My poem “Dark Apostle” ranked top of three best chosen for this past week’s challenge, Phantom. My sister, Martha Harris, created the digital image, “The Devil’s in the Details”. Thank you FREE VERSE REVOLUTION!
(UPDATE: This poem is archived – the link no longer works – because FREE VERSE REVOLUTION has a new literary magazine. If you wish to access this link, let me know.)
Rising shadows of flames,
dressed in deep void, I arrive
to burn the bramble of your complacent life.
You hide inside this clay façade,
live for self in idle pleasure,
slumber in this carcass
of addiction and desire.
I hold you down as you writhe in agony,
thrive on your muffled screams.
You smolder in my odious breath.
My laughter, cackling flames.
You recoil, gasping for prayer,
rebuking this demon
and fear that this blood fire
is your last sunrise. Confess,
I fascinate you.
Though cast to the raging depths,
I still rise, a dark angel.
Not all wings are lucent.
This charred cloak is age old,
frayed by lies, greed, addictions.
Inferno flames are still divine.
I am the instigator, the phantom fire
plundering your earth
to crack open your seed
and hasten your growth.
For this you need me, Dark Apostle,
the harbinger sent to alarm and awaken,
to jolt you from trance
into rebirth.
revised The Dark Apostle 05/12/2020
©Barbara Harris Leonhard, extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog; meelosmom.podbean.com (Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul)
Image: “The Devil’s in the Details”, original digital art, ©Martha Harris. See Martha’s Artistic Flarings@artisticflarings.blog
Recently published on phoebemd.com (PhoebeMD: Medicine + Poetry) as part of my article on infertility.
Broken Womb, Shattered Soul: Living with Infertility (part 3)
The Wound Still Waits
The bandage torn
From new flesh
Releases wails
The wound still
Imbibes air
The scab hides
deep repair
Let it rest. Wait
In time the scar
Records a fate
©Barbara Leonhard, extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog, meelosmom@podbean.com
Image: “From Beneath” ©Martha Harris, Martha’s Artistic Flarings, artisticflarings.blog
If I were an angel in the dark,
I would appear in flames simply
from the radiance of my eyes.
I would fire up candles for prayers.
I would make twilight shimmer
like a mirror still lake.
I would awaken you
from slumber and despair,
gather you up gently,
swaddle you in my gossamer wings.
I would cast out your pain with lightning,
incense your soul with soothing myrrh,
bathe you in waves of forgetting,
deliver you to a vista of light
on a path of comets as beacons.
I would gift you wings,
teach you how to fly through
clouds of many colors,
swing on stars falling into a sea of lights.
I would never leave you
in times of battle or new birth,
the time of the death of your pain
a blazing nova, a new sun.
All of this I would do for you.
Who would know more of the legion of light
than an angel of the night?
Copyright© 2017/10/10, revised 2020/04/13 Barbara Harris Leonhard @extraordinarysunshineweaver.wordpress.com
My poetry podcast, Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul (meelosmom.podbean.com)
Image: “An Angel in the Dark” (original art © by my sister Martha Harris.) See Martha’s Artistic Flarings @artisticflarings.blog
Today we are forced to sequester to prevent the spread of COVID-19. We realize how powerful we are when it comes to our wellness because we can make choices to prevent contagion by following the CDC guidelines and being loving to ourselves and thoughtful of others by wearing masks and gloves if we must be in public to get medicine and other necessities.
While sheltering, we can take care of ourselves by resting, drinking a lot of water, and eating healthy food. We do not accept the fate of this pandemic. Our positive thinking will boost our immune system. No one can take care of our temple but us. We hold the keys to the gate, and we do not welcome tenants who create chaos of our light.
I pray for a vaccine soon, and I hope everyone can and will get one. I know I definitely will.
My sister, Martha Harris, created this amazing image of COVID-19 by layering several microscopic photos of the actual virus together. She calls the image “The Infection”. I think it is a masterpiece.
The Unwelcome Tenant
What is healing
but the stabbing to death of pain,
the banishment of shadows,
the release of sorrows,
the burning of poison arrows.
Healing requires arbitration and litigation,
for Illness takes possession,
the uninvited occupant in our temple.
It strips away a clean visage,
creates squalor and decay,
plants bramble in the garden,
makes infertile the soil,
evades eviction.
Illness commandeers the ego,
becomes its own soul.
This loathsome dweller deceives,
creates attachments,
becomes dependable,
appears useful,
provides false amenities,
orders demolition to the heart,
lays claim to property,
prosperity.
We are healers
who can vanquish this squatter
from sacred property
once we know our powers.
We the are the landlord
who owns the keys
and locks the gate.
We break this unholy contract
wrought by the wretched occupant
that creeps into our house
and garnishes our treasures.
Healing is evicting
that which does not serve,
does not align,
is unholy
to our divine.
