The Success of Love

Heart shaped crystals embedded in Bell Rock, Sedona, AZ

"Love conquers all", so the saying goes....and I must attest that I believe this to be true.  I have experienced first hand how love has healed my wounds - physical and emotional, those on the surface, and those in the depths of my soul.  I have seen it in my children, in friends and family (especially my soul family), and even strangers.

March came to an end with my return from a most expansive trip of LOVE to Sedona, Arizona with a group of people whom I've fallen in love with, and the publication of my poem "The Success of Love" in Sibella Poetry Magazine.  The synchronicity of the trip, to my poem, to a Wide Awakening message I received yesterday are amazing.  The trip was one of love and deep remembering.  The Wide Awakening message was one of courage (click on the link to read it yourself), remembering and leaving a wake of love.  My poem holds a message of the success of love - the amount of joy you’ve created with your heart. <3  
How do you measure success?

The Success of Love

(©Linda J. Spencer, 2013)

What is success?

Is there ever only one definition? Or infinite possibilities?

Is it making millions of dollars tucked away that you’ll never spend?

Having luxury cars in the driveway that you never drive?

Living in a big house so large that you could avoid its fellow occupants,

With manicured lawns, tennis courts and a pool?

Or is it the number of trophies and medals hanging on the wall?

Or the diamond jewellery adorning pricey manicured hands?

What about the smile you put on a co-worker's face,

As you give them a cup of their favourite coffee, just because?

What about teaching your child to tie his shoes

And the excitement he shows when he finally does it by himself?

And what about the collaboration of collecting hundreds of bags of clothing

For a community ravaged by fires or floods?

Or filling a community centre with youth who would otherwise be walking the streets?

And what about when you’ve taught someone to show love and respect for all creation?

Maybe success isn’t measured in dollars and cents,

But in the amount of joy you’ve created with your heart.

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Please visit the April/May issue of Sibella Poetry Magazine to see the full collection of poems with my fellow contributors (www.sibellapoetry.com).  Happy Spring to you ALL! xox

Sun-Sets and Sun-Rises

I've been sitting on this one for a while now, but upon reflecting on the glorious sunsets of the summer sun, I thought it's time to share...

Gazing in awe of the summer solstice sunset as it filled me with warmth and light.

Sun-Sets and Sun-Rises

(©Linda Spencer, 2013)

The sun rose and life began

With fluttering hearts

Many, many moons ago.

Life grew with vows of love

And tears of joy

As children’s laughter filled the rooms.

But life changes as it grows

And some resist its pull.

And now, as the sun sets on this day,

I know the sun will rise tomorrow

And in new light, I awaken.

Waking to a spring sunrise with a walk on the ridge.

And a bit of news with the sun rising on a new day:  I've been selected to write for Sibella Poetry Magazine (www.sibellapoetry.com) for a third year.  YEAH!  Thank you to all my followers and supporters for allowing me the chance to share my poetic verse <3 Mwah!

A Dance in the Night

Yeah!  The new issue of Sibella Poetry Magazine is out (click on the link, or go to http://clck.com/jmmg/spoetry/APRMAYSIB13.pdf), and in it is my poem "A Dance in the Night". 

Some colleagues and friends have asked me, "when do you find time to write?"  or, "when do you write?"  You may think that as a writer, I'd be writing all the time, or at least every chance I got, but I don't.  I find that my best writing occurs when the mood strikes me, or when I have a vision of what I should write about.  Sometimes I ask for inspiration, and sometimes it just comes out of the blue...or someone will say something or do something that strikes a cord and out flows a verse or two that I can work with.  It's very sporadic, but it works for me.  The finished product is always something I feel.  "A Dance in the Night" came as a vision as I was sitting at my desk, just days before the submission deadline, staring out my loft window into the trees below...they spoke to me.  Ok, they weren't pines, but they were tall.  And we don't have wolves, but we do have coyotes who wander by occassionally :)  I followed this poem up with a post on my Ridgeview blog about the vision I had for Ridgeview.  Check that out too when you get a chance.  Enjoy ♡

 

A Dance in the Night

(©Linda Spencer, 2013)

By the light of the moon, I dance.

The night is quiet and the air is calm;
There is peace.
I stop at the edge of the forest
Where the tall pines stand guard;
A low branch bows, inviting me to enter.

As I cross the threshold, a lone wolf howls,
Eerily piercing the night silence.
She crosses my path a distance ahead,
Glancing to acknowledge my presence
And I hers; we are friends -
Creatures of the same Maker.

She lets me pass to continue my dance

Watching me and I her, in awe.
And I listen for her words.
But they do not come, not this time.
I hear instead the stillness of the night -
The sound of water; the rustle and creek of the woods.

Their message is clear:
I may own this land, but it is not mine.
It found me, and entrusted me as its keeper –
To protect it, to nourish it, to help it grow.
In return, it cradles me, and gives me life;
And gives me space to dance and play within it.

“We have been given a world of creation to laugh and dance and play with – it only asks that we treat it as we would our soul.”~Linda Spencer