Hi there,
My feet haven’t traveled that far,
but emotionally I’ve been down long paths, through dark valleys
and am currently climbing a mountain.
I haven’t reached the top yet,
will send you another postcard of
the view when I do!
But the progress is quite beautiful,
wish you could see it,
Bye for now.
Laura Berry (Napowrimo Day 7 – 2024)
Sometimes when we change we have to go back to a child again. Through layers of expectation and judgments. Learning things we already knew but in a different way. Something was missed and we go back to relearn it. That can feel humiliating as an adult, so we avoid letting go and embracing the flow of change. Learning to care for yourself but this time with love. Learning to walk again but this time with purpose. Whether through circumstance or choice. In order to heal the onion needs to be peeled back to reveal the cause in the child we once were. Where it started, the place we should have grown but we didn’t. Moments of gratitude that went over our heads in a whirlwind of chaos. Trauma that got tied up and dragged behind us. Never felt and never free. Let’s not judge adults who are brave enough to go backwards into the child and relearn because we ought to follow them.
Laura Berry
When you heal, things shift
People disappear, even close ones
What happens to you changes
The environment morphs and rearranges
There is a time in-between
Where there is silence and unease
Like time has stopped
But then starts moving in another direction
Colours seem more rich
While your destination is unknown
But you know inside it’s better
You feel lighter while the old drops away
To be replaced by a space that’s new
When we heal, our world moves
And who comes with us will change
Dependent on their soul moving too
The shift is good and true
No need to resist it
A better place awaits for you
Laura Berry
Poetry is a thought
suspended in silence.
A feeling from the heart
that hangs in the air.
You can walk through
or listen.
There is no need to reply,
unless you want to hang
your own poem in the sky.
A sacred space
that invites reflection
in a moment of solitude.
It opens a door
into its own dimension.
A holier place
without noise or distraction.
A place where you can hear
the soft whispers of your soul.
Laura Berry
A time of reflection.
I´m glued to the pan
for half an hour,
stirring and stirring,
slowly watching rice expand.
And when it does
i´m not aware when it happened,
i´m so focused on the journey,
its preparation and even movement,
i don´t see its transformation
from a pan of water
into a party of colour.
And when did the aroma
get so good?
I can´t pinpoint the moment
it went from chaos
into the divine.
I just knew it would be fine
if i kept stirring.
Laura Berry (Napowrimo Day 29 – 2023)
A walk through our soul gardens
and we may find a gate,
one that won´t budge
for the weight in front of it.
The baggage we carry,
won´t let us pass.
The frame is narrow,
it´s rusted with judgments,
self defense and fears.
But on the other side
is space, sunlight and flowers
we are yet to see.
Force won´t open the gate,
nor pleading.
Only naked footsteps will
reveal its healing.
When we realise it is us,
when the chains on our feet are broken,
when our eyes and palms are open
and all that wasn´t needed is gone,
will the gentle rain dissolve the rust
and we will walk in freely.
Laura Berry (Napowrimo Day 22 – 2023)
The snowdrops sprung up
as the daffodils drooped down,
a strange time was this.
The peppermint had been and gone
like a winters kiss.
The ferns and grass had died
and the green that normally
shouts at your eyes,
was nowhere to be seen.
The bright yellow celandine were stark,
each plant stood out in the brown earth.
They seemed to like this change,
they were brave and bold in the dark
and welcomed lost feet to rejuvenate.
And the ground listened intently
to the chorus up above.
Healing balms and remedies
from the songs of the ring collared doves.
And the ladybirds too were rejoicing,
although my nails were full of mud,
they beckoned me to sit lower with them
and remember the gentleness of love.
I am the snowdrop i thought,
i am late but my growth is there.
The people i looked up to are gone,
like the daffodils drooped, just me here.
And the grass dying and the ferns
were lessons in humility to learn,
as i sit in the soil, no peppermint to
freshen my tongue,
just rain and the promise of life
yet to come.
The new is already arriving,
the forget-me-nots are forgotten
and the celandine are rising.
And God is ever present in the sky,
the garden is changing, but so am i.
Laura Berry (Napowrimo Day 8 – 2023)
Cluttered sight unable to see past eyelashes
until vision clears and the dam is seen and moved.
Murky water moving with the only purpose to reach somewhere greater,
the tides turn and churn the mud into salt.
A bud that awaits a bloom of beauty yet seen,
a sunrise on the horizon, the hope of a promised land.
A discordant bird clicking and clacking until a melody is found and shared,
the random notes, now rearranged
make perfect sense.
A solution that comes unexpectedly,
seemingly out of nowhere
but following the journey, it was always going to happen.
Laura Berry (Napowrimo Day 2 – 2023)
The Soul has an ear
One we stuffed a plug in
In hopes it’s longings
Would fade and decay
The pangs of love
Pulsate and pulsate
The plugs pushed out
Feelings overwhelm us
We push it in again
Now we are deaf
‘There is no soul!’ we say
While the heart throbs
A yearning a burning
Listen to me it says
Listen to your feelings
We don’t find it appealing
And polish our brains
All the while it’s throbbing
And throbbing, gets stronger
We can’t take it any longer
We hold our heart
Relief in the sound of our grief
Acceptance and change
Love rises, forgiveness shines
Our footsteps are more gentle
Now we are listening.
Laura Berry
That uncomfortable thing
where the familiar falls away
and you are standing
in the same spot
in a different place.
You don´t know what´s coming
but you know it´s not the same.
Outstretch your arms
in the sea of change,
embrace the unknown
to be lead to dreams.
Laura Berry (Napowrimo, Day 28, 2022)
Journey of a Bard 