Category: Healing

Poet Weaver
Free Verse Revolution · Healing · Honors · Memoir · Podcasts · Poetry · Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul · Writing

Poet Weaver

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I am a poet weaver. Many of my poems are spiritual, for I love going within to excavate the bits of my soul that need reassembly into words. As a sunshine weaver, I’m also a collagist, assembling snippets of images into a new whole with deep meaning. Each collage is a poem.

My poetry weaves together the metaphysical, metaphorical, magical, and mystical around grief, loss, love, and forgiveness. I believe healing words are so needed at this time. It is empowering to read poetry aloud, so I also started a poetry podcast on Podbean called Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul. meelosmom.podbean.com

I have compiled a poetry collection called Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir, which is about me and my mother, who passed from complications related to Alzheimer’s in 2016. Our lives were woven together in amazing symmetry, like a collage, around our mother wounds, our near deaths, and losses that impacted our relationship. I am looking for a publisher for the book and am investing in entering some contests.

Meanwhile, I am submitting poems from it with some success. One poem, “Cooking a Life with a Wire Spine” was published as a featured work on Spillwords, and in August 2021, was nominated as Publication of the Month. Also, in September 2021, Free Verse Revolution: A literary magazine, published two other poems from my collection, “Hestia for Hire” and “Mermother: A Rogue Dream Poem”. Kristiana Reed, the editor of Free Verse Revolution: A literary magazine, kindly writes in an email, “The portrayal of a parent/child relationship in both pieces was incredibly raw and moving.”

It is humbling that my poetry is getting recognized in other ways. In the anthology Well-Versed 2021 (available on amazon.com), “Picasso Dreams Broken Glass” won Third-Place in Poetry and “From Your Son” received Honorary Mention.

I’m married and have two rescued male cats, Saga and Jasper. My husband Dierik is a musician of Bluegrass, Cajun, and Country music. He’s also a wonderful music teacher.

Catch me at…
Poetry Podcast: meelosmom.podbean.com
Facebook: Barbara Harris Leonhard
Twitter: @Barbara17609138
Instagram: @meelosmom123

Why Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver?

Weaver is Source, who connects all things.
Strings and threads are cloth woven for wear.
Sunshine is Source, who reaches out rays
Like fingers to heat and heal,
To create Spring, spiritual connection,
To nurture Gaia,
To create rain as food,
To dream life,
To forge love
And evolve Source.
Extraordinary is this mystery.
All extends from Source as fingers of light
To nourish and thrive,
And as night falls awake so do all
Return to Source.


Copyright © 2021 Barbara Harris Leonhard

Image: by Jessicajoh on Pixabay


Unless otherwise stated, all published works are the original works of the author and are copyrighted. Contents of the blog may be re-used either for personal or commercial purposes, in part or whole only with permission and the author duly acknowledged with links to the blog embedded.

New Publication!
Dark Poets Club · Healing · Poem · Publication

New Publication!

extraordinarysunshineweaver9 Comments

I received a nice surprise today, another poem up with Dark Poets Club (England). They are generous and accept poems from your blog, in case you are interested. So some of you may recognize this poem. Also, I like them because the small submission fee is donated to mental health causes.

https://www.darkpoets.club/post/the-unwelcome-tenant

Estate Sale
Healing · Memoir · My Father · October Hill Magazine · Poem · Publication · Writing

Estate Sale

extraordinarysunshineweaver4 Comments

I have a new publication in October Hill Magazine, Spring Issue, page 92. The title of the poem is “Estate Sale”. You can also read the poem here, (but the format is not correct. I don’t know how to fix it.)

https://www.octoberhillmagazine.com/archives

Estate Sale 

“When someone is missing, their possessions take on meanings.” 

– Claudia Emerson (1957-2014)

How the day lays the gray fog into rain
That presses on fallen leaves with bent stems.

Am I ready to sweep them into bags –
Gently used jackets, old woven mittens?

Tell me who needs this apparel of trees

One leaf still clings, my father, not yet braced

To give up his old toys, schoolbooks, first gun.

He wrote a memoir that ended with me.

Perhaps he thought I would know my story,

Or he didn’t want to get it all wrong.

A sole leaf still being written on bark,

He cleaves to the long branch of his mother.

An ancient oak, pruned to keep her health up,

She cannot stretch her limbs out to the clouds.

