lives.’ Many of them worthwhile and useful so my intention is not in critiquing but to point the mystical finger to something ‘behind the curtain’ so to speak.
I wish simply to honor and invite attention to a possible pause between the exhalation and inhalation, a moment of pregnant stillness in the business of our living. Somewhere in this womb resides the courage to make meaning of our existence and living no matter what Life is presenting to us.
Somewhere in this womb reside the potential powers of gathering the vitality of our life forces, the desires of our hearts and souls, the cravings of our spirits…and to be in and of and at One with the underlying mysteries of our very presence.
Touch that!
— Larry Glover
Personal Note: If this post has meaning and inspiration for you, please consider sharing via social media or email… with someone who’s spirit might also appreciate the nourishment. We live in what will undoubtedly become increasingly challenging times. Let us all grow and nourish our wild resiliency.