©Barbara Leonhard, extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog
Image “The Infection” ©Martha Harris, Martha’s Artistic Flarings, artisticflarings.blog
https://meelosmom.podbean.com/e/the-shape-of-our-light-1585860479/
In this episode, I explore the shape of our light. Emotions can affect the shapes of water crystals, according to experiments done by Dr. Masuru Emoto, who wrote The Hidden Messages in Water (2001). He demonstrated that the shapes of water crystals are determined by the vibrations emitted by negative and positive emotional thoughts feelings, and words. Lynne McTaggart reported on a double-blind exercise conducted by Dean Radin with the Institute of Noetic Sciences in which they were able to replicate Dr. Emoto’s experiments and findings (The Intention Experiment, 2007, 184-185). Given these findings on the relationship between emotions and water, what is the shape of our water, and thus our light, especially as we face the current pandemic?
Emoto, M. The Hidden Messages in Water (New York, Atria, 2001).
A full documentary on studies done on water with mention of Dr. Emoto’s discoveries in his lab. This documentary is fascinating. Water has not only a chemical composition but also an underlying structure which records and holds memories. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O8LPnlh_sM
McTaggart, L. The Intention Experiment (New York, Free Press, 2007).
You can find my poetry on my WordPress site, https://www.extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog.
I read my poems, “Refugees”, “Mosaic”, and “A Prayer: Calm within the Storm”.
Image “Making Choices ” ©Martha Harris, Martha’s Artistic Flarings, https://artisticflarings.blog
If you would like to contribute poetry to this podcast, you may submit it to me in a Word document attached in an email to me at meelosmom@gmail.com. On the subject line, indicate it is a submission to this podcast. I can fit it into a theme. In the email, include any pertinent information on yourself and publications you want me to promote, especially for the work submitted.
© 2020 Barbara Harris Leonhard
Unless otherwise stated, all published works are the original works of the author and are copyrighted. Contents of this podcast 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 podcast embedded.
A new episode of my poetry podcast, Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul, is up.
https://meelosmom.podbean.com/e/magical-mystical-nature/
In this episode, I take a poetic look at messages from our magical mystical nature that can help us to emotionally navigate the challenges of COVID-19. Trees, fireflies, dolphins, bees, the moon, the sun, and bats are guiding us at this uncertain and dangerous time. Bats!? Really!? Wasn’t a bat responsible for the virus? Tune in to find out why bats also have magical and mystical messages for us in the face of COVID-19. May we all be safe and healthy.
You can find my poetry on WordPress at https://extraordinarysunshineweaver.blogI shared my poems “Tree of Life”, “Fireflies” and “Dolphins”.
My featured image, “New Dimensions”, is one of my sister Martha Harris’ pieces. Her work can be found at Martha’s Artistic Flarings, artisticflarings.blog on WordPress.
Sharon Singing Moon, “Sometimes It’s a Song” in A Random Seed (2018). You can find her book at local bookstores, such as Skylark Bookshop and Yellow Dog Bookshop in Columbia, Missouri, at Dunaway Books in St. Louis, Missouri, and Prospero’s Books in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mitch Teemley, “The Lives of Trees”, found on WordPress, https://mitchteemley.com/2020/02/21/the-lives-of-trees/
Joyce Kilmer, “Trees” https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/12744/trees
Yaskhan, “Firefly Gumbo”, https://yassy66.wordpress.com/ From Mumbai, poetry has always been her utmost passion. Her haiku and other poems have been published in several on line journals. She enjoys the challenges of writing in various poetic form and believes this creative discipline helps her to overcome several challenges.
Emily Dickinson, https://discoverpoetry.com/poems/bee-poems/
Mary Oliver, “Honey at the Table” American Primitive (1983) winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Kristiana Reed, “The Meadow” from her book, Between the Trees: Poetry and Prose (2019), which is available on amazon.com and signed copies can be purchased on etsy, https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/760618337/between-the-trees-poetry-and-prose. Her websites, https://myscreamingtwenties.com/ and https://freeverserevolution.wordpress.com/
William Henry Davies, “The Moon” http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/william_henry_davies/poems/3088.html
Phillip Larkin, “Solar”, http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/philip_larkin/poems/14593
Other Sources
“Fireflies”, https://www.sunsigns.org/firefly-animal-totem-symbolism-meanings/
Orion, http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/orion.htm
Pleiades, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pleiades-Greek-mythology
https://mollylarkin.com/we-come-from-the-stars/
Dolphins, https://medium.com/@totemlovecom/the-characteristics-of-the-dolphin-as-a-spirit-animal-ba303364bbba;
https://www.livescience.com/15150-dolphin-recovery-human-healing.html; https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/wisdom-of-the-wild-dolphin-healing/859/
Royal Jelly, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/royal-jelly
Bees, https://sciencing.com/advantages-disadvantages-honeybees-8592788.html
The Moon, https://www.sunsigns.org/moon-symbol-meanings/
If you would like to contribute poetry to this podcast, you may submit it to me in a Word document attached in an email to me at meelosmom@gmail.com. On the subject line, indicate it is a submission to this podcast. I can fit it into a theme. In the email, include any pertinent information on yourself and publications you want me to promote, especially for the work submitted.
© 2020 Barbara Harris Leonhard
Unless otherwise stated, all published works are the original works of the author and are copyrighted. Contents of this podcast 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 podcast embedded.
