Paradox Haiku (for M) Asleep and awakeI’m straddling paradoxReaching for Moon’s smile
Poem 223 – Remember What You Did
Remember What You Did Remember when you did that? When you bought a one-way ticketto fly out west by yourself?Remember stuffing your green backpack so full the seams whimpered?Remember all the aloneness? How youleaned into it? How it lifted the weightof the planet off your shoulders as theplane soared over the rockies? Remember how you needed to golike… Continue reading Poem 223 – Remember What You Did
Poem 222 – Ritual
Ritual I pull the twisting line of lavender sagesmoke over my heart with the strong backboneand supple edges of a turkey feather Help me, I whisper into the burning curl of moving shadow when I try to touch the smoke it curves around my fingersa reshaping wispbecoming more itself as it liftsspreads and dissipates into… Continue reading Poem 222 – Ritual
Poem 221 – Poem note
Poem note Dear Tomorrow – May I remember to keepall the promises I madeto myself today: Start with sageAsk for helpChoose kindnessBe gentle Under the veil of shadowsforgiveness holds a torchlit with the love it’s okayto give to myself.
VANESSA SHIELDS 