chakras hitherto ignored now pulsate
all polarised nodes wish to merge with source
manner of change varies as does blink rate
all accomplished without the use of force
kundalini being our sole resource
that as subject and object become one
all we are aware of is bliss beat’s hum
Outside my window, lightening flashes;
Thunder rattles the glass in the window pain;
Dark clouds have turned the day to night
In anticipation of the coming rain.
I kick off my slippers; roll up my pants legs;
Dancing in the rain is my only goal.
Uptight neighbors watch me with disgust
As the rain now cleanses my soul.
Their prying eyes worry me not
I shed all my clothes showing everything that I’ve got.
Let their shrinks come and take me away.
When the sun returns drying me and my world
The soul cleansing comes to an end
I go back inside with nothing to hide
Waiting for it to rain once again.
become one with nature
meditation and deep prayer
cleanse body and soul
Standing with my arms
out and my face upward to
let the rain cleanse me
A lonely, thick stream of rain, as if carrying all the pain of the world,
Wakens the dark morning sleep hidden within those softly spread clouds.
An autumn-dark rainfall rushes down, as though to comfort our grief.
Even that single bird cannot defy the power of nature, they say—
A force that still slips past our reaching hands.
Wrapping around this darkness once more, that pitiful stream of rain—
Whose sorrow is it carrying, that it wishes to dance so wildly before the poor?
Is it trying to hear the silent, twisted outcry of the voiceless?
What kind of tears are gathered inside this rainfall,
That it tries to hand down its tear of sorrow to a new life striving to live?
Embracing the pain yet again,
Where is this foolish touch of the rain heading now,
Carrying these vast, wide tears as if to soothe those who mourn?
A trembling bird, having surrendered to sorrow,
Drifts away silently down the river.
The reason the unstoppable rain rushes toward us—
Could it be that, within the silent outcry left behind by the waves,
It wishes to wash away, to take away, the other "You" weeping inside of me?
I sense a life before
peripheral of present being --
Witnessed the Very Cross!
Yet to recoup Virtue's loss,
a soul injury indeterminable
Blessing, no crime lives forever
No sin a spirit’s annihilation
Wrong may bleed for generations
suture~ thankful a benevolent God --
“Eat not your own heart”
Conscience no judge nor final jury
God loved us from the start
His grace man’s inevitable victory --
What haunted me the most, was the myth of clean.
Soap with its pale arrogance, its perfume of forgiveness.
Water pretending to be neutral, pretending it could rinse a history.
As if purity were mechanical.
As if turning a handle could unmake a person.
As if the stain were not the self.
Take me back to Yathrib, where the evening stars are clear
In that green oasis, tall tales that we might hear.
Sit around a fire, they knew how to have fun
Jewish poets recited, when their day was done.
Take me back to Khaybar, green against black rock
Date palms frame the castles, goatherds tend a flock
Hard morn in the fields then high sun drove indoors
Time to weave a rug or pray that the rain pours.
Take me back to Yemen
When it was under Jewish rule
When a farmers' life was close to heaven
and the highlands green and cool.
We'd have a grand old time in Adiabene
If we could go back in time
Queen Helena, also Jewish, ate well then
Saffron, Cardamom, lemon and lime.
There once were these worlds, but no more
Others moved in, others made war
Not much you can do, except try to recall
How it lived and flourished, rose to fall..
P
i
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c
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s
My life and career
Shredded before my sad eyes
No one cares but me
Shedding leaves
dropping old memories
Like cutting your hair
lessening your loads of care
The autumn rain
like a cool shower
washing away remains
of burdens that used to tower
The warm October sun
peeking through clouds of gray
lighten my step
with every touch of ray
Folks perceive Spring
as a season of renewal and change
as the birds sing
and buds from the ground raise
But the cleansing begins long before
in the Fall
before the white snow
has a chance to freeze it all
Like how one must fall
before they can rise
The trees demonstrate this
before our very eyes
Think of a butterfly
emerging from their cocoon
When the caterpillar first wrapped themselves
they didn't emerge so soon
That is why Autumn
affectionately known as Fall
is my very favorite season
of them all
I had blood on my face. Dirty. Gracious. And… disgusting. Blood dripping on my face. Didn’t know it. It just smelled bad.
When I looked at my face in the mirror, I thought… that the mirror had the blood.
I kept cleaning it. Cleaning it. Rubbing it. With my arms. With my palms. With my fingertips.
At the fatigue, I could get in my fingertips until that blood dripped from my face onto the mirror.
And now I understand that I had a problem. Who caused problems on both me and the mirror.
Now I can clean the blood on my face. But what about the mirror?
A heart has nothing hidden, that a tongue will not reveal.
In flashes of stress or anger, a tongue amplifies how we feel.
I will overcome the bad things that disrupted my life
Cherishing these lessons learned that I can now act upon
Cleansing, healing, being all that I can be, a triumph!
Heidi Sands
4/13/25
(C)opyright
i invite the freshness
of the mountain air
to fill my lungs
inhale replenish
and clear my thoughts
as i quietly await
the ceremonial rising
of the majestic sun
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
I am simply trying to stay afloat
In an otherwise sinking land
An escape between past and future
An island of pain
Treaded up
Barefoot in the sand
Grains of memories stuck in the creases
Standing is sore
Walking is sore
On my hands and knees I beg
Relief is all I pray for
The physical and mental torment
Occupying a vessel that doesn’t know how to swim
My head hurts from thinking
My hands hurt from holding on
The sun hasn’t risen in a while now
But the clouds bare a similar resemblance
To the ache that wants to be unearthed
Tears and rain, all in the same
A necessary cleansing so we can grow beyond
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