Journey of the Heart

This poem is my journey into the world of forgiveness...  It's such a multi-faceted and deeply personal realm.  What is there to do when someone asks you to forgive them but you are not ready?  Do you feel pressure to go ahead so their feelings won't be hurt?  Or do you try to honor yourself?  What do you say to them? Humans can fall into predictable predicaments. Sometimes we want to be forgiven without doing the hard emotional work of repairing hurt and betrayal, which means looking inward to learn from your mistakes. We want the other person to make it okay when that really isn't possible. Sometimes a person may feel ready to forgive no matter what, and that is wonderful. But if you are not ready, I believe it's okay to have a choice. My poem is also about the healing power of Nature. I hope that both participants in a hurtful situation can use nature as a way to heal, whether it be the ocean, a hiking trail, or a garden. Brin...

This poem came as inspiration from a snow storm…   Snow has descended on the town I live in of Kalamazoo. Winter is here: soft, soft, softly, winter has arrived.  Soft, Soft, Softly By Krista Katrovas I think on the word gentle, Meditate on the sensation of it Feel it enter my body, Like snowflakes landing on my tongue Before melting soft,                                        soft,                                                 softly Into my being. I think of people I’ve known, People I still know, People alive, Peopl...

I wrote this poem on a cold, clear evening in November when my power went down… Starry Night Starry night
 So clear, so bright
 So full of heavenly splendour 
 All serene
 Breathtaking scene Light up the sky Light up my heart Light the whole world  in majesty The whole anew In perfect light The world laid bare For all mankind. ~ Mel Martin:   I and mother of  three, living in   am mother of three, living in Colchester, Essex, in the U.K, but am originally from Dudley in the West Midlands. I have always loved the use of the English language but for many years struggled with basic literacy skill. I left school with nothing and achieved everything through hard work and determination. I work with children in a high school, which is more of a calling than a chore. I've published books on  historical research  and five volumes of poetry   available here,  my latest one is called The P...

“Life is but a Dream” Such a famous quotation, from the popular nursery rhyme - and one that used to really unsettle me, as a child. What did it mean , “life is but a dream”? What did it mean for me , for my life, for my place in the universe? What might it imply, for reality as a whole? From a very young age, I used to wonder… “Life is but a dream”… It’s not surprising, then, that as an adult, I’ve been gripped by films such as The Matrix, that question what reality is and how much of what we think we know is illusion - and also by scientific studies of our eyes and brains and how we perceive things differently from how they really are. One of my favorite quotations is from Shakespeare’s Hamlet: “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy.” I think this applies to all of us, whoever we are, whatever our “philosophy” is. I also think that “Life is but a Dream” is an interesting idea - one that doesn’t unsettle me now,...

Winter has always called to me to cocoon, to retreat inward deep into the layers of me… During winter I sit in its cold still waiting and bring myself to inner reflecting; waiting, like the cold winter earth to rebirth into newness.  As we gather on the darkest of nights, let us remember that it is our light that pierces the dark with illuminating love.   Photography by Lisa Saraswati Cawley Winter Solstice: The Longest of Nights winter's breath, calls in the darkest of nights- beauty black, shortness of light. the sun kisses the stars, the moon embraces dark- join now circle of women our light we now spark. circle of shes, we who gather in singing, bring forth the night- in our humble existing. we sing of the barren branch, the cold winter wind rising- the darkest of nights, our intentions now binding. fire that burns our souls to blend, the darkest of nights- will soon slumber and end. each day will bring us, to the ...

I wanted to remind myself to be brave in the face of uncertainty and difficulties… I wanted to remember that there are good and bad days, but most of all, that as part of the divine, everything will be fine. Finally, as part of the divine, we all have the power inside to create a better world. Flying into Nothingness by  Alice Maldonado Gallardo When you shine your light you also show your position to the enemy in the battlefield. Shine anyway. Blind them with your light. There is reason to this madness. Devour the strength within you, feed and nourish your Self. Then expand your wings and keep flying straight. Let your wings strike each corner of reality. Let the air breeze in, elevating you even higher. Shatter mercilessly the imaginary boundaries. Lacerate all bondage. There is power in this madness. Let the strong beat of your heart face the approaching war drums. Let yourself be born ...