INNER SELKIE by Freya Watson

There is a folktale common to many traditions about a fisherman who falls in love with a seal woman...

While the seal woman (called Selkie in some countries) has shed her skin and is sitting unaware, he grabs and hides it leaving her no option but to follow him home. Over time, she bears him several children. One day, her youngest child finds the hidden skin while the father is away from home and shows it to his mother. Seeing the skin again reawakens her to her true self and she returns to the sea.

This poem is one I wrote on a blustery autumn night when I was out under the stars feeling a pull to the wild, away from the responsibilities of children, home and career.

It was like a sweet longing that tugged on my gut and wouldn't leave me alone. I honored it with this poem that night, and then booked myself some time off the next day!

Being in touch with that untamed part of me is an essential part of my life that always brings me back to my soul – and making time to heed the call of the wild is part of a deep commitment I have made to my spirituality.

Inner Selkie

That wildness calls me again,

Drawing me home;

My seal skin left too long

Is demanding to be worn.

But how does it smell,

This call of the wild?

Like the salty, restless sea

On a stormy night.

And how does it sound,

This call of the wild?

Like branches tossing in a storm

Wanting to take flight.

But how does it feel,

This call of the wild?

Like warm wind on bare skin

One dark autumn night.

Freya Watson: Author, lover, mother, mystic... I have feet in so many worlds but see all of them as sacred and I have long had a fascination with plumbing the depths of love, life and relationships – and with seeing women live from a place of true inner empowerment. My books are on Amazon and I'm a regular contributor on Elephant Journal. I live and write in the peace of the Irish countryside, where I share space and time with three energetic daughters and my partner, though I consider myself a citizen of the world.

~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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