Let us listen...

Just for awhile

let us silence our minds

and open our hearts

Just for awhile

let us listen from within

Listen...

not to gain knowledge

not to formulate questions

rather to chance upon

sacred bonds and

profound wisdom

Just for awhile

let us not seek information

or answers

Let us not rouse the intellect

but embrace the spirit

If thoughts cloud the brain

let them pass

If replies tingle on the tongue

let us breathe them away silently

Return to them later

but here...

here in this precious time of sharing

Let us listen

let the words wash over us

and seep into a still quiet pool

Let us listen.

By

Mary-Elizabeth Cotton

She let go. Without a thought or a word, she let go.

She let go of the fear.

She let go of the judgments.

She let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around her head.

She let go of the committee of indecision within her.

She let go of all the ‘right’ reasons.

Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, she just let go.

She didn’t ask anyone for advice.

She didn’t read a book on how to let go.

She didn’t search the scriptures.

She just let go.

She let go of all of the memories that held her back.

She let go of all of the anxiety that kept her from moving forward.

She let go of the planning and all of the calculations about how to do it just right.

She didn’t promise to let go.

She didn’t journal about it.

She didn’t write the projected date in her Day-Timer.

She made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper.

She didn’t check the weather report or read her daily horoscope.

She just let go.

She didn’t analyze whether she should let go.

She didn’t call her friends to discuss the matter.

She didn’t do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment.

She didn’t call the prayer line.

She didn’t utter one word.

She just let go.

No one was around when it happened.

There was no applause or congratulations.

No one thanked her or praised her.

No one noticed a thing.

Like a leaf falling from a tree, she just let go.

There was no effort.

There was no struggle.

It wasn’t good and it wasn’t bad.

It was what it was, and it is just that.

In the space of letting go, she let it all be.

A small smile came over her face.

A light breeze blew through her.

And the sun and the moon shone forevermore…

By

Safire Rose

and here you are living

despite it all

By

Rupi Kaur

my beautiful child,

the wars of your mother

will not be yours to bear.

you will never witness

the storms within my soul

or meet the demons

that inhabit it.

you will be sheltered

under my branches

that I have grown just for you,

a brand-new family tree

with all the rot cut out.

you will never be crushed

by the weight that I carry;

you will be carefree,

just as a child should be.

Ever More: Poems on Pregnancy & Motherhood