My Voice

Image from: www.abearsden.com

I have found my voice.

I am not sure where or when

I lost it,

but I found it

today,

inside me.

I recognized it immediately

as it lifted

from my heart

and resonated

with my soul

and sang

a verse of truths

that are my deepest secrets

and longings.

Thanks,

but I no longer need your words:

Mom, Dad,

teacher,

preacher,

lover,

loyal soldier,

mass media,

passerby,

Mr. President.

Please reclaim the voices

in my head,

at my ears,

behind my back.

I gift them to you

without reluctance

or regret.

Take them in ribbon

and fancy wrappings.

Come join me,

a nice glass of wine

and a porch swing with

a mountain view.

Sit back,

listen.

This is the sound of

my voice.

(c) 2003-2011/Jamie K. Reaser
Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" (www.hiraethpress.com)

Pachamama's Homecoming

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

Women of the Q'ero Nation, Peruvian Andes,
during despacho ceremony honoring Pachamama
(Mother Earth/Cosmic Mother)

Sun Sol rise.

Caress the breasts of the Andes,

warm our hearts corizons,

illuminate

our perch

among the worlds mundos.

Hanaq pacha.

All that is Above.

Kay pacha.

Earth,

Water,

Weighted Beings.

Ukhu pacha.

All that is Below.

Take Love as the llave key,

open the puerta door

to everything and nothing.

Hummingbirds come.

Hummingbirds come

build your bridges,

Colibri Puentes,

across planes of reality,

heart to heart,

make way for our prayers

to travel far.

The power to

heal Her

is in the intent

intento

to heal your

attachments

to Her.

By candlelight enflamed

and breath kissed,

muchos besos,

coca leaves:

Santa Tierra Pachamama.

Holy Earth, Mother of All Things.

Taita Inti.

Father Sun.

Chaskiwayku.

Receive me.

Yanapawayku.

Help me.

Ñanta kichawayku.

Open me.

Pijchuwayku.

Cleanse me.

Hampiwayku.

Heal me.

Little spirit, espiritu,

hovers,

vibrates,

transforms

bones of skeleton

and fear

like stones

rumis into quays.

Radiant feathers, plumas,

turn

into bright brown eyes,

smiles, sonrisas,

plumes of children

in costume

and laughter.

Souls dance their

way home,

nuestra casa,

taking their place

within community.

By candlelight enflamed

until Sun, Sol,

caresses the Andes

twice more

amidst the infinite,

infinito.

~ Jamie K. Reaser, Author

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Understanding

Image: origin unknown

I had been settled and gleaming

before grabbed and cast

across the surface.

One, skim, ripples

Two, skim, ripples

Three, skim, ripples

A three skipper!

And as I sunk

into the murky depths

all the way to the ancient muck bottom

Life simply turned and

sought another.

Only the serpent coiled in the willows knew

I had been displaced,

and would never return.

Stillness became my greatest longing

as I tumbled,

over and over again,

fragmented,

pushed and pulled

by currents that I could not rest long

enough to understand,

my edges constantly challenged

and defeated.

I grew

smaller.

Forces humbled me at every opportunity.

Interchangeably,

I grieved for the falsely satisfying memory

of who I had been,

I righteously questioned purpose,

faith, and forgiveness.

Then one day,

years well beyond count since

I had passed

before the Witness’ eye,

A young child’s determined hand

drizzled me onto the uppermost

point of a sandcastle,

And I understood

the need for the journey

as it was.

(c)2009-2018/Jamie K. Reaser
Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" 

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Departing Rome

Photo: (c) Jamie K. Reaser

 

Let’s say you took a trip to Rome

and never got to see the sites.

All the places from childhood texts:

The Coliseum,

Arche di Constantino,

Fontana di Trevi,

Vatican,

remained to you as they were,

photos and stories.

But on your way to and from business meetings,

you passed a wall.

And embedded in that wall was a piece of white marble,

nestled there amidst ancient mortar and dreams.

It caught your eye,

again, once more, and again.

And each time you had the opportunity

you stopped,

greeted it,

and memorized something about its features:

The way the light reflects from its crystalline structure

under cover of sun or cloud or moon or lamp,

the chiseled edges and weather worn surface,

the hardness.

Irregularities of cut.

Perfection of being.

Until, it became etched upon your mind’s eye

and you knew,

knew with all the certainty of the Fates,

it would never leave this place.

Would that be enough for you?

To know one rock fragment

in one of the many walls of glorious Rome

in passing moments of eternal intimacy?

Yes.

Indeed.

For, this is what Life offers us in its most generous

of honest truths…

a construction of passing moments

with no guarantee of more

in which we can choose

to be fully present with another,

or not.

To see them so clearly that some aspect of their

essence permanently strengthens our Vision,

gives rise to fantastic works of art

within us,

or not.

So,

know, Dear One, that…

departing Rome,

I shall remember you,

this way.

© 2008-2013/Jamie K. Reaser 

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" (www.hiraethpress.com)

Parental Advice

Photo: Meredith McKown
http://www.mckownphotography.com/index.html

Old souls behind

child eyes,

masters of power

in hand-me-downs.

When you reach low to

tie their shoes

remember to kneel in

respect.

Listen at least as often

as you tell.

Learn more than you teach.

Through their missteps, scrapes,

and tears, come to know

compassion.

Joining in their spirited play,

surrender to joy.

You’ve been blessed

with the holy sacrament

of tending –

Midwifing your own soul’s

rebirth.

© 2010-1209/Jamie K. Reaser

Published in "Note to Self: Poems for Changing the World from the Inside Out" 
Deep gratitude to Meredith McKown for sharing her beautiful photography

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