Journey of the Heart

I believe that crisis is best handled by the sacred feminine within us…. Feminine energy is deeply aware and in tune with the cycles of life. Thus, in her wisdom, she knows that crisis is always followed by rebirth. Because of this awareness, I best cope with and flourish out of crisis when I allow my feminine energy to surface during these events. I see two keys to personal growth: that darkness serves a purpose in our lives and that, if we surrender to that purpose – rather than succumbing to the darkness – we will grow. When I find myself in what feels like the bottom of the abyss, I think back on this. It helps me look around for the light. And, when my world is filled with joy and light again, I never forget the darkness I had to pass through to get there, as remembering helps me connect with others when they face their own darkness. This poem was written from that deep, dark place of transformation that we all go through in life. The Shaman Snake Woman i...

Last Spring I was sitting in my yard in meditation...  I watched a monarch butterfly dancing on the lawn and felt an amazing connection to this beautiful creature. She invited me to contemplate my journey of transformation as I had set out on an adventure to heal my life. Just as the caterpillar has to die to be transformed, I experienced a death of my old ways, my old habits, of fear and of living in the shadow of myself afraid to express and experience the fullness of my Being. I was touched by grace and found amazing healers and teachers flow into my life once I set my intention to heal. On my yoga mat, I express the fullness of my transformation living in the present moment leaving behind all that went before dancing with the butterfly the Divine dance of mystery and sacredness. Surrender by Mary McManus No longer living life in retreat hiding in the bunker cowering, quivering, shivering mustering courage waving the white flag a ma...

  I dreamt orange, red and yellow poppies  were sprouting from my legs...   I used a small hand mower to shave the wild flowers and they regrew. You are nature , I was told. In my winter garden, I see the plants resting as I breathe the mistiness of the frosty dew. I feel the wet moss underfoot. I feel the icy ground water seep into my aching soul as I tap into a dormant leaf of my crimson heart; we share the same veins. I see myself as a garden transforming through the  seasons. The colors are muted shades of raw honey, weather worn as a piece of driftwood and somehow itching to be reborn. ~Photograph by the author~ My garden has stories, like we all do. I remember who gave me what plant or which ones were rescued from the half-price bin. I take home the neglected plants and tend to them like they are an extension of me. The bedraggled, brownish and limped leaf ones are often the strongest and most radiant given some l...

As for all poets, poetry is for me a vessel - a way, a channel - by which I am able to reflect, consolidate, heal when needed and move forward...  Of course, it can also be a way to express the simplest ideas - a way of holding everyday things up to the light and enjoying the way they sparkle. Painting by Kimberly Crick We are now in The Year of the Serpent , according to the Chinese Zodiac. It comes round once every twelve years. I wrote my poem, “Serpent” years ago now - in 1998 - before the last “Year of the Serpent”. For me, this poem holds elements of all the reasons I write. It’s a reflective poem, looking at my self and how I deal with life, how as human beings we all, to an extent, manifest elements of the serpent, in the way we get knocked back and damaged and need to crawl into our holes for a while before shedding that old skin and moving on to bask in the sunlight again. It’s also a celebration of life and the fact that we are part of t...