The fact that you held me, as I held you
And we bore witness to each other's grief, without trying to fix it
Without trying to take away the other's pain
Only to soften the blow
Or maybe to lighten each others' burden
If I can hold some of it for you, for a little while
Until you are feeling strong enough to shoulder it for yourself.
Not in an attempt to repair the other
Not asking for anything to be changed,
We're done with that now.
I've got to make my own mistakes and let you make yours
And then we'll come together and compare notes, like we are in college.

We've both attended the same lecture
But what you heard the professor say was different from what I took away
And so, we help each other study
We enhance each other's learning process.
We are in a study group of life
And you are going to help me pass the test.
Except life itself is the test,
And you can't fail.

Failing was never a possibility
life's lessons are found only in the studying and applying what you learn to the next adventure.

Thanks for being my study partner.
Thanks for helping me see that I can't fuck it up. And that I don't have to fix it

I'm not a broken-down house with a musty basement and a falling down roof and a rotting deck.
I'm a rustic cabin, weathered
By salt-sea air.
My walls are a little bit mossy on one side
And one of my bedrooms has a fusty smell,
And the old gas stove in the kitchen sometimes takes several tries to light.
And one of my lights burned out in the attic several months back, which no one has gotten around to replacing.
But you can open up my windows and breathe in fresh sea air
And you can sit on my porch and feel the sun on your legs and your bare tummy.
And my kitchen always produces the most delicious things to eat,
And in winter my fireplace is warm and inviting. I have cozy quilts to share and keep you warm.
Sometimes I wish that I was the mansion up on the hill, or I think that I should really get around to fixing up those broken bits and start building an addition.
But mostly, now, I can see that I'm just right exactly the way that I am, and you
With your warm energy
And your acceptance of my flaws
Move in and make yourself at home.
Because you know that my mossy walls and my one weird fusty bedroom
Are exactly the thing that makes me such a cozy and eclectic place to live
And you wouldn't trade me for the mansion on the hill, even if it came with a trampoline

On healing the tender places that long to be held, and heard

Let my heart be tender, open and free. Let me forgive
where forgiveness is called for.
Let me hold my tender heart in my own hands,
and wrap it up in a blue fuzzy blanket
and tenderly tuck it into bed.
Let me allow myself to hurt when I am hurting, and to cry out 
when I need to be heard.
Let the one who is hurting be held,
Let the one who is able to comfort
hold the little hurting one in 
strong arms, wrapped in a careful hug,
gently so as not to crush her, 
just tight enough to let her know that she is loved. 
Let the one who is able provide comfort
to the one who is hurting.
Let the one who is hurting cry as much as she needs to cry. 
Let her be angry
Let her yell about the ones who did not do all they could to protect her.
But let the one who is now grown
see that they were probably doing their best.
Let the one who is hurting forgive, as she is able.
Let that forgiveness set me free.

Seven-Seven

The first time I laid eyes on you

I knew that fucking you would be poetry

The first time I brought you home

I knew I’d write you so many love poems

you’d run out of shoe boxes to put them in.

The first time you placed your lips on mine

I said “More.”

The first time my fingers found the soft hollow of you

I knew I’d found home.

The first time you let me into your heart

I wanted to let go of everything else so I could move in.

And I did.

You unfolded your welcome mat and said “I have a place for you here."

The first time you wrote me a haiku I was hooked.

The first time you tried to tell me you weren’t good enough for me

I called you a liar.

The first time you cried in my bed I licked your tears and held you gently.

The first time you let me see your vulnerability I was scared

but I did not back down,

I dove into the deep waters of you instead.

The time I left my marriage for you,

my hands were shaking as much as my heart.

My head said, “What the hell are you thinking?”

But my heart knew if I didn’t grab on and let you take me with you

I’d stay small and shrivel up

And I wanted to grow huge with you.

I knew that we’d grow like giants together.

Like the oversized vine that insists on growing in our backyard

I knew that I could not stop this.

I knew if I tried to rip it out of the ground

it would have left a gaping hole where my soul was supposed to be.

The first time I saw a scene from one of our past lives,

I thought I was going mad;

But you held onto me and you believed me.

The first time I dove into the pool of you I didn’t even make a splash.

It was like you’d been waiting for me,

like you knew I’d be coming if you just made a space for me.

The first time I put my whole fist in you, you heard God.

The first time our souls swam together I felt like I was breathing for the first time.

The first time you held my hand it was magic.

The first time I couldn’t not touch you I knew I wanted to double-negative with you

forever.

Surrender

You don't have to carry
That heavy load
Anymore.
It's okay to let go.
It's really okay to surrender
To fly the white flag
To raise it up over your head
And say I don't have any more
Fight let in me.
It's okay to become the white
Dove of peace flying with the olive branch
It's okay to stop being the restorer
The mother
(but really you can't ever stop being the mother, that's part of the job)
It's okay to stop mothering everyone that isn't your child.
Boundaries are good and healthy.
It's okay to say ”I can't help you with that right now.”
And it's okay to have a creaky voice when you are tired
Of holding your self up
Along with everyone else.
And it's okay to want to run away sometimes
When you can not hold up the whole
sky any more. It's quite alright.
You tried your best.
And that is good
enough.

You can't be mother to three
You can only be what you are
And you can say enough is enough
When it is.
And you can hold out a hand of peace
And love
Even when someone is throwing shit at you.
You can offer a hand
But still rest your aching heart.
Let the bees do their work
Let the soft white bed be full of only you
And your big, open, sacredheart.
And be thankful for the one who
Let it break open. 

Love Wholly

Love wholly
even when it feels like too much.
Love wholly.
Even when you think that you can't give anymore--
accept the gift.

Even when you feel like
maybe you're not sure
of this love that has found you, through time and chance and place
Love wholly.
If this person loves you with all of their heart,
be adored.
Let that love wash over you and create a feeling of complete
acceptance.
Love wholly.

Love whole.
Even if it's too much.
Let love bathe you in her essential light
Like a purple waterfall coming down off an icy mountain.
Let it wash through you
and let it cleanse your fears and your lack and your unworthiness.
Be the love
Be loved more than you have ever known in this life.
Let love be your essence and your guide
Be breathed. Let your breath match your lover's as you are embraced.
Love wholly.
When you wake at 3:00 in the morning gripped by fear,
Remember love.