Instead, her girth grows thick, her stature short,

A broad support for plumage & branches,

To which father maintains a firm handhold.

I gather their china, albums, & garlands.

I wash her face & dress her in twinkling lights. 

Father lets go as I head to the sale.   

 

Healing · Phoebe, MD: Medicine + Poetry · Poetry

A Blessing for You — PhoebeMD: Medicine + Poetry

extraordinarysunshineweaver2 Comments

By Barbara Leonhard | Featured Contributor Dear Friends, most of us would agree that this past year has been extremely challenging if not tragic. Many of you have documented your pain and grief in poetry, fiction, and essays. St. Patrick’s Day is today and Easter is coming up, so it’s a good time for us to transmute…

A Blessing for You — PhoebeMD: Medicine + Poetry

Thank you, Phoebe, for publishing my blessing!

A Blessing
Healing · Micropoetry · Poem · Writing

A Blessing

extraordinarysunshineweaver11 Comments

Dear Friends, most of us would agree that this past year has been extremely challenging if not tragic. Many of you have documented your pain and grief in poetry, fiction, and essays. St. Patrick’s Day is on Wednesday and Easter is coming up, so it’s a good time for us to transmute our sorrow and fear into blessings. It’s spring, a time of rebirth as we see the daffodils blooming. Although daffodils are sometimes pelted by one last snowfall, they are resilient. Indeed, spring is full of promise as four-leaf clovers await our search for good health and fortune. The fourth leaf, luck, adds to the trinity, so even if we fail to find the four-leaf clover, we are truly never alone. With love, I offer this blessing.

May you be blessed.

May good luck follow you always.

May you be healthy and thus wealthy.

May your heart be filled with grace

not grief.

May your home be filled with love,

not languor.

May your days be filled with mystery,

not misery.

May your back never bend in storm.

May friends and family gather at last     

in your welcoming arms.

Feature Image: by artistlike on pixabay.com

Image of the daffodil: by MrGajowy3 on pixabay

Soar
Ekphrastic Poetry · Healing · Original Collage Art · Poem · Poetry · Writing

Soar

extraordinarysunshineweaver12 Comments

To all my peeps… some of my poetry and art for the new year! Happy New Year! May 2021 lift us to new heights! To soar!

May 2021 lift you out of depleted soil.
To soar. To soar in sun.
Free. Free in sheer air,
Where you dream. Dream.
Not despair,
Not dread.
Not drown in storm.
May you rise. Rise.
Rise!

Collage art and poem by Barbara Leonhard extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog

Holiday Blessings
Healing · Original Collage Art · Poem

Holiday Blessings

extraordinarysunshineweaver2 Comments

May your holiday season

be filled with sweets

May you be blessed with good health & wealth

May the new year be magical

as your mystery unfolds

May the new year be loving

as kindness kindles transformation

but most of all

May all dreams be fulfilled, my friend,

but allow for surprise around each bend

May you find peace in your heart

though the world be apart

May you find solace in loss

& a healer in grief

May you be courageous & fierce

in the face of fear

May your heart open

to the dizzy impossible

May your way take you

to the quiet now

as birth awaits you there.

♥️♥️♥️

poetry & collage art by Barbara Leonhard



Memoirs of Denise Fletcher
Audio · Call for Submissions · Healing · Memoir · Podcasts · Poetry · Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul · Prose · Publication · Writing

Memoirs of Denise Fletcher

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Hello, my friends,

I’ve been away too long! This year has been challenging as you must know. However, I am getting back into my soul work. Here is my latest episode. The theme is mental health, and Denise shares her journey of recovery with a lot of great advice and links.

Memoirs of Denise Fletcher (podbean.com)

This episode highlights the memoirs and concerns of the poet and blogger, Denise Fletcher. Check out her author page on Amazon.com and her amazing blog.

Denise Fletcher is a freelance writer and artist. Her creative works have appeared in Bards Against Hunger, Kaleidoscope Magazine and numerous publications in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.

Blog: Poetry Curator, poetrycurator2020.blogspot.com

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0084KZMCE

Her book, Thread of Hope, can be found in the link below, and she returns all the profits to aid in causes related to mental illness. The book “explores the boundaries of the mental health system”. It includes “semi-autobiographical poetry, prose, and art which demonstrates the healing power of creativity and spirituality” in mental health recovery.

