No Longer a Threat

This African violet has been through a lot. Barry gave it to me on February 14, 2002 - our last Valentine's Day. We didn't really have any sort of regular way to celebrate that particular holiday, but for some reason that year he decided to give me this gift.
It has weathered a house renovation during which it was shoved in a corner of an upstairs bedroom that wasn't particularly warm, and being watered very sporadically during that time. It has been tipped over on a few occasions - once after I had it re-potted at the store where he bought it because I thought it was dying, and once when I took it to someone's house to be part of an extremely healing experience - again on the way home. And yet it thrives.

No Longer a Threat

A hole in the screen,
a break in the skin,
a door left open.
A worry that something will
infiltrate, infect, fester.
A constant sense of jeopardy
rooted in origins
both understood and not.
This powerful effect of the wound
is losing its potency
as boundaries are determined
and continue to fortify
in such a way as to allow
benevolent permeability.
All the while the true taproot
grows stronger
with life-giving liquids circulating
 more and more freely.
Mind settling,
heart nurturing,
 soul fostering –
dynamic and sure
they surge and swirl,
providing a fullness
that is at the same time
 fresh and familiar.
Truth spirals,
grace expands,
love swells,
and there simply is
no longer a threat.

Sarah Carlson

June 19, 2018