Nice in Here

Nice in Here

I feel as if I’m moving
all the way in.
Like some places were off limits before,
or maybe were taken up by things
recently vacated.
Either way, I love the sensation
of filling in my own far reaches.
When it happens I access more keenly
that boundless expanse
I once thought did not include me.
 I have a limitless, unencumbered
sense of being,
a nowness that seamlessly blends
 wild child wonder
with poetic wisdom.
These words don’t really do justice
to what these feelings are like.
In fact,
as I watch my pencil
slide across the page of my journal,
hand illuminated by the evening sun,
it’s almost as if I don’t know
who is doing the writing,
though the described sensations
are strong and true.
Not a dissociation at all,
but more like a re-association
as my tender tones
settle into a sweet and steady harmony.
Simply a delightful newness of
my experience of me.
I like it
and I’m finding
that it’s really quite
nice in here.

Sarah Carlson

August 27, 2019

Right There, Right Then

White Point Beach, Nova Scotia

Right There, Right Then

Low fog lessens over the horizon
as waves swell, crest, roll–
again and again and again.
A mesmerizing cadence
that gently transfixes
those who sit and settle
on the rocky beach.
Seaweed sways back and forth,
accompanied by the sumptuous sound
of salty liquid lapping onto land.
Feet sink into soft sand
as body eases,
mind lulls,
spirit widens.
Breath moves with shared energy
as ocean rhythms meld
with inner tempos.
Nothing to do
but be

 right there,
right then.

Sarah Carlson

August 19, 2019

Incoming Tides

Hopewell Rocks - New Brunswick, Canada

Incoming Tides

Strong and solid she stands,
despite diverse forces that
once threatened her core.
A near constant barrage of things that,
looking back,
she understands were not of her
or about her.
However, they did
create discord where
harmony should have been.
More and more she internalizes
that those days are over,
need not injure her any further.
She can almost see herself
as a miracle of survival
when her rhythms hum
with lively abandon –
like waves rolling
onto a sandy beach,
water dispersing to wherever
it needs to go.
It is her health,
the beam of her inner truth,
that leads the way,
has all along.
More and more she feels its warmth
can bask in its vitality,
comprehends its boundless nature.
She experiences the effect

 of her genuine presence,

both within herself and on others,
relaxes ever more deeply
into her being
as sediments stir and settle
with incoming tides
of assurance, peace, awareness,
and Love.

Sarah Carlson

August 12, 2019

In the Stillness

Oak Island, Nova Scotia

 

 

In the Stillness

Ever so slowly sunlight widens
as night gives way to morning.
Though birds do chitter
and soft breezes stir,
there’s a serene quiet 
to those moments of transition
as human rhythms thrum.
Keen mind settles,
 gentle heart pulsates,
breath comes easily.
As she wakens and reflects,
she notices
a deeper sense of immersion.
In the activity of
sharing stories
with new people,
pedaling long distances
on unfamiliar roads,
letting go of a
need to hold back
 or keep up,
a novel aspect of calm presents.
In the stillness
there exists an ever more
vivid, dynamic, limitless
sense of being.

Sarah Carlson

August 11, 2019

A Sense of Place

Our wonderful kayak guide during our snack stop in Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia

I recently had the good fortune of being invited to join a group for a Pedal and Sea Adventures bike and kayak vacation. It was an amazing week of pedaling along the southern shores of Nova Scotia. In the middle of the week we went on a four hour guided kayak expedition by Pleasant Paddling. This poem came both from that experience and that of having two bike guides who had given us a sense of place in the prior days, sharing with us so much about this part of Nova Scotia, which is their home. I'm so grateful to have had these experiences and to return to my own special place in the world, my home, as well.

A Sense of Place

The group follows their gentle guide
along a shoreline formed by
foliated slabs of blue-gray slate.
Every so often they pause to listen
to his tales of flora, fauna,
history of the area.
Fish shacks, golden seaweed,
varied birds, curious seals
all a part of the experience.
The manner in which
 he delivers his message
gives the listener a deep
sense of place
as his pride and youthful wisdom
weave their way
 into and through his words.
Onward they paddle,
each settling more and more
into a sense of place
of their own
as they ponder
 the wonder within,
the splendor that surrounds,
the beauty that is
 Blue Rocks, Nova Scotia.

Sarah Carlson

August 11, 2019