Quickthaw

Thawing from the roof of my dwelling - March 2019

 Quickthaw

Complex system of sculptured ice,
glacial in nature,
caused by pressures and shifts,
floes and fissures –
moored deep, deep within
 a genuinely warm-hearted being.
Though thawing has been part of her process,
one day faultless conditions clear the way for
a quickthaw.
A flash flood follows
with truly torrential emotions
busting loose her banks.
She is there, in it,
at the same time an observer,
marveling at the beauty
of diverging flows.
She experiences a curious sense of safety,
a distinct ability to be with it, without it,
profit from its power.
Secure in her vessel that,
though tossed about,
stays the course,
is steadfast and right.
And, then…
things settle into a slow and steady melt,
a sliding into newness yet again,
residue dripping away with gentle abandon.
That which remains rearranges to find its rightful place
as she dwells in Light, swells with Love.
Familiar kaleidoscope effect with
an energy that is novel and needed
as her lens becomes more and more clear.
This quickthaw has a power
 that once may have made her fearful,
but now she can embrace
for the healing it produces,
the hope it fosters,
the truth it sets free.

Sarah Carlson

March 25, 2019

A Perfect Storm

A Perfect Storm

Some things are simply futile.

There's literally nothing one can do.

And, yet, there can be a sense of constant demand.

Try this, fix that, come to the rescue.

But you can't fix someone else's brokenness

or rescue them from being stuck in their own muck.

And you shouldn't be expected to.

However, that can be part of the challenge.

You've been groomed to try and try

and try again,

no matter what.

You are yanked in disparate directions,

trapped in the midst of irrational forces.

One day, though, you begin to realize

that you don't have to yield to their energy

any longer

and you slowly,

bit by bit,

claim your freedom.

It may be that some time,

when you're in a place of healing,

those forces converge

for a perfect storm.

Multiple fronts crash into each other and,

though you thought you had already 

given voice to the distress,

your body simply needs to express.

You ride the storm surge,

tossed this way and that,

eventually emerging to calmer waters.

It's a struggle to pull away from the trappings

and come back,

but you do.

It may not feel like quite the same place

and you are stronger, wiser, and so much more free.

Queasy and a bit off balance,

you orient more distinctly to the truth of you,

your place in the world.

You trust that the residual

pitching and rolling will settle,

the pressures that precipitated

a perfect storm will separate and dissipate

as they blow farther and farther away.

It begins to dawn on you 

that you are actually rescuing yourself.

Though gently unsettled,

you feel buoyant, secure, and right.

Sarah Carlson

March 12, 2019

Confluence

 

Confluence

Wispy, pink and mauve clouds drift soundlessly
across an early March sky.
Dusk approaches as more vibrant colors
spread across the horizon.
Waxing crescent moon seems to follow the sun
in the ongoing interplay of celestial bodies.
Banks of snow appear solid,
though they shift and settle with
temperature fluctuations
of longer, brighter days.
Stoic, sleepy trees stand ready
for sap to flow
with awakening.
Warm-hearted woman
takes a moment
to gaze upward
and inward,
smiling at the confluence
of completion,
emergence,

cyclical phases,
and the ever-present promise of
new beginnings.

Sarah Carlson

March 9, 2019