Hallowed Ground

they are buried here

where the earth swells like the body of a woman, gravid

but without expectation, in this womb full of secrets

among the roots

 

under the tree, umbilical

 

coupling heaven and earth

 

conduit of energy, of light

 

here that which separates each from the other

 

is breached

 

what was complex becomes elemental:

 

bodies that once danced, ran, fucked, played, loved, fought, lived

 

are rendered back to the Mother

 

earth, soil

 

and their souls reborn as

 

leaves, branches,

 

the very air above the distant city.

-bottlecappie, c2008

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Link to bigger version of this weeks image here.

 

This is my first time participating in the collaborative poetry project over at Rick Mobb’s blog, Mine Enemy Grows Older. I borrowed the title of his painting for the title of my poem (hope that’s ok!) Rick has generously offered up his wonderful paintings as inspiration for anyone who would like to participate. Check out his site for more information, more art and to see the poems and stories that he has collected so far.

 

Though I have long loved both reading and writing poetry, this is the first poem I’ve written in well over a year – possibly close to two. I didn’t realize what a loss that was until I started writing today. Hours slipped by while I contemplated the painting, thought, wrote a little, took breaks to read or engage in other tasks – but all the while I could feel my mind engaging with the subject at varying levels of consciousness.

 

I used to do that all the time – poems would come to me in a flash, whole or in fragments, all the time. Poetry informed the way I approached everything in my life, making it more beautiful, more intense, more profound. I lost that as my drug use/addiction became more the focus of my life. I was content to accept the surface of things and I stopped looking for the mystery.

 

Hopefully the fact that I was able to squeeze out a poem this week, after looking at the prompts but chickening out every week for the last several weeks, means that I am moving toward including more poetry in my life again on a regular basis. Hopefully, this will be another means for me to grow and become stronger in my recovery. And I hope you will try too. This kind of creation and expression feeds the soul, and I think Rick’s idea to make it a collaborative process is wonderful.

 

I’d like to thank everyone involved in this project for creating a space that feels safe and supportive and thereby encouraging me to write and take the risk of posting. Big fat special thanks to Prester John, who told me about the project and jumped right in, inspiring me to follow.

 

Oh, and in case anyone was wondering – I’m doing fine. I’ve just been really busy and I was a little burned out on my blog. I’m feeling recharged now, and should be back to more regular posting again. Thanks for bearing with me.