SHE BELIEVED by Carolyn Riker

What inspired this poem was after reading a piece I had written nearly 19 years ago…

It truly feels like a lifetime as passed since then. As I read my words, I touched a ghost-like moment of me and held it close.

I blinked and the salty air filled my memory. I felt her gossamer winged-like vulnerability. She had one foot in illusions and another in reality. She was whisper-thin and filled with moonbeams. She wore a short shift of a dress. Bare feet propped against a wooden rail. Hair loosely tied back. A mug nearby and the wind teased her thought strings.

As she penned her contemplations, she wasn’t part of this world. She slipped into another. The prose simple and sweet. It was lyrical and filled with romance and love. She was shy and yet trusted to share her words with only a few. Unfortunately her words weren’t well received and so began her odyssey: to let go of what others believe and to believe in herself.

I was grateful to see her again. We shared a warm sleeve of acceptance. And before she could escape, I reached into my heart and told her, kindness, time and fortitude can and will heal.

Her eyes connected to my soul and she finally, believed.

Painting by Volgov

She Believed

Sunny rays of amber and gold

sifted through her lashes

She believed in love

held onto the wisps

and felt the stir of moonlight shifts

As the years prevailed

tattered, twisted and trivialized

perceptions were altered

Her free-spirit, turned to ebony fragments

weather-worn, chastised and achy

The illusion of love was deeply torn

the silver lining was tarnished and forlorn

And into the safety of her shadows

she dipped deeper,

until a passion to live released her

She would no longer conform.

Or bend to the point of breaking

She set her creative intuition free

She accepted her soul as a dreamer

one foot in this world

another in a rapturous sea

Love didn’t lose its luster

because love is a mixture of spirit and nature

It is the divine found in you and me.

Painting by Richard S. Johnson

Carolyn Riker is an elementary teacher, mental health counselor, writer and a poet who finds comfort and balance in her kids, nature, music and her sweet cat Copper. She can be seen sipping soy lattes, nibbling on dark chocolate or savoring a full-bodied red wine. Introspective, forthright, kind and compassionate, she intertwines life with yoga, meditating and learning about Vedic Astrology and Ayurveda. She also writes for Elephant Journal and Rebelle Society. Carolyn can be reached via her e-mail address carolynra7@hotmail.com or on facebook 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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