Skip to main content

GIFT OF LOVE by Carolyn Riker

Valentine’s Day is a mixed day for me…

 Almost always has been. I find the glam rather disheartening. The long waits for a dinner out. The overly priced roses stuffed in black plastic bins. Chocolate in heart-shapes. (All chocolate is the shape of a heart.) So I rewrote an old poem and made it a love letter for you as well as me:

 Dear Sweet Beautiful Spirit,

Happy Valentine’s Day! I embrace you. You capture the magic of self-love in your velvety tenderness. I will hold you dearly and respect who you are. You are love and in this love your heart blooms! I know it’s been a voyage of challenges. I’ve listened to your saline mist. Let’s wear a new ribbon of blushing pink and ravishing red. Let’s emblaze self-love as a personal gift.


Gift of Love

You are loved.

Look inward and believe it.
Dance to the rhythm of your heart.
Feel your breath rise and fall.
It wraps a sensuous melody.

You are more than okay.
Sing joyfully.

Let go of self-doubt and what-ifs.
Let your inner confidence shine.

You are strong.
You are amazing, creative, intelligent…

and beautiful.

Dance in this new moment.
Let the pulse radiant.

You are love,
 touching the sky and seas.

Let it begin with the self,
and the universe will hold your hand.

You are never alone.

Because,
You are love.
~


Carolyn (Riker) Avalani, M.A., LMHC is a licensed counselor, teacher, writer and poet. Over the last five years she has written for numerous online journals and has been in five anthologies. Her most recent book This is Love was published June 2018. Before that she contributed and co-edited, Hidden Lights: A Collection of Truths Not Often Told, which holds 53 artists sharing their stories, poems, art and photography. Her first book of poetry and prose, Blue Clouds was published December 2016. Between sips of coffee, navigating life with copious writing and daydreaming, Carolyn offers creative writing workshops, coaching and private counseling. To find out more please visit her website at www.carolynriker.com or on facebook here

*For submission guidelines, click here.*

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

IMAGINE A WOMAN by Patricia Lynn Reilly

  This poem invites you to look upon yourself with loving kindness… Gazing at your own true reflection, you will discover that everything you have longed for “out there” is already within you! I invite you to love your creativity fiercely. Faithfully plant seeds, allowing under-the-ground dormant seasons, nurturing your creative garden with love and gratitude. In the fullness of time, the green growing things thrust forth from the ground. It's a faithful, trustworthy process. AND it takes time and patience.  Blessed is the fruit of your creative womb! I invite you to trust your vision of the world and express it. With wonder and delight, paint a picture, create a dance, write a book, and make up a song. To give expression to your creative impulses is as natural as your breathing. Create in your own language, imagery, and movement. Follow no script. Do not be limited by the customary way things have been expressed. Your creative intuition is original. Gather

THE JOURNEY by Mary Oliver

Today we honor Mary Oliver (1936-2019) and all the words she left behind. May they inspire you on your journey!  Excerpt from Mary Oliver’s book Long Life: Essays and Other Writings : "Poets must read and study... but, also, they must learn to tilt and whisper, shout, or dance, each in his or her own way, or we might just as well copy the old books. But, no, that would never do, for always the new self swimming around in the old world feels itself uniquely verbal.  And that is just the point: how the world, moist and bountiful, calls to each of us to make a new and serious response. That's the big question, the one the world throws at you every morning. 'Here you are, alive. Would you like to make a comment?'" 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

STILL I RISE by Maya Angelou

Six years ago, I had the privilege of listening to Maya Angelou speak live on the value of poetry at the University of Florida. I share these reflections with you again today, in honor of her birthday.  I was relieved to get one of the last seats available for this rare event, having arrived at five for Maya Angelou ’s free speech at eight. The historically long line began with people settled into beach chairs in winter coats busying themselves on tablets, or eating sandwiches for dinner. As helicopters hovered above and newscasters below, I felt the excitement of realizing that thousands of people were gathering together to hear an eighty four year old black woman recite her poetry! Maya Angelou speaking at University of Florida on Feb. 27, 2013  When the curtain rose -after an overflow of hundreds were sent away- we lucky ones on the inside greeted Maya with a standing ovation, as she smiled sweetly, beginning her talk using metaphors from nature. Maya asked that we