🌊 The Un-keepers

a poem + River Roundup

my daughter (“Twin 1”) looking out on the New River Gorge this past weekend

Here’s an explorative poem (not a “Serenity Splash”) that came out of my thoughts and feelings about being a mother in this current era.

We are not the cycle keepers,
   but its breakers. 
We decline to keep
   the pattern.

We came from mothers
   who had to keep 
   their silence, keep
   up appearances, keep 
   the men happy.
We do not want to keep
   doing that.

Our mothers came from mothers
   who had to keep
      calm and carry on
   in dire situations.
We honor them best
   by climbing higher 
      than they could.

Our work is to expand, to keep
   not the peace, but space
for the nuanced needs
   of bodies and hearts--
      our children's,
      our downtrodden neighbors',
and most of all, our own.

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River Roundup

Section posts since last time

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~ ~ New section ~ ~

⛲Fiction Fountain

a place for short fiction reflecting on themes of inner growth, struggles, and healing

⛲Fiction Fountain: “Traffic Jam”

“Always in the past she had stuck by Eden, helping to calm her and make peace when her temper rose. But maybe she was getting tired of this.”

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🖋️Writer’s Waters

🖋️ The Process behind the Story

a new-to-me story-writing process that I’m really enjoying

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🪷Serenity Splashes

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🪷 What’s Underground Is What Matters Most

a shape poem

                   I   try   to   be   
       strong   like   a   great   oak
           but  the   winds   of   life
  (the   work   to   do,   the   mouths   
      to   feed,   need    after    need,
 and   everywhere   so    much   suffering)
       would    push    and    pull    me
                     till    I    break   
                          unless 
                          I  stay
                        connected 
                          tightly
                          to   the 
                          unseen
                      underground
                           center 
                    of my lifeforce--
my real experience in each present moment,
                       my  feelings,    
               thoughts,  and   needs,    
             as   they    are,   not   as  
               I    wish    them   to   be,      
         relating  to  them  with  kindness--     
        for    what's    underground   is   what     
      matters    most--   what   keeps   me    
standing    strong,    whatever   winds   come.

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🪷my to-do list

note to self

My to-do list is not:
   a promise
   a contract
   a slave master
   an assignment for a grade
   or a god.

My to-do list is just:
   a memory aid
   of things I want 
   and need to do
   when I can.

My to-do list is like:
   a wishlist for Santa
   a bingo card
   a handful of tossed wildflower seeds
   or lottery numbers to play.

Life doesn't care
   about my plans;
I'll get what I get today--
   that's all.

But I can care
   about my wellbeing
and do what I can today--
   that's all.

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