Journey of the Heart

I wrote this poem at a workshop with an aboriginal leader…   …and with another amazing shaman near Brisbane Australia.  We were sent to sit in nature and reflect and this is what came forth.  'Tree Meditation' by Catherine L. Schweig The Gift The tree was burnt and charred like parts of me And yet so Alive like all of me The tree is me and I am the tree As I sat with my back against it even in its death It totally supported me in my life it was not dead it stood Alive Mother Earth is your seat. She is solid under you and you stand tall on her And grandfather spirit came into me. "I know he said that you had no grandparents I am here" " I know he said that you had no mother yet Mother Earth is here" You shall walk upon the earth as teacher as student as lover as friend As rain we shall be your tears As sun we will be your heart As blue sky we shall be your happiness As clouds we will float you on heavens door And yet you will wal...

As I work through the memories and truths of my childhood…   …there was a poignant day in my journey that will forever be in my memory as one of my most significant. Even as the sun rose, I knew its lasting impact, but then there were only 35 words I could write to mark it… I Greet The Dawn Today I sit in remembrance. Recounting the innocence. Recalling the sorrow. I give myself up to grief. Letting go of my protective shield. Allowing truth to shine, to burn. I greet the dawn with reverence. ~ Mariann Martland   is discovering a voice in her life through words, poetry, art, inspiration and healing. She is learning the difference between enforced silence in the despair of loneliness and chosen silence in the beauty of solitude; how silence can create both pain and peace. She is beginning to find her voice and share her truth. She would love to connect with you on  Twitter ,...

Poetry has given me the ability to feel deeply, and to express what so many can’t… I think we’ve been given voices to share with those around us, and sometimes you just bless someone without even knowing it. When our words bleed on paper, that potential always exists. Eternally if I could, somehow, dive into the depths of your soul where solitude seems to live I would calm the storms, my love redirect the winds of despair
 and carry your burden that 
has become too ponderous  to bare if I could, somehow, light
 up the darkness that engulfs your heart
 I would pluck stars from the heavens and shine the moon in your hours of dark if I could touch you but once, my dear for you to feel the flames of love I endure
 you would forever bask in my warmth if I could kiss you, paint your lips with mine you would feel our souls intertwine -and my love- if we were to become one 
the light of my endearment
 -that I have consta...

We are all on a Journey to reach our Highest Self… This is the Self that knows and sees all things, the Self that is Holy among the Holy, the Self that originates from the Central Sun, the Self that is inside us all.   This poem is about seeing the journey for what it is, letting go of attachment, and calling out to the others that I see on my path who are speaking from their Souls. We must recognize our joined Spirits striving towards the goal of being truly free.  Be Coming  Hold all my aching and growing, make your body a vessel for everything I have to fill you, it may not be much but it might just be everything. I have heard the soul is shaped like a bowl a reversed dome of the Heavens, we are golden receptors of beauty, magnets that pull stars into our lowest points  until they build towers of light from our sternums. Rise and fall chest, metronomic movement of body keeping t...

There comes a time in a woman's life when words can no longer speak the truth of who she is… Essence is a fragrance that transcends ordinary language. It is in this doorway between who we have been and who we are becoming that a great stillness descends. A silence so complete that a new language is born within. As the depth of night gives way to daybreak, the soul begins to speak for us. Daybreak I used to find words Delicate instruments To dissect and detail Phrases to cut through Chaos and confusion Releasing the tender center Searching now for those sounds The ghostly shape of syllables Clinging to my tongue Patiently waiting for their colors Returned to this landscape The ever-faithful guides Yet, some things have no name Translations are lost or forgotten And still, here they are all the same. 'Daybreak' Acrylic and paper on canvass by Salyna Gracie Photography by Yuko Ishii  Salyna Gracie  is the direc...

  The longest day, is a time to celebrate the sun’s warmth and light… Summer Solstice brings me to the gathering of women, we walk the Labyrinth; we give of our intentions and gather with the beating drums.   It is a time of renewing and lifting our heart’s desires into the light.  May we always honor this season with laughter and gratitude, for its warmth and summer glowing! Ascendance of Light ascendance of light, warms our summer sky- rising with brightness, clothing the day- with delight. opens our sky with illumination- as we gather in celebration, the flowering of the- sun’s full bloom. resting so high, kissing the night with the fragrance, of fire- we gather our desires, as they burst- from our souls, dancing to the rhythm of the drums, they move to the beating- of our hearts, we hold ourselves open- to bring this longest day, our intentions, summer solstice- yes day of all days, as we unite, ce...

I have been reading Pema Chodron… And what I know is, you can’t run away from life. Not from its messiness, its uncomfortable moments, it often brings you to your edge of fear. Come with an open heart, living it, breathing it while you can. We are human to spirit, we capture all of it, as life comes to us and we take it all in.   'Sunny Days' by Martina Havlová Photography Live a Life live a life, give it my pondering- give it my wondering, give it my being- with it as I breathe. live a life, with its capturing- its redemption, and shattering- its bringing, and taking, all in my waking- live a life, and be. live a life, that holds your- flame to the stone, you are not alone- a heart that’s- your own, can not break- the cord, it now holds- tethered to your soul. live a life, human to spirit- breathing in all of it, whatever-   it gives you, whatever- lives, right through you, and you- live right ...