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THE FLOWER OF COMPASSION by Mary McManus


That day I allowed the ocean to hold me. I sat on the beach and meditated and created this poem…

I had been experiencing a resurgence of old thought patterns that triggered sensations of unease in the pit of my stomach. Whenever I feel this way, a trip to the beach for meditation and a swim in the ocean can often bring to the surface the feelings that are driving these sensations taking me away from our loving Creator.

I cried after I wrote this poem. I realized that the day before, July 15th, it had been four months since the Boston Marathon bombings: a race I completed in the year 2009, after recovering from post polio syndrome.

I reflected on how the flower of compassion is what we need to heal ourselves, and the world; to take us back to our heart center, to find our way home to ourselves and with one another.
Photography by John Warburton Lee

The Flower of Compassion

She takes root
this fragile flower
at heart center
tendrils travel
outstretched arms
a hand to hold
a gentle sigh
petals glisten with gentle tears
a warm knowing smile
beauty to behold
holding space
for the flower of compassion to bloom.
~
(This poem will be published in Songs of Freedom: Poems From a Healing Odyssey Volume III: A Celebration of Life. Volumes I & II available on Amazon)


 Mary McManus poet, blogger, and yogini left her award winning career as a social worker at the Department of Veterans Affairs in May 2007 to heal her own life. During the dark night of her soul she began to express herself through poetry. Her pen became a divining rod for healing, light, love, hope, possibility, health and wholeness. Her journey of transformation took her to the finish line of the 2009 Boston Marathon and, in 2011, to her yoga mat. Mary holds a BS in Public Relations from Boston University and an MSW from Boston College. In January 2013, Mary graduated South Boston Yoga's 200 hour Body Awakening Teacher Training Program. Be sure to visit her website here and follow her inspirational blog here Mary's books of poetry are available on Amazon 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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Comments

  1. Catherine L. SchweigAugust 18, 2013 at 9:17 AM

    I love your use of a flower metaphor here to identify one's compassionate essence: so gentle, beautiful and feminine. Thank you for sharing yet another one of your moving poems, dear Mary. This one read like a meditation for me. :))

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