Enjoy this exploration of the sacral way of water. Our steady and constant companion in various forms throughout the year, water reflects our creativity as well as our turmoil. Our emotional states are revealed in the many faces of water.
https://meelosmom.podbean.com/e/water-the-sacral-way/
I share my poems “Listen to the Prayers of Snow”, “Be as Water”, and “This a River”.
Enjoy a poem by Walter Bargen: “Why the World Stops”, which is from his volume of poetry The Body of Water: Poetry by Walter Bargen (2003). You can find used copies of this book on Amazon, Better World Books, and other used book sites.
I’m grateful to Sharon Singing Moon for her poem “Autumn Grace” in A Random Seed (2018). You can find her book at local bookstores, such as Skylark Bookshop and Yellow Dog Bookshop in Columbia, Missouri, at Dunaway Books in St. Louis, Missouri, and Prospero’s Books in Kansas City, Missouri.
My featured image, “Sacred Waters”, is one of my sister Martha Harris’ pieces. Her work can be found at Martha’s Artistic Flarings, artisticflarings.blog on WordPress.
You will hear “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost (http://poetryfoundation.org); “Very Early Spring” by Katherine Mansfield (http://famouspoetsandpoems.com); “Tempest”, by Emily Dickinson (http://yourdailypoem.com)
I found an interesting article on the symbolism of water in literature. https://eduzaurus.com/blog/water-symbolism-in-literature
For more information on chakras, see Anatomy of the Spirit (1996) and Sacred Contracts (2003) by Caroline Myss, PhD. Also, A Handbook of Chakra Healing: Spiritual Practice for Health, Harmony, and Healing (2004) by Kalashatra Govinda.
Wikipedia has a good summary of the Great Flood of 1993. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1993
Please like, follow, and share this podcast. Thank you for listening!
If you would like to contribute poetry to this podcast, you may submit it to me in a Word document attached in an email to me at meelosmom@gmail.com. On the subject line, indicate it is a submission to this podcast. I can fit it into a theme. In the email, include any pertinent information on yourself and publications you want me to promote, especially for the work submitted.
©Barbara Harris Leonhard, extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog, meelosmom.podbean.com
Image “Sacred Waters” ©Martha Harris, Martha’s Artistic Flarings, artisticflarings.blog
Hello, everyone,
I have a new memoir up on my poetry podcast called Seeking Light: Mindful Presence. This memoir reveals how poets seek light, the mindful presence, in their poetry. Being present to the NOW fosters insights and promotes healing.
https://meelosmom.podbean.com/e/seeking-light-mindful-presence/
“Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul” https://meelosmom.podbean.com/
(If you have the Podbean app, you can see the featured images on my podcasts. Also, I am using the same image in this post.)
My gratitude for the original digital art, Seeking Light, by my sister, Martha Harris (See the featured image for this post.)….. You can find her works of art on Martha’s Artistic Flarings. https://artisticflarings.blog….
My gratitude to my sister Cynthia Cady Stanton, who is an ordained Presbyterian minister and hospice chaplain, for her poems, “Grace Shower” and “We are Needed.” You can find her services for spiritual care, weddings, funerals, and spiritual counseling online at her website https://cynthiacadystanton.com. And her poetry can be found at https://becomingandbeholding.com
My gratitude to Stephen Fuller for his poem, “Silent on Chauncey Creek”. His work can be found on https://FullbeardLit.org. He is Managing Editor of Go Dog Go Café: Where Writers Gather. https://godoggocafe.com. Check out both sites! You can promote your work every Monday and promote other writers’ work every Thursday.
I also read a poem by The Buddha. “Thought”. You can find more examples of poetry by The Buddha and other Poet-Seers on https://poetseer.org
If you would like to contribute poetry to this podcast, you may submit it to me in a Word document attached in an email to me at meelosmom@gmail.com. On the subject line, indicate it is a submission to this podcast. I can fit it into a theme. In the email, include any pertinent information on yourself and publications you want me to promote, especially for the work submitted.
©Barbara Leonhard, https://extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog and https://meelosmom.podbean.com/
Image “Seeking Light” ©Martha Harris, Martha’s Artistic Flarings, https://artisticflarings.blog
I have a poetry podcast on Podbean called “Poetry: The Memoir of the Soul“. Let me know what you think!
The post is called ‘We Are Entwined Spirits’. When we feel isolated and lost, Poetry is our medicine.
This podcast has a new poem in it.
Memoirs
Poems are memoirs
Of our human journey
Our life stories
And spiritual quests
In images woven by craft
The history of life in one poem
Comprised of many poems
Each of which is a cell in our ‘bio’
Our biography, graphs
Pictures of words
Poems are lines
Connecting the dots
Bridges to specks of self
From other selves
Poets are space holders
In a matrix
The Tree of Life
The Tree of All
If you would like to contribute poetry to this podcast, you may submit it to me in a Word document attached in an email to me at meelosmom@gmail.com. On the subject line, indicate it is a submission to this podcast. I can fit it into a theme. In the email, include any pertinent information on yourself and publications you want me to promote, especially for the work submitted.
Poems: ©Barbara Leonhard, extraordinarysunshineweaver.blog
Image: ©Martha Harris, marthaflares.blog
Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 