the caregiver’s promise (audio 6:03)

April 24, 2013 by rachel

Earlier this evening, I was the speaker at the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner for a Hospice organization in my region, and I read my late 20th-century piece, “The Caregiver’s Promise.” It felt good rolling off my tongue, so I decided to record it (regular voice, no Echoes of the Deep Void) for all of you out there who regularly bring care, comfort, peace, love, and dignity to those among us who need it most. “Tell them they’re not angels!” a small […]

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, spirituality • Tags: caregivers, caregiving, empowerment, self-care

hear ye! hear ye! this is no time for timid hearts (audio)

February 24, 2013 by rachel

This is my first attempt to record my poetry. Technical or other feedback is much appreciated. No Time For Timid Hearts

Categories: audio, body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, prose poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: consciousness, empowerment

prayer for radical courage

February 16, 2013 by rachel

in all things, may i travel unarmored and unafraid, settled into a quiet cradle whose gentle sway bears the mark of the mother’s hand let my mind be emptied of false truths and accusations stripped free of nagging encumbrance my essence naked and alive in original, unswaddled glory if i am called to a gate that refuses to open, let me turn peaceably in another direction and be piloted by the stars that illumine my oft-weary soul if the storms […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: consciousness, empowerment, prayer

i will: vow for the unbound (classic)

December 19, 2012 by rachel

I first wrote and posted this in February 2010. i will live a life without limitation ~ or i will not live at all i will love without restraint and eschew anyone else’s small cobbled version of love ~ or i will not love at all i will choose to be awake in every moment aware of every possibility conspicuously driven by an impeccable conviction of the heart ~ or I will lay myself down in a meadow of columbine […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension, empowerment, higher consciousness

when only wings remain

December 9, 2012 by rachel

The energies are settling, so (not surprisingly), today’s poem presented itself in rhyming form after being inspired by this backyard photo. Tomorrow, I’ll tell you a bit more about what I have been up to for five weeks. Stay true, stay clear, my precious friend. Pray tell! What seer doth divine In soggy tea leaves, curdled wine These ancient rhythms pulse, now bore In loosening of the golden cord ~ A harlot, a jackass, a tune unsounded The tale of […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: consciousness, empowerment, mysticism

personal declaration of radical responsibility

November 2, 2012 by rachel

for everything now fallen away i bear responsibility for every delicious return to the table of earthly delights every soul-numbing morsel of dispossession inhaled, imbibed, every dark and slithery corner into which i stumbled and every moonlit mesa i traveled in the company of the all-knowing sky, i tell you now that i held the key, i turned the lock, and this I lay at the feet of no one save myself if I was led astray by so-called inner […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness

no es el momento para los corazones timidos: this is no time for timid hearts

September 7, 2012 by rachel

In August, German-born, English-passported, self-identified new Peruvian gringa and poem faery Rose Mary Boehm sent me this message:  “I received your URL from a friend in London. We are on the same wavelength as you. I immediately read what you had to say and was keen to be a part of the beautiful enterprise. But after reading how this is to be carried out I have two very important doubts of a rather more mundane nature: In Peru most mail […]

Categories: inspiration, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, Words Divinely Wrought, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment, unity

from peru and italy (via the netherlands), poetry of the heart transcends language

August 25, 2012 by rachel

Words Divinely Wrought is becoming truly global. At the core of our Words Divinely Wrought Global Poetry-Share is the desire to bring inspired words to those who yearn to hear them. Naturally, that means going beyond English — the language in which the poems were written. In a recent Comment, RB in Peru reports that she has translated poems into Spanish and they are now in a final proofreading phase. When ready, they will be “released” in Lima. And here […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, Words Divinely Wrought, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment, faith, new paradigm, unity

our first poetic offering has found its way out into the world!

