My Brother's Stone

 My Brother’s Stone

In this place where
five generations rest,
our parents’ newly set stones
 right by yours more weathered,
I sit and sigh and cry.
They are mine,
these tears,
though I cry for them,
 for you,
for what just could not be.
As time goes by, though,
they alter and lighten,
as though compassion
overflows my heart,
wraps me in
my own tenderness.
I raise my gaze
to the leaves of autumn
that sparkle
against a brilliant blue sky.
My shoulders relax,
heart settles,
spirit widens once again.
I rise from this perch
on my brother’s stone,
move forward into my life,
carrying with me the love
we share
with less and less
 despair.

Sarah Carlson
October 15, 2020

Peace in the Pieces

 

Peace in the Pieces

Healing takes time
    patience,
        courage,
            support,
                 trust.
It is both easy and difficult,
pleasurable and painful,
simple and complex,
quick and slow.
Most importantly,
healing is truly revealing.

Like a multi-layered blossom
that has been ready and waiting
for a moment that is right,
when petals can open, stretch,
reach for the sun
without constraint.
Each one beautiful on its own,
even those with blemishes
or damage of any kind.
They all bond together
to create a truly miraculous whole.
This sense of opening leads to
appreciation for one’s own bedrock
though fissures and detritus
 are present.
Rooted,
like that blossom,
one can open, stretch,
breathe,
 gaze to reflective waters
rippled by soft winds in the
waning colors of dusk
and smile at the discovery
of peace
in the pieces…
each and every one of them
that make a body whole.

Sarah Carlson
October 9, 2020