If you don’t own your own mistakes
acknowledge your culpability
you can never move on.
Your improvement depends on
self-awareness.
Know your weakness, so you
can overcome.
poem-moment January 9, 2016
That was it.
You felt it, hovering,
the possibility of change.
You knew you only had to take a step
and life would never be the same.
You felt the moment filled with possibility
and stepped back urgently,
to familiar
mediocrity.
poem-seeds January 1, 2016
We are planted
with potentiality;
white blanketed rest bids us wait
until spring gives us the urge to rise
to skies and find our fate.
poem-exorcise December 23, 2015
Pen strokes
Keyboard strikes
Ghosts exorcised by words;
Freedom found from phantoms.
New worlds
opened for exploration.
poem-learning November 29, 2015
The journey brings learning.
What do you do?
How has it evolved this way?
What do you want to change?
Eyes open.
Ears open.
So much to learn from those
who’ve gone ahead.
poem- sliced 2 October 2, 2015
I was numb,
but I felt the gentle line you drew
across my skin, blade slicing deep.
You stretched me open,
revealed my patched bones,
unscrewed the metal holding me together.
Oh, you sewed me back together,
taped over the black sutures,
and here I lie, propped up against realities,
hoping for the best.
.
.
.
It sounds so lovely and metaphorical, but it’s literal. 🙂 Successful surgery this week to remove the plates and screws that repaired my broken fibula last January. The screws were working out on their own and causing a fair bit of pain. Looking forward to returning to regular, pain-free mobility very soon!
poem- next September 7, 2015
The next adventure
awaits the sunrise.
Have faith it’ll be better
than you surmise.
Poem- Power I August 30, 2015
The power crept quietly
on a satisfied sigh
on a grin of delight
on a curl of contentment
on a determined advance
on an astonished completion
on undeniable accomplishment,
success of a dream.
poem- limping March 5, 2015
The physiotherapist
rolls, stretches, and manipulates
my ankle joint.
Push here.
Pull there.
Between parallel bars
re-learn to walk:
roll from the heel,
flex that joint.
Let go.
If you rely on the supports
and are too tender with the joint
you’ll continue to limp.
Your body will think it must,
even when the joint is healed.
How many other ways
am I limping in my life?
How many other ways
should I re-learn to walk?
.
For Jody and Anita
poem-there March 3, 2015
Midnight sun
your bright glow
matches my summer soul.
Midday night
your sky indigo
I hibernate and am made whole
Northern land
that journey long ago
taught me a heart has many homes.
.
.
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A rumination on my Rotary youth exchange year in Finland.
Do you have a place that changed your philosophy and perspective? Share your poetry or leave a comment about it at https://shawnbird.com/poetic-diversity-project/
We’d love to hear your voice!
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Shawn L. Bird 