August 22, 2012 by rachel

Although we do not yet have 33 people signed up for our global poetry-share, I am removing the “sticky” post from the top of the page. It began to feel a bit stale, so that particular post has moved back down to its rightful (chronological) position. Today’s update comes from JP in the UK, who you may recall, is part of a trio of energy workers traveling to various sites. Seems they spent a long day in Glastonbury and released […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, Words Divinely Wrought • Tags: empowerment, faith, unity

allowing ourselves to be carried to new and unexpected places

August 18, 2012 by rachel

When JM of Oregon commented here that she had received her Words Divinely Wrought packet, she waxed poetic (ahem) about the white envelope, the contents therein, and her excitement as she and the poems wait for just the right moment to head out into the world. These two sentences from JM truly struck to the heart of the matter: “I am impressed to say that that envelope is full to the brim with the most amazing expansive energy! I suspect […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, Words Divinely Wrought, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment, faith, unity

touching and helping people we have never met

August 15, 2012 by rachel

Today, more inspiration  from the gently expanding “Words Divinely Wrought” community of poetry-sharers. I continue to be bowled over by the hearts who have found their way here, and assure you that every word, every comment, touches me deeply. I have been somewhat solitary for a long time, and, like others here, this undertaking (funny that word is usually associated with death) is connecting me with people who instantly feel like family. And for that, I am grateful. If this […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, Words Divinely Wrought, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment, faith

this is what divine collaboration looks like

August 13, 2012 by rachel

Some of the initial participants in the global poetry-share have begun to send in photos so the rest of us can see what’s going on. JM of California took a photo of the two poems she received in her packet (which, by the way, also includes one of my square, teal “calling” cards and a note from yours truly). She writes: Hi Dear Rachel….I picked my packet of poems up yesterday on my way to an artist gathering… I opened […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, Words Divinely Wrought • Tags: awakening, empowerment, faith

peel back a few layers and jump in!

August 12, 2012 by rachel

Without even commenting on the vibrancy of the colors, here’s what I love about this painting by San Diego artist Janet McCarty — who (btw) I am so happy and proud to call my friend: According to the artist, she applied layer upon layer of paint, and then scratched through them to reveal some of the “subterranean” layers lurking beneath the surface. Need I say more? If you’ve been around this blog for more than about 43 seconds, you know […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, Words Divinely Wrought • Tags: awakening, empowerment, faith, prayer

if you think this divine undertaking is all about poetry…think again

August 9, 2012 by rachel

If this Words Divinely Wrought initiative had a soundtrack, it would reverberate with the mellifluous sounds of hearts cracking and opening around the planet. My favorite Kiwi and I were brainstorming the concept not so very long ago, and we were both very clear that, first and foremost, this really isn’t about poetry. It’s about allowing yourself to be part of something large, trusting the astonishing efficiency of the Universe, chipping away at boundaries or walls that may have kept […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, Words Divinely Wrought, writing & creativity • Tags: empowerment, faith, opening heart, unity consciousness

third time the charm? seek no longer: creation is your only purpose

March 14, 2012 by rachel

This piece has appeared here twice, first on 2/09/2009. I newly discovered the image of Mud People at the crystalinks.com site, along with a very readable synopsis of the Mayan Popol Vuh creation myths. There comes a time when it is no longer enough to seek out the transformative life. There comes a time to listen deeply and to say Yes! to the faintest inklings of your heart. That is the time when you become a creator in your own […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension, empowerment

and this, sisterbrother, is for you

March 9, 2012 by rachel

Today, March 9, this blog becomes four years old. This post first appeared here in August 2010, titled, “this is for those of us who weep.” This is for those of us who weep, Whose tears hasten the blush of new blooms For the young ones, the elders, for all our relations For the pain that punctuates this planet we call Home For the slings and arrows that have pierced us time and again and again Yet will never breach […]

Categories: inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness

do it today

February 5, 2012 by rachel

if you have something to say and you know deep in your belly that it needs to be heard speak it if you have something fresh to begin and like a chick too large for its egg it can no longer be contained start it perhaps you have something to end once and for all, something you have continued to engage in even though it drains or suffocates you let it go do it today if your deepest dreams were […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, change, empowerment

this is no time for timid hearts (again and again and again)

