You are no less a captive than the brightest wishing star
You are in no need of any type of ransom
For there are no chains that can hold you
No space that can keep you
You are as free as the ocean waves
You are a bird of sovereignty
Given wings of grandeur
Magnificent blended feathers of white
So mighty and bold, and ever so soft
Can you not see your perfection
Your beauty
Though you stand unmoved
With eyes stained in tears
Know there is no sadness
That cannot be liberated by thy very wings
My little dove of humanity
Why wait you
Go forward
Burst through
An angel to her mission
A mountaineer to his sheep
Slice across this imaginary bondage
Soar above the idleness of wrath, bitterness, and woe
They are but ash in the flame of forgiveness
Emancipate the weight of thy mind through acceptance
Break away from this dream land
Be as the blacksmith’s iron to fire
Bend in the heat of accordance
An ember endowed with source’s grace
Dear, dear compassionate one
Know you are amazement
Know you are joy
Wait no longer gentle bird of love
Emancipate your life
Embrace your wonderment
Liberate your essence
In the waters of truth
Washout all remnants of doubt
Bring rains to desert
Redeem your spirit’s calling
From sister malice
Redeem your growing passion
From brother fear
For you are not made for false imprisonment
Nor for substitutionary sacrifice
You are birthed without boundaries
Baptized in ceaseless acceptance
Delivered through eternal peace
Bathed in fountains of ever flowing benevolence
Retreat now from this forest of delusion
Play no more with painted ghosts and shadow makers
Resolved and renewed in this generation of truth
Set in motion your ordained and blessed flight
by Sam Craft
June 2012
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Sam Craft’s photos Maui 2012
“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
This morning I had a very healing chat with a sweet friend over tea at a local coffee house. She brought me a lovely bouquet from her house, and a red bandana to wipe my tears.
I am an abundance of wavering emotions. In the center is this deep gratitude for having the capacity to connect to beautiful beings of light, and to see my beauty reflected in their souls. I traveled a long road to get where I now stand, capable of seeing my own worth, and in turn, to see the intense magnificence of others’ spirits.
The experience of seeing another as pure light and radiating love is nothing short of a miracle. Everyone seems to have come alive, much like the perineal flower bursting anew after long winter’s snow. With everyone I touch, with each person that touches me, I am finding these beautiful mirrors of beauty, a thousand times a thousand opportunities to embrace the radiance within both myself and another. Along with this journey, comes this continual overwhelming of emotions.
I am much a splintered dam with waters rushing through. I know not what to expect or what to make of what is happening in my reality. But I know enough to stop the mind’s wonderings and questions. I know enough that in speaking my truth, that in honoring my authentic self, authentic needs and desires, that I have opened up to a world of rich opportunity, love, and grand joy. And with the joy, equal sorrow. I continue to swim and swim in my walk, as if above the ground below, and dog-paddling forward in an energy of purity.
I do not long to impress, convince, prove, or pretend.
Pretending was the first robe I shed.
Convincing another or longing to prove my point of view, that garment came off next.
And the third to disappear, the yearning to impress.
I no longer long for approval.
I am enough.
And I know this readily because you are enough.
The tears keep coming, the soldiers and troops from eons ago that gathered by the river preparing to march onward but never heard the bugle’s call. They come now, at my spirit’s beckoning, leading me onward, lifting me up beyond where I’d been.
I see more now. Perhaps because my true eyes are at last open.
And I trust more now.
I trust the unpredictability of the universe, the absence of knowing, the inability to plan, to expect, to will.
I have found the freedom in releasing.
I have finally understood the concept of “letting go,” in understanding nothing and no one is or ever will be mine.
I trust in the guiding light, whatever form one imagines this source or lack of source to be.
I just entirely trust.
The continued signs, continued recognitions and awakenings, remind me I am moving.
Not up or down, backwards or forward—but moving just the same. I only need to be. No more. No less.
The new theme for my life, I have decided, is breaking free. Breaking free of rigid restrictions I set upon myself. Breaking free of old tapes that replay messages that no longer serve a purpose in my growth. Breaking free of the box I put myself into in order to avoid living and feeling. Breaking free of fear. And breaking free of secrets.
Today I decided to break free of this idea that I can only post once a day. I notice that us poets sometimes need to post more. It’s our hearts, I gather, exploding with passion and angst, and this surging creativity that seemingly is rebirthed daily.
Sometimes I wait until the magic hour of midnight to post; just so I can post twice in a day, but I don’t really count that as posting twice. Turns out I’m about twelve days ahead of myself…my blog is living in the future. And I kind of wonder how I will catch up. Wonder what Sam is doing ahead of me.
I’m quite tired of living by structure and rules, especially my own. Tired of routine, expectations, and people-pleasing. Realizing I want to please myself—to honor my desires, wants, and dreams. And thusly, I’m posting again. And breaking free.
My ten-year-old son just handed me this sweet story he wrote.
Bunny
Turtle loved to play with his buddy fish. But one day a stranger came up to them while they were playing splash. “Hi. My name is Bunny can I play, too?”
“Yea. You can play.”
They were all playing but when they started to play under the water hide-and-go-seek, Bunny couldn’t breathe. Bunny asked if he could play another game.
“Can we play a different game?” he asked.
“No. We can’t. We like to play this game.”
Bunny came home that day very sad. His mom asked what was the matter. “Well, I was playing with some kids and they were playing a game I can’t play. So I asked it we could play a different game and they said, ‘no.'”
“Well, that wasn’t the nice thing to do,” his mom said.
“What’s nice, Mommy?”
“Well nice is being kind and caring and being polite.”
“Oh. Okay, But what do I do about it?”
“Find new friends that are nice to you. Okay?”
The next morning the bunny was hopping around and found the squirrel. “Hi. Want to play?”
“Yes. Let’s play!”
And they did, all day long.
When bunny got home, he was so happy.
His mom asked him, “Where were you?”
“Playing with squirrel!”
“Great. You found a new friend.”
“Yes. And he’s cool. Thank you, Mom.”
~ Robert C 2012
Thanks for being my new friend and being so flippin cool ~ Sam 🙂