“Draw alongside the silence of stone, until it’s calmness can claim you.”
― John O’Donohue
As the sands move with the tide
they gather
and then let go,
currents knowingly flow..
The beach rises and falls.
Sea shells and stones embed themselves
in the rock’s memory
as if to remind us
that these rocks were once a beach.
It’s like us as we change
we retain the memories of our past,
it makes us who we are today,
maybe a little complicated
but beautiful nonetheless…
©AllysoAlly2023
“Do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know the side you are used to is better than the one to come.”
― Rumi
I watch at the turning
of the tides,
knowing I’m one with the great design.
In natural movements I ebb and flow,
feeling high
sometimes feeling low!
In fellowship with this gentle stream
I breathe in deeply
I am redeemed
by the waters as they naturally shift
it’s in this moment I coexist
with the rhythm
of the moving sands
where mother nature makes no demands.
Surrendered
I rise and fall,
from time to time
I clumsily crawl.
But I acknowledge the grace
of a changing earth,
it resembles the journey of my soul’s rebirth…
©AllysoAlly2023
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.”
– 1 Corinthians 13 1
If darkness threatens you,
keep looking for light
If winds bowl you over
let the earth
hold you tight…
Let the mystery of angels
be your eternal guide,
ushering you back
to where holiness abides..
Grow back into the greenery
of your truest self,
leave fear behind you
and go to where loveliness dwells..
Confessions of sadness
had swept you away
yet under the blue skies you constantly pray…
Love will never leave you
nor extinguish your glow,
For you exist in realms
where grace overflows…
©AllysoAlly2023
I have not been present lately, just clinging to the shattered pieces, I am still one with the Universe..
“I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion–and where it isn’t, that’s where my work lies.”
― ram dass
If you want to see humanity
at its most splendid,
sit for a while with those
who have known great suffering.
Drink from the water-cooler
of life with those who have very little worldly wealth.
Cry with those who have faced terrible darkness.
Join in with the song
of the survivors
who made it to the other side..
You will find yourself in kinship
with the most beautiful expressions of humanity
poured out..
The trees will dance for you
the skies will open up
and butterflies will visit you on tender wings.
You will find yourself rejoicing
in the divinity of humankind…
©AllysoAlly2023
Someone asked me what is the point of poetry and from her emptiness, I spoke…
That wealth may not be amassed by mere words,
but only the riches of gentle thought,
that our own tears may flow together
with the rest of humanity.
That our small light may bring light
to someone else’s darkness.
That our depth of understanding
may lift someone out of their own inner chaos
and reacquaint them with joy.
So that wounded mortals will rise
on tides of loveliness
like flowers blossoming in the darkness
because we have helped them belong
to the beauty of everything with words.
It is sunshine and even rain that
enables us to flourish.
No, our words have not brought us great wealth
like dollars or rubles.
We have not chased after such things,
rather we have found the lonely
and the afflicted
in far corners of the earth
and we have fed their souls
with loving kindness
and the magic of words.
Words fly to them on wings of faith,
like prayers,
unfettered by ambition or greed.
Words have the power to bring us back to life
and reconnect us to the divine,
and to reawaken our higher selves.
No, my friend poetry has not brought money
into the coffers,
but rather it has brought contentment,
a true wealth of faith made whole.
It has brought us friends who love
just because love is their way.
It has brought watercolor pictures into the minds-eye.
The riches of poetry are plain to see,
they encircle the globe.
You read books but not poetry,
have you become wiser
and more compassionate from these?
Search your heart for the meaning of life,
Search the archives of great poets
such as Rumi and Rainer Maria Rilke
and you will find joy and sorrow entwined.
You will find prophecy and wisdom
beyond what time ever imagined.
You will see through the eyes of great suffering and joy
and you will meld with the light of every being.
You will become a blend of heaven and earth.
Poetry is a message beyond the veil,
a channel of something more beautiful
than can be bought with money.
If you can’t find meaning in poetry that’s okay,
your time has not yet come,
for you are not ready to behold the loveliness
that resides deep inside you and enfolds you everyday.
Everything in this world will pass away
but love will remain
and the articulate ones, the sages,
the ones fluent in mystical things
will recite the most beautiful stories
your heart cannot imagine.
Go with them into the glory of what is, and is to come…
All you need is a spark to rekindle
that which you were born to recognize with your heart…
I wrote this a year ago and it still feels relevant!
©AllysoAlly2022
Stormy overtures
the reviews are in,
summer’s gig is wearing thin.
Autumn creeps and clouds converge,
on grey horizons the call is heard.
Harbingers of what is to come
foretelling rains and a distant sun.
Though warmer days have not yet passed,
an autumnal attitude is being forecast.
Birds tarry with brighter days
in morning dew
and in matinees…
Change foretold by the songs of fall,
while the summer sun is acting small!
©AllysoAlly2022
“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”
– Rumi
Just recently I told the lady who used to be my domestic worker that my Stevie had died five years ago.
She works at the Spar Supermarket now and she didn’t know.
In that moment it hit me really hard, a sudden wave of grief nearly buried me under the floor boards.
It was as though he had only died yesterday. She was surprised and sad and very apologetic.
It brought up her own mother’s death and how hard it was not having her around. It also made me think of how complicated grief can be, because we all mourn in our own way. We as humans need to be respectful of each other’s sorrow and not pressure anyone into “just getting over it”!
I said to her that it’s okay, and that I’m alright, but truthfully, I’m not okay, it’s horrible and devastating and world shattering. It was as though I was trying with sheer willpower to make it all better, and pretend myself into being healed.
Our hearts lay shattered for a moment on that supermarket floor, but we didn’t shed a single tear, even though I wanted to wail and I’m sure she did too. It was actually a very holy moment, where our two hearts were united in grief, as though heaven opened up and surrounded us.
She had known Stevie, she had been in my house, and she only had kind words to say about him, saying that he was always friendly and polite to her, a pleasure to be around. I knew he was like that; he would sit with our gardener at lunch time and chat to him like they were best friends.
I didn’t just lose my son I lost an exceptional human being who was kind and smart and beloved by many. People who knew him always had good things to say about him.
It’s still hard for me to tell some people that he died, I can’t really reason why that is, but it’s something really deep, a knowing. It’s taken me a good 5 years just to be able to say that he died, as if saying it would suddenly make it real.
At times grief is so unexpected, it ambushes me. I observe the world around me just carrying on unintentionally oblivious of my pain, while I stand in a void of emptiness. There are so many triggers, some I don’t even know about, they sneak up on me and catch me unawares, some I am cognizant of and I prepare myself for them. I have had to be really gentle with myself and step ever so lightly into certain situations. There are some places I still won’t go though.
I’ve made a concerted effort to heal, to be able to find joy in the ruins, I do this to honor my Stevie, I know he would want me to. After all, I know where he is and I know what he’s doing, even if I can’t touch him or hold his hand in the physical, he is still present in my life.
The wound will never fully heal, I’ve come to accept that. When I’m around certain people and certain scenarios it hurts like crazy. I’m truly glad when people are told before-hand that he has died and I don’t have to break the news to them myself. It’s as though an angel goes before me to prepare the way.
Both this wonderful lady and I walked away that day united by the shock and horror of death, but with the knowledge that our loved ones are all around us, like guiding lights in a sometimes-dark world!
AllysoAlly 