February 2, 2012 by rachel

Sometimes I wonder if I should just sticky-post this piece, since it always seems to “be time” for these words and the sensibilities they offer. May you find encouragement here to step out from behind that big boulder that has for far too long hidden the most potent and succulent parts of yourself. Speaking of “time” (whatever that means), a friend and I were talking and she spoke the adage, “Time will tell.” Hmmm, I wondered: Then why are we […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment

the world needs you now (classic)

January 3, 2012 by rachel

I can scarce remember when I wrote this. It seems as though it has been circulating here and there forever, and there is always a new wave of people ready to hear and embrace it. This past year, the piece was translated into Russian (and perhaps other languages as well?). I envision a crowd-sourced video version in which many different voices and languages (including ASL, eurhythmy, and other nonverbal expressions) are stitched together, woven into a global tapestry of personal […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness, life, wisdom

prayer for radical patience

October 28, 2011 by rachel

For every moment I have waited, Let me wait ten thousand moments more! Let me delight in the glory of the waiting And the exquisite expectancy it tenders. For every instance I knew the now was near Yet for reasons untold it was not mine to receive, Let me know that divinity still presides over a vast and loving universe And that patience rides a chariot whose name is endless joy. May trust and courage override the niggling fears that […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness, patience, prayer

this is no time for timid hearts (redux)

September 28, 2011 by rachel

New season, new moon, (Jewish) new year, whew! I’m observing some people get smeared all over the carpet – and others gently moving toward greater clarity and understanding of their next steps, new steps, you-can-do-it-too-steps. Even though this poem first appeared in August 2010, it’s bright and shiny and new for today.  And you? This is no time for timid hearts For holding back your most precious gifts in the face of fear of retribution For wedging yourself into a […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: empowerment, higher consciousness, new paradigm, wisdom

the promises i make myself

September 9, 2011 by rachel

I promise to walk the path that I always knew, deep inside, was mine – even when I was blinded by interference, fogged by hypnotic illusion, and momentarily forgot my way. I will remember that the map is etched upon my heart and readily accessible if I choose it so. I promise to trust the inklings of my heart and the urgings of my spirit without hesitation. I will invite my mind to the party as well, recognizing that wholeness […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, health/healing, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness, life, wisdom

thank you, peoplepassion, for making a video of my poem, ‘what if an angel took hold of your hand?’

August 12, 2011 by rachel

Finally, some sensitive and talented folks created a youtube video featuring one of my poems, and I am thrilled! If you did not see “what if an angel took hold of your hand?” when I posted it on January 27, 2011, you can find it here. The full text is also included at the youtube site. The peoplepassion channel is definitely worth a visit, as well; they have produced a powerful series of videos to heighten awareness of the drought […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation, video • Tags: angels, earthangels, empowerment, wisdom

warrior love vow, et cetera

July 4, 2011 by rachel

This seems a curious post after being away for a while, but it would not be denied. No, I have not met the outer masculine being to whom these words may be directed, and as usual, it may be me communicating with other beloved parts of myself. (Or perhaps this poetic drumbeat will call him in, eh?) As well, wildland fire season is a-roar here in the American Southwest, raindrops are few and far between, and I admit having watched […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, love, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: divine union, empowerment

you were born to sing a song of uncommon melody

June 2, 2011 by rachel

This is not the last time you will hear this: Life hands you choice after choice, Opting in for the wonderful does not command bliss without consequence Even relegating yourself to the march of chaos is an invitation for daylight to enter Unadorned, radiance aches to tickle skin beneath your sleeve This does not mean that the sheets will fold upon themselves, Your liberation brings the power and freedom to tend to life’s every nuance The mundane is a cradle […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness

it is time to lay the era of “channeling” to rest — and claim the wisdom that lies within you

