Forgiveness

Forgiveness stays hidden in a mossy forest, 

Planting trees 

Building benches made from oak and teak

Many call his name 

But Forgiveness – gentle, quiet Forgiveness

Only whispers. 

Like years that grew the pine 

Tall and grounded,

Forgiveness takes time

To find him for yourself and for others 

Walk in faith 

Through needle paths

And be brave. 

Stay brave.

Because on those windy roads you’ll face 

The very roots of the hurt you so wish to escape 

Feeling, feeling,Bleeding, kneeling

Until...

Forgiveness takes the satchel from your back 

The one you didn’t know you wore

And lets lightness overcome

The weight your shoulders bore.

He’ll sit with you on a bench 

Made of forest teak 

And let you breathe away the bitterness

That before made you weak.

Silent companion on a bench

Forgiveness touches palms and lungs

Fists and chest unclench –

And resentment leaves 

Through eucalyptus leaves

Lost in the forest 

With old losses you used to grieve

And you whisper, “I am more”

And stand up again. To realise – 

You are so much taller than before.

Kindness

There is too little understanding in this world of the strength behind kindness. To be gentle, empathetic, considerate, sensitive and compassionate is not a gift freely handed to the half-willing, nor is it the curse of the weak. True kindness requires thorny, gruelling questions of oneself and a complete dissection (and often undoing), of inner beliefs.

To know kindness in its most raw form, there must first be an uncomfortable 

unravelling of the mind’s deepest secrets and the honest forgiveness of oneself. Only then, can life – and the people we walk with in life – be loved with deep, beautiful, unrequited (but conditional), wonderful fullness. ------- If and when you hear somebody described as too kind, too gentle,  too soft or too sensitive, or when you yourself use those words with distaste to describe the ‘lacking of a backbone’ – know that the backbone of kindness is the most courageous of them all. Behind the face that smiles warmly is a body that has borne the weight of suffering and learnt to forgive. There, behind kindness is the bearer of loss who has learnt to keep giving. There, behind kindness is the traveller who has journeyed inward to find strength to love outward.

Notice when you stumble on the depths of compassion in the shallows of the world, beneath the chaos of a roaring life: in the waitress that is determined, and the till keeper that loves his job, the Uber driver that cares to ask about your family, the friend whose presence does not condone cruelty, the protector whose hand reaches out even when they themselves experience fear… When you see kindness – in its pure and gentle form – 

recognise the strength that is in your presence. Understand the brave choice that that kindness has required, and ask yourself,

 “What will be my choice?”

Artwork by a lion-spirit friend, Kerri Dunshea https://www.instagram.com/art.by.kez/?hl=en

The Personification of Love

Love is strange, isn’t she?

People spend their whole life looking for her

But mostly they walk right past her

They don’t believe Love can exist beside them

Or realise Love is already inside them 

So, they search for her in higher places –

On mountain peaks and in the tallest skyscrapers

They even imagine her with wings.

But Love has a fear of heights, she hates pedestals

She is not in the air, she is the air 

She is not above, she is beside

And always – 

She must exist first in the one seeking

Love together requires love alone 

Love is awkward, isn’t he?

His socks don’t always match 

And he’s not always on time,

But he gets there when he needs to be –

Sometimes when you least expect him.

People imagine Love is some sort of hero

Carrying a sword to save their world from itself

But Love is terrified of war

And Love never carries weapons

The only pain love causes is when he is not there

And your lungs collapse for a little while 

Before you remember how to breathe again

From the place where

Love lived before

At her worst, love hurts like hell

– A sword between the wings that hold us close

But at her best love is your best friend and your teacher.

Teaching you things you never knew

About the world and about yourself

He makes you inquisitive and considerate

She makes you vulnerable and passionate

You’ll never forget his eyes or her soul

Even when there is a world between you 

Even if there is heaven between you

Love – awkward strange and beautiful Love,

Remains

Artwork by a talented Zimbabwean friend, Tara Wallace https://tarawallacestudio.com/