FLOWER by Brigid Clare Oak

I confess to an ongoing battle within myself…

Part of me feels safe confined in more traditional and socially accepted parameters of belief and being, and part of me feels utterly maddened by those same parameters. I seem to be engaged in a constant work of integration of my "inner nun" and my "inner gypsy".

There is a lovely Feminine Presence who seems always to softly swoop in and rescue me when I have gone too far into hiding and am in danger of losing the more colorful part of myself. She seems always to arrive in the spring: to tend the garden of my restless soul. Blessed is She. 

Photography by Catherine Ghosh

Flower 

by Brigid Clare Oak

You call me into

this quiet space

where You alone

can teach me

You, of the Soft Hands

and the Tender Heart

You, of the Fierce Freedom

and Powerful Protection

You reach into

my woundedness

and draw me forth

from my own clutching keeping

Out of that tiny, hidden room

where the child is still weeping

You gather the vapor

from all around me

of what I have so carelessly given away

and from it, form a cloud

of cleansing rain above my head

to wash away all fear and dread

with Your kind, insistent shower~

to clear the dust of my diminishment

and reveal the gift of gracious power

You have bestowed upon me

Sometimes I feel

I sleep beneath

the mountain of my prayers

My light reluctant and resting underground

Oh…I have found treasure there

in the dark deep necessity of my hiding;

a Faithful Presence there abiding

while I so busy about mothering and othering

I did not notice I was smothering

in a cold cave of my own making

But once again

You are quaking

in my simple soul

So invested You are

in ushering me into the Light

and kissing me Whole~

in healing me and vesting me

in Your Own colorful finery~

a flower in Your Field,

face upturned to the Sun.

Brigid Clare Oak lives a quiet life of poetry, prayer, and presence. She is a liturgist, vocalist, and composer of spiritual songs, and works also in the field of elder care and companioning. Brigid is mother to three beloved children; two grown sons and a teenage daughter. Together they enjoy copious amounts of tea, laughter, and love. 

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