May 21, 2011 by rachel

This post has been taking shape for six months — and now, its time has come. No more holding back for fear that these words will somehow disrespect or appear to discredit the fine, fine work of so many gifted individuals — or the concomitant fear that my more mainstream readers will instantly label, judge, and distance themselves from me. For many years, I have followed, admired, honored, and put great stock in the wisdom, comfort, and joy brought forth […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: channelling, empowerment, higher consciousness, new paradigm, wisdom

this i deserve: affirmation for the deeply worthy

May 17, 2011 by rachel

when others rushed to the trough to feed like hollow pigs i remained content with crumbs scented by the hand of god, laid before me on scraps of thrice-read newspapers and now, the ripened oblations of the holy, this i deserve while all around me, those of faint courage clanged shut the gates and retreated behind windowless walls, i opened up doorway after doorway cloaked in a herringbone of tremor and valor, freely sharing the keys to my most delicate […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: affirmation, awakening, empowerment

next wavers, this is your wakeup call: the world needs you now

April 16, 2011 by rachel

I wrote this piece back in the 20th century (!), and it cycles around from time to time. Thanks to some Facebookers, it’s now reaching out and resonating with a lot of folks around the world. I started out looking for bright, radiant images to post, but something about the expectant, deer-in-the-headlights look on this young monk’s face captivated me. Stepping into our own shoes can indeed be daunting, but when it’s time, it’s time. The world needs you now. […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension, awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness, life, new paradigm, wisdom

find your light in unlikely places (timeless)

April 9, 2011 by rachel

Wherever Home is, go there now The map has been etched upon your soul for eons Fire has been laid Nourishment calls your name Do not disappoint her You will be greeted by outstretched arms Tender songs of welcome Eyes that remember how to see Blossoms await your gathering Do not delay the journey Unpack before you go Bring nothing save your soul’s inextinguishable flame Your heart’s desire to Love Your body ripe for new beginnings Ancient stories ache to […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: ascension, awakening, empowerment, soul

to stockpile the succulent flowerings of your soul, this is not time

March 16, 2011 by rachel

  This is no time for timid hearts For holding back your most precious gifts in the face of fear of retribution For wedging yourself into a doorway while you wonder if you are worthy of entrance For sitting interminably on a fence whose only purpose is to separate you from your very self This is no time This is no time to utter whatever from a place of rarefied observation To be carried along buoyed by neither aim nor […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness

feeling the surge? it is time for people of integrity to rise up in right action

March 11, 2011 by rachel

Another classic post, from June 1, 2008. It’s not that I don’t have new words springing forth–only that so much is pouring through me that I can scarcely keep up with it. This poemanifesto speaks to me with great power today. Perhaps you will find resonance as well? Now is the time for you to step up! Now, as the world sets to ridding itself of liars and thieves who ply their nefarious trades in the name of liberty and […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, personal growth, planetary shifts, spirituality, transformation • Tags: awakening, empowerment, higher consciousness, manifesto, peace

we are the women and we will not relinquish our original instructions

January 30, 2011 by rachel

Yes, this poetry was first posted here in September 2010, but these women insisted on being heard again and are not easy to refuse. The art is new this time — and is linked to an article in “The Mirror of Isis.” we are the women who squatted in the fields who birthed our babies and anointed ourselves with a splash of impure water we are the ones who folded the tents, filled alabaster jars gathered the oxen, the oils, […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, poetry, spirituality, women • Tags: divine feminine, empowerment, goddess, women's history, women's poetry

what if an angel took hold of your hand?

January 27, 2011 by rachel

What if an angel took hold of your hand And whispered sweet, “I understand” Embraced you close and stroked your brow And murmured soft, “I’ve got you now.” What if this angel soothed your soul, Nursed your wounds and scars of old Polished your heartstrings until they glistened And gentle said, “Tell me all, I’ll listen.” Would you drop your walls, set loose your tears Could you finally face your darkest fears? Would you sink into surrender fair And allow […]

Categories: body mind & spirit, inspiration, poetry, spirituality, transformation • Tags: angels, ascension, empowerment