THE DIFFICULTY IN FORGETTING by Salyna Gracie

The events of our lives shape who we become as we navigate the rivers of our journey…

Each new day presents the challenge of how we resist allowing the past to define or limit us.

As we cross on stepping-stones of loss or regret, my hope is that we may we find the love and courage to live in grace.

Collage Artwork 'Adrift: Internal Navigation II' by the author, Salyna Gracie

The difficulty in forgetting 

 the past is like a river 

ever-flowing currents  

defying space and time 

 sometimes a delicate trickle

 a sensation of words forgotten

 always on the tip of my tongue 

 other days the river rages

 torrents of memories flooding so fiercely 

the banks of this body cannot contain it 

 yesterdays eddy round and round

 all regret and longing 

cycles that stagnate in cell and bone 

 today the river is restless

 tempting me with its siren song 

resisting the pull of things that might have been

 I give thanks for this new day

Photographic art 'Journeys' by Katarina Silva

Photography by Yuko Ishii

Salyna Gracie is the director of Red Lotus Dance Company. She performs and teaches Middle Eastern Dance and facilitates the Red Lotus SEEDs program which mentors teen girls through dance at her studio in a small rural town in Washington state. Salyna’s dancing reflects a commitment to personal growth by internalizing rhythms and expressing emotion through the body – dancing from the heart. Poetry and visual art continue the conversation of dance with words and images that dance on the page. You may contact her through her website here.

~If you are interested in seeing your poetry appear in this blog, or submitting a poem by a woman that has inspired you, please click here for submission guidelines. I greatly look forward to hearing from you!~

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