To access a free copy of Thread of Hope and other free books and materials:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bvXlCPAmVR-1fk03GqB-K86C4k1UwBmK

Mental Health and Wellness Resources Recommended by Denise Fletcher https://poetrycurator2020.blogspot.com/p/wellness.html

Home

https://allthesoftplaces.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/living-with-pain-feeling-through-pain-tips-on-healing-and-self-care/

Depression-free for Life: A Physician’s All-Natural, 5-Step Plan

by Gabriel Cousens https://www.amazon.com/Depression-free-Life-Physicians-All-Natural-5-Step/dp/0060959657

Other Links

CDC Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill:  https://nami.org/

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Home

1-800-273-8255

Barbara Harris Leonhard is a writer, poet, and blogger. Her work appears in Phoebe, MD: Medicine and Poetry, Well Versed 2020, Spillwords; FREE VERSE REVOLUTION; Heretics, Lovers and Madmen; Go Dog Go Café; Silver Birch Press; Amethyst Review; Pillbaby.com; and Vita Brevis. She is the author of Discoveries in Academic Writing, which is based on her years of teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Missouri.

Blog: extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog

Podcast: meelosmom.podbean.com

To submit your poetic memoirs and concerns to this podcast, follow this link for the submission guidelines.

https://extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog/2020/07/31/call-for-submissions-to-poetry-the-memoir-of-the-soul/

Cymbidium – a poem by Barbara Harris Leonhard — Amethyst Review
Amethyst Review · Healing · Poem · Poetry · Publication

Cymbidium – a poem by Barbara Harris Leonhard — Amethyst Review

extraordinarysunshineweaver2 Comments

Cymbidium I. He gifts her an orchid. Says, Three ice cubes a week So as not to drown it. Her joints sound of cracked ice As she gingerly accepts My lush pink blooms Of wet lips open For drink & good light. II. The house has no sun. Unpruned branches of wild flora Cluster close […]

Cymbidium – a poem by Barbara Harris Leonhard — Amethyst Review

Image by JacLou-DL from Pixabay

Memoirs of Susi Bocks
Audio · Call for Submissions · Essays · Healing · Memoir · Podcasts · Poetry · Prose · Publication · Writing

Memoirs of Susi Bocks

extraordinarysunshineweaver10 Comments

I have a new poetry podcast on the Memoirs, of Susi Bocks. You can find it here – https://meelosmom.podbean.com/e/memoirs-of-susi-bocks/

This episode features the memoirs of Susi Bocks, who courageously shares her painful upbringing by a dysfunctional and abusive mother. Grief and anger hide in wait for illumination when Susi’s heart opens to reveal her self-worth, which was so beaten down over the years. Susi shows us that we can come to terms with our past and overcome parental abuse, which often results from transgenerational trauma.

Susi Bocks, writer/author/poet, has self-published two books: Feeling Human and Every Day I Pause. You can find her work at IWriteHer.com or follow her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MyHumanityInWrittenForm/, where she invites you to read her thoughts and get to know her. Bocks’ work has been published in the anthology SMITTEN: This Is What Love Looks Like: Poetry by Women for Women and in VitaBrevis, Spillwords, Literary Yard, as well as other literary magazines.

Editor-in-Chief: The Short of It

Website: IWriteHer.com

Links: Transgenerational Trauma and Epigenetics   

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-me-in-we/201205/how-trauma-is-carried-across-generations

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190326-what-is-epigenetics

Healing Generational Trauma

Barbara Harris Leonhard is a writer, poet, and blogger. Her work appears in Phoebe, MD: Medicine and Poetry, Well Versed 2020, Spillwords; FREE VERSE REVOLUTION; Heretics, Lovers and Madmen; Go Dog Go Café; Silver Birch Press; Amethyst Review; Pillbaby.com; and Vita Brevis. She is the author of Discoveries in Academic Writing, which is based on her years of teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Missouri.

Blog: extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog

Podcast: meelosmom.podbean.com

To submit your poetic memoirs and concerns to this podcast, follow this link for the submission guidelines.

https://extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog/2020/07/31/call-for-submissions-to-poetry-the-memoir-of-the-soul/

Music for this episode: “Relaxing Afternoon”, royalty free music on Podbean