
I let a patch grow unmowed
to organically re-sprout
in my soul.
I leave it all out of focus,
for clarity comes
most gently
in the abstract
of moments…


Poet. Writer. Photographer.

I let a patch grow unmowed
to organically re-sprout
in my soul.
I leave it all out of focus,
for clarity comes
most gently
in the abstract
of moments…



Stepping from rooftop
onto the aerial ice,
fathoms deep, soul still
lights…
Poem and photo ©LauraDenise
I wish
in my towering height,
bloom stretched
to the beautiful sky,
only to
bear seeds,
to take hold
inside of you
on this breath
of love’s breeze.
Among your shadows,
I yearn
to sprout
to devour
all choking
self-doubts
and leave
your soul
to bleed
only in white.
I wish to feed you
my excess
light.

I am still faithfully following
petals as paths
with my soul’s whispered directions
to where you are at,
the one to reciprocate
all this love I have,
and along the way,
I’ve grown to love
the way
I am.

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

I am fueled by storms
and coastal wind
as I raise my arms to each
and channel them
until empowerment rises
boldly from within…
But it is in the still
and minute,
in the soft scent
of beautiful,
in the trust of subtle,
the barely discernible,
that I feel the forgotten
soothed,
those buried-alive
non-truths;
the golden elixir single ray
finding the torn petal
coats in those places
I am not able to ever reach
on my own.
Up close and personal
is the only way I know
to heal my heart,
to feed my soul,
and that, I believe,
is the path that leads
home.

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

A detour, soulful tugging,
I find myself impulsively
knelt again on the white sands
before the altar at an end
of the earth,
surf symphony
rising predictably
to greet me,
but I casually look about
for the signs He wanted me
to again come ’round…
between my toes
ancient mountains ground
to grains,
quartz granules,
sugar-soft,
appropriate backdrop
for the hieroglyph
written for me:
it freezes me.

So easily,
I succumb
to the enchantment
of silence,
save for those waves
and occasional sea birds
with personal messages calling.
(It always baffles me
how I can so often have
this parcel of paradise
to myself…)
I stay a long, unhurried while
just trying to feel
what this enigmatic swirl
of sea oat in the sand
is all about…
Something about curves
is always so sensuous,
aesthetically strokes
my soul…
I don’t need a translation;
in fact, I prefer
this sacredly-carved symbol.
I make it my own
and add it to my collection
of clues
leading me leisurely
home.
It is the journey
after all, and I have nowhere else
to go.

Poem and images ©LauraDenise

White wings keep beating
when the heart and soul
begin to dim or slow.
Wings do not know
loss of hope.
Let wings carry you
until strength
and faith
regrow.
Let me be
those wings
for a while, for a leg
of the way
home…
Poem and image ©LauraDenise

If I have to have walls,
give me windows
big and bright
where shadows can dance for hours
with the light,
windows that open
wide
to invite the breezes
inside.
In all mental-health seasons,
I so easily slip away
for days,
lose myself
in those sunny sills
and rainy panes,
faraway thoughts
that need not be
sorted nor restrained;
even my muses need
a holiday.
The spaces inside
my dwelling fade
in comparison
to the glass
and screens I need
for my soul
to not suffocate.
If I have to have walls,
give me windows
through which to endlessly
escape.


shifting sands
grains unable to be grasped
slipping through fingers
sieve of my existence
footprints vanishing
in vain trying to leave
an imprint, fingerprints
fossilizing

as I watch
sea drops dry on shells
shells of mankind
displayed non-selves
on shelves
shifting painted shapes
offer to take me away
only to lead to the next
drifting cumulous cloud
lateral when I need
to be higher
homeward bound

shifting sands
I open my hand
spread my fingers wider
I know what the answers
are not
to feel the silk
is to feel
nothing caught
but sensory strokes
the void
in the curve
of my palm
no trail found
to my entrance
into the sea

saltwater can’t sting
when the wounds
are too far beneath
the body’s surface

arms open
I invite
the above in
home-
sick
let me know
I am not
forgotten

what if i’m a drifter
not meant to float alone
but to feel
to the core
every spirit
i choose to know
in brief encounters
but bare
soul to soul
stripped to the glow
fearless
deep
strokes
of wounds
and hopes
what if my home
is collectively
each
what if I crave
the companionship
of such fleeting
impressions
that layer
like honey –
raw, sweet
sticking
in this amaranthine
slip
what if to be whole
insatiable must be
the need
let’s feed
each other
truths
when it comes
to how are you
let’s feel
let’s prove
nothing
to this world
let’s love
like we are
eternal

Poem and image ©LauraDenise