Spirit Home and Poetry Month

The other day, my post was about finding your "genius," and letting it "flow" through you.  I gave the example of my friend, Cathy, and the poem she wrote to go along with one of her paintings.

My friend, Becky, read the post and requested the full poem, so with Cathy's permission, here it is:

Spirit Home

By Cathy S Kerry ~ 4/15/21

Canyonlands (Needles) is my Spirit Home -

Where all the sticky ego thoughts

Are blown clean from my Soul - 

By the warm and gentle desert breeze,

By the clear cyan-colored summer sky,

Through which my Spirit soars pure and free,

Unfettered by all space and time -

The horizon stretching further than the eye can see.

This is my true home - my Spirit Home,

Where I have always belonged.

Nature was my first love, my true mother,

My first god -

Alone in the desert, I know I have come home.

Billions of shimmering diamond stars

Carpet the dark night sky

And blanket me with love

Whilst I sleep.

The burnt-orange desert rock

Of frozen sandcastles

Whispers to me of eons past -

Of my Anasazi ancestors,

Of ancient sea beds, frozen in time.

Upon the cool desert sandstone,

Under a blazing blue summer sky,

I lay my head to rest

In shadowy crevices

Of time-carved rock -

Caressed by the cool stone surface

Of this resting spot -

I pause in my long 9-mile,

Flip-flop journey - 

From camp to Druid Arch and back again.

It is on this pilgrimage I sense

The spirit world - as near to me as breath.

Trekking through sandy washes, past desert brush,

Crimson paintbrush, and yellow blooming cactus -

With only bright blue desert sky above

And cathedral sandcastles all around -

The air so quiet, still and calm,

I'd hear a bobcat sneeze from miles away.

Here, alone, in this majestic expanse

Of Needles, Canyonlands -

Here, and only here, I've found

My true, beloved, Spirit Home.

 

Bonus Poem from Cathy:

Flicker, Oh Flicker!

You clownish woodpecker!

Rat-a-tat-tat

On your metal post -

Just for the pure pleasure of the act -

The dopamine rush

Of woodpecker beak tapping metal.

Oh, how you love the sound

Of your new-found power -

Your Morse-code message to the World,

Your self-made drumbeats.           

Now, how about a challenge for you, my loyal reader!  April is National Poetry Month and there are a lot of resources to help your inner poet have a voice!

Though I have my hands full this month with other writing projects,  here are some posts from the past where I've dabbled in poetry myself.  Cathy inspires me to want to do more!

Come share a poem you've written or one that you especially like on the Carpe Diem Connections Facebook Group!