Morning Kiss

The sea oats
have grown tall;
I let them
skim my palm,

feel the tickles
gifted from heaven
as the sea’s soul
is orchestra lifted

above the tides
of this earth
to scoop me up
with open arms
into the surf.

I offer all I’ve brought
to sacrifice to God,

releasing the heavy,
releasing the pain,
hoping the ghosts
will choose escape

as I make it more
uncomfortable
to haunt these
inner spaces

tarnished, turning gold
from the light
of love
joining the soul’s.

My feet sink
in the warm silk
as my heart,
with you inside,
even more
fills.

Buoyant become
the weights
as the shackles and chains
give way
to become part
of the dark, watery
grave.

Today, I take
back my life.
Today the curse,
I unwind.

Wet feet,
sand clinging,
I walk back
and through my fingers,

the sea oats feel
the difference

as the sun
awakens,
rises to kiss
me so gently
once

again….

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

Among the Pink

I sat among the pink today
to have the rest fade away,
mesmerized by the world within,
tracing with eyes each leaf and stem.

Concerns abandoned
in the face of trichomes;
transfixed am I
under nature’s hold.

I visit the center,
greet the stamens;
they let me hide out
in the silken cavern.

Next I intentionally slip
into the labyrinth of green
and lose myself
for as long as I wish
to be unseen.

This is how I restore
when I give too much
of me to the world.

Split

To survive
is to fight,
to split open,
to cry,
to persevere
into the next
season of
a dream’s
life,
to detach
from the root,
the branch,
before
hope dies,
to fall or fly
not knowing
the outcome
until free,
that air
before
the landing
or opening
of wings…

Poem and image ©LauraDenise

Sanctuary

When draining is the heat,
and bitter, the cold,
come, my love,
and enter my soul.

Temperate year-round,
with your favorite blooms,
in my garden of Eden,
take refuge.

I’ll shelter you in
the protective dome,
the bubble that bounces
gently, a mobile home.

Only nature
can permeate,
no ghosts, no shadows,
no losing the way.

The golden hours,
sunrisesandsets,
in our private nirvana,
I’ll extend,

nothing fleeting,
no mirages,
only the truths
in touchable colors.

When the elements become
too harsh to bear,
and the black cloud
gains ground
to draw from you
the rain of despair,

take cover inside
my open arms,
enter my soul;
I’ll be waiting
in our garden.

Four Seasons (Four Haiku)

choking vine pierces
peering into window pains
drains the last color

ember of strength flares
colors of chested dreams surge
from the inside paints

momentum floods up
the courage to turn away
and spread self-love’s wings

the greatest fear yet
overcome when exposing
the heart once again

Did you know I post my photo haiku daily to Instagram? This is today’s. https://www.instagram.com/bylauradenise

Still Life

Still as silhouetted dragonfly wings
is all that used to swirl restlessly in me.
I hold my breath and so does the breeze;
we both stop time for centuries.

The secrets from the ancient flier
can only be imparted in complete silence;
any ripple in the universe jeopardizes
this which is rarely achievable in this life.

Perhaps this is my umpteenth time…

I recently had a supreme spiritual moment;
not now, but when I was again freshly broke open,
my soul exposed again to worldly poisons
and decades-rotten ingested false notions.

It is only in these complete ruptures, it seems,
can the bad get out and God restitch the seams.
Perhaps it is true that the rock bottoms are needed
to unclench the fist and open the palm for receiving.

I was mended with light again by His own loving hand.
And inside me, this time, another something planted.
I feel it in the silhouetted dragonfly wings suspended,
except I think it is me that it and the breeze are sensing.

I feel our connectedness,
the same serenity seeds inside of us.
It’s hard to go back to the way it was
when gratitude, which I’ve always had,
are blooms in such surplus shooting up.

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

Forever is the Sunrise

Forever is the moment
that stills me
when everything
is swirling inside
my heart, my soul,
my mind…

Forever is the moment
that absolves me,
that nature bestows,
head bowed or not,
heart knotted or atoned.

Forever is the moment
that holds me
so personally close,
the rays extended
to touch
with warmth.

Forever is the moment
that soaks me,
in waves that rebirthe
or ripples that trickle
to my inner caverns

where I buried
the treasure
of me
in a chest of fear,
where only the mermaids
are entrusted
with the key
shaped from
my tears.

Forever is the moment
I carry with me
in every moment
I am away
from the sea.

Drops of Fuchsia

A sojourn among the wildflowers
is what my soul needs
in regular doses,
down low
among the “weeds”

where time does not stand still,
but the world does,
for nothing exists in the moment
except for us,

and no greater beauty
can there be
than in the nonmanhandled,
outside-the-garden-lines seed
that blooms so gracefully,
silently defying,
yet exuding pure peace;

that peace
transfers into my essence
as I listen with my soul
to the whispered sapience,

no lesson or story
captivates my interest
more than what the petals transmit,

and to think how often it goes unnoticed –
underfoot, sole-crushed, disregarded –
the natural therapy for inner balance.

If you happen to have the interest,
I’ll share with you what was imparted
on this Tuesday morning in my own backyard
during my daily sojourn

among the wildflowers….

I wish to simply be
the color in your gray,
to open your heart to seeing
every season has new days,
and there always exists
little blessings sent
personally your way…

We all at times lose focus
as the world becomes tear-blurred;
that’s why we were given each other
to lean on, lend strength, stay near.

When we get closer
through the growing trust,
we become less guarded
and show the rest of us,

the complexities,
the other ways through
the protective shield,
the scars, the webs, the truths,

and we find,
though all unique,
we are the same
in our sufferings,

made so we
take turns with it,
return to the circle
of falls and lifts.

I am here
to share my hues,
overflowing now,
but once like you.

And when you come
into fuller bloom,
pay it forward
so others may too
become imbued.

Some and Me

Some were built for height,
some false with imitation bark,
some ill-fated by others’ fires,
some have witnessed the sparks.

The dark, the light,
rotates and falls
upon each equally.
Some were meant to
sky-reach.
Some use the sun’s love
to bloom in delicate
and fleeting beauty.

At the feet of giant trees,
with whom I have always
felt most rooted,
in white lace and ray’s kiss
still fresh on my crown,
I have never been so at peace
with who I’ve found
I’ve always been.

Wherever I go now,
it is me who I am.

Poem and image ©LauraDenise

Tears Dry (With Audio)

tears dry
like rain subsides
weather a part of nature
designed with intent
by our Creator

feelings, emotions
love and joy
despair and heartache
all part of what
deems us alive

would you trade it all in
for numbness instead?

if you already did
what could bring you back
from the breathing-dead?

perhaps a lot of it
comes from our own doing
and neglect

how many times we must
get in the way of His plans!

His plans for each
never carved in stone
I do not believe
for fate takes away free will
and free will shackles and frees

these pains must too
have a purpose
maybe more than a force
forming us

these tragedies…
who is to say
the why until
it is revealed one day

it is the blind eye
that is turned
rather than the cheek

that I think each
must explain
for admittance
through the gates

will He play back the footage
what will He deem as the highlights
will they match with what we think
we’ve done to please with our lives?

tears dry
like rain subsides
even the sky
cries sometimes

Poem and image ©LauraDenise