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ALONE by Pranada Comtois


 A friend had described a house she was temporarily visiting…

 It had exquisite vistas, was well appointed, and she didn't have to pay rent. She was free to use her time in her creative work. I was so happy for her and I felt a twinge of desire to have a similar situation.

Then I thought about how it seems that all our desires exact a payment from us. Payments that are due from us cannot be escaped even through death. But we can be released by entering seriously into our relationship with God and we can choose that at any moment.
'Cottage by The Sea' painting by Artist Barbara Prikle


Alone

Borrowed house beautiful
on land without title
hills loaned lovely
'Windswept' painting by Pino Dangelico

who’s free when everything
must be paid with a dollar,
a kiss, or blood?

How will she spend
the allotted days, breaths
before Time calls its Note?

Any way I please
she assures herself
seals her Note in an envelope
shoved under her sleepwear
drawer closed

years shift
opening, closing
squeezed, stuffed, the claim
rises, falls behind
chest to the floor

the interest compounds
crushes homes, hearts--
steals all she thought was hers

immunity,
she remembers
a person wise of Debts
once counseled,
the free call out--

from here where
everything
is tallied on the abacus
of repeated lives
spent--

is the Name*.
~

(*Krishna’s Holy Names in the 'Maha-mantra' 
            of the Bhakti Yoga tradition.)
Dreaming by Alexander Nicolajevich Averin

Pranada Comtois spent two decades immersed as a contemplative-ascetic in an ashram, and the next twenty years raising a family and running two multi-million dollar businesses with the intention of embodying practical spirituality in the world. She brings the wisdom of multiple traditions and lessons from her own practice into her writing and speaking. Pranada is a spiritual activist who advocates for The Way of the Feminine Divine and the practice of unconditional love in daily life for personal and community transformation (Bhakti). She blogs at Little Ways of Being and is passionate about empowering women to find their unique gifts, voices, and strengths and to usher them into the world. Connect with her 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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