The Turning

I explode all the tears that have circled my cage!
Enraged by the perils of fortune,
I erase all the fears that delivered my face
Toward a partner, who gave me corruption -
All the pain in my brow that allowed me to shame,
All the waste in my heart that fed my self-blame,
All the retched excuses protecting your name
When your heart could not find my direction.

I release these like sand at the edge of a cliff,
Falling toward God at the bottom.
I surrender my heart to divide and desist
From the story, that led my destruction.
As a fool I was young with an innocent eye,
As a soul I forgot how to leap for the sky,
As a widow I sang only songs that would die,
As a woman I know this deception.

My eyes have discovered the bleakness of doubt,
That leaves me to whither alone and without.
My brain knows the truth of who I can be,
I have lived by the wind - I was born in the sea.
For dreams to be waves of wonder divined
By the compass of breath, and the fabric of time,
My hopes must engage with the hurricanes cleanse,
That strips away all that cannot be my friend.

Life waits for no one, this choice is my own,
To be what I choose, to name my life poem,
Alive in the metaphor, filling with truth,
Turning my histories written in youth,
Into the songs that my dear ones will sing,   
Extolling the magic I learned how to bring,    
By trusting in instincts, untwisted by pain,
And leaving the shadow that tarnished my name.

The turning has happened. I cannot go home,
For the future is calling me into unknowns,
Where the path will present me a morning dove call,
And the night will embrace who I am as I fall.
There is no requite for the love I have missed,
It sighs in the dew and sleeps in the mist,
It dies with the sun, and births me to see   
What lies beyond words invented by me -

Hallowed thy name, that cannot be said,
Alive in my soul, my water and bread,
Spirit of centuries endlessly living,
Bringing all nourishment, selflessly giving,
Oh nature, my mother, you showed me the way,
How beauty is endless, through night and through day.
I hear your entreaty to never defend
The past as a glory, for that has no end.

This is your wisdom like nectar from stone,
To allow all the love newly born as my own,
Committing to life with sword and a shield,
Brave with compassion, willing to feel,
Releasing all ties that hold back my heart,
With the power of truth, every step is a start.
I will share your true blessing –that is your embrace,
- To carry my wisdom through actions of grace.


 © 2013 Lisa Rafel