Prayer, by Arthur Roy Mitchell (c.1889-1977), A.R. Mitchell Museum, Trinidad, Colorado

thank you for every morsel bittersweet
for every fleeting foray into unimaginable bliss
every lifetime of incalculable pain
for the searing darkness and the blinding light –
thank you

for your rabid inability to create your own boundaries
giving me a reason to establish my ramparts soundly
and master the raising and lowering of my own castle gates –
thank you

for triggering my insecurities with your comings and goings
dragging your nails over toughened scar tissue
busting open wounds that I smugly believed were
once and for all time healed and whole –
thank you for giving me no choice
but to redress and heal anew

in exasperating fashion you loved when i was barely lovable
remained close by when i begged you to disappear
evaporated into the ethers at the very times i wanted simply
to stroke the skin round your weary countenance,
hoisted me onto the meat hook and left me in the netherworld
for days (nay, months!) on end
and for this most of all,
i thank you

you ignored my pleas to show up as i wanted
refused to succumb to the machinations of a restless and uprooted mind
imperceptibly inched along the road to a soul revealed,
pushed back when fear and unworthiness sought desperately to push you away
trampled my tidy, evanescent order into a liminal chaos
invited me to stew in my own juices until they rendered savory and sweet
(oh, did i remember to thank you?)

when i was certain that the elusive butterfly called love had left the room
you proved me wrong and i thank you
when i was steeped in weighty self-reflection and nagging indecision
you forced me none too gently toward an unchanging truth
gave me space to wallow and wonder (damn you!)
skipped merrily on your way without a glance in your rearview mirror
and while i despised your every stroke of bold absence,
i forgot, perhaps, to thank you

for the untold gifts you offered
(though i wanted something more!)
thank you
for the all-too-rare appearance of tender footprints in the snow
the sparse moments peeking out from beneath a pall of igneous complication,
for not forsaking for the sake of contrivance and a measured peace
and for showing up at my doorstep every time i surrendered my tumescent heart
to the whim of a ridiculously ironic god -
thank you

for this and for that
for tears of laughter and lamentation
for your utterly excruciating tirades of silence
and leaps into the abyss of unbound emotion,
for all that has died to the past and poises at the edge of the now –
while you still listen and wait and want and more
here i am, eyes wide open
remembering
to thank you

I began this piece back in July and found myself stumbling upon it this morning and bringing it to completion. These words contain great power for anyone who speaks them aloud. If this energy resonates with where you are now, you might also want to visit (or revisit) “prayer for radical forgiveness,” which resides in the right-hand sidebar in the list of “pages.” As in much of my work, the “you” in this piece may indeed represent a part of yourself that is ready to release and heal.

clearing prayer for personal sovereignty

To the one who bulleted my tender arroyos with the rat-a-tatting of buckshot spray,
I invite you to consider how the weapon was placed in your hand
Who gave you the sharp command to fire at will,
And why you acquiesced without reflection

To the one who laid at my feet a bundle of thorns beribboned by knotted raffia,
I suggest you ponder gently the origins of your wounded heart
The ancient inklings of your foundational fear
And your penetrating need to remain outside the margins of healthy attachment

To you who projected onto my illuminative scrim
a blistering repertoire of gaping wounds,
I offer you a lightsaber of Forgiveness
dipped in a river of uncoiling Compassion

To you who tore into my soft underbelly with rusty and jagged swordplay
intent on inflicting unremitting pain absent the bliss of final annihilation,
I thank you for the opportunity to strengthen the invincible core of who I Am

To the one who feigned shock and astonishment when the mirror of truth
was raised squarely to your visage of affectation and scowled discontent,
   Who retreated because you refused to offer access to Love 
when it pounded at your door
Who beat back the arrival of Contentment
when it arrived cloaked in naught but a pearly sheen of Peace,

I invite you to turn your attention inward and halt your ragtag march
to bludgeon every supposed exterior enemy along your path

And I release here and now,
into the willing and outstretched arms of a Just and Loving universe,
My unholy attachment to your pain-riddled accusations.

May Blessings and Joy embrace you in every moment
May LovingKindness guide your every step
May we all choose our highest expression
and let Love lead the way.

You can pray
Or be the prayer

Sing
Or be the song

Ask the searching questions
Or live the unmistakable answers in every moment

You were placed here for a purpose beyond all purpose
A hope beyond all hope
You are the very breath of Creation
And the unfolding of Eternity

Nothing is about you
And everything is

Nothing is certain
Save the unequivocal certainty of the here and now

You own nothing because you are the All
Need nothing because within you lies the completeness of never-ending Love
And the promise of humanity’s everlasting freedom

You can talk the talk and walk the talk
Until that unmissable moment that you become the talk

You are the message, the prophecy,
 The incantations and the psalms
The ritual is your beating heart
The absolution, the blood coursing through your veins
Your eyes speak the benediction with every blink

No longer must you see yourself
a lowly pawn in the grand game

No longer need you wait, candle in hand,
For the apparition made manifest

The temple lies within you!
Through your holy mouth enter the willing
And return the newly born.

Looks like I nosed out second-place winner William Haskins and snagged First Place in a contest for “The Inaugural Poem We Should Have Had,” sponsored by absolutewrite.com (see details and links in post directly below).

My entry was “Prayer for Inclusion,” which I posted on January 20, 2009 (Inauguration Day), and which can be found listed in the Pages section of the right-hand sidebar  — or click right here if you’re short on time or energy.

As any writer, artist, musician, or creative soul knows, receiving tidbits of recognition like this can gladden the heart and renew the spirit. Thanks to Absolute Write for the contest, to the poets who put forth a field of stellar entries, and to those who voted for their favorites.

Include me.

Invite me into the circle and guide me to the spot that bears my name
Escort me with a steadying touch, loose your hold and bear me aloft
Include my joy and ebullience, my hope and promise,
The tracks of endless tears and the wounds of struggle and pain
that have marked the past.

Include me raw and refined, defiant, quiescent
Include me enriched and diminished, broken and healed
Embrace me as the one anointed and demeaned,
Privileged and impoverished by stature, circumstance
or the trajectory of an inconstant moon.

Include my willingness.

Reap the fruits of surrender I have cultivated for this moment
Lead me through a doorway unadorned, a hallway lined with latency,
Pass the drinking gourd so that all who thirst,
May sip the undilute nectar of belonging.

Include me as woman, man, brother, sister, parent, child
Include me offering and offered, receiving and giving, creator and creation
Weave the strands of my soul into a blossoming tapestry of voices,
Joined by the shared heart of humanity and a long-aching hunger for unity.

Use every part of me
Include the infinitesimal and the inestimable
Lift me at once to my full height and humility
Draw out my hidden gifts and squandered talents
And draw me into the arms of others who await my arrival.

I am here in this Now,
Filled with passion, with purpose
My prayer but so simple:

Include me.

Even though be whole now is not yet a year old (like me, my blog is a Piscean), the start of this sure-to-be-unforgettable new year is a good time to unearth and recycle some memorable posts from 2008.

Here are a few of my favorites, based on a purely non-scientific selection process.

1. I never tire of watching diva India Arie sing the James Taylor classic, The Secret O’ Life. Every word speaks directly to my soul. Maybe yours, too? Click right here and enjoy!

2. My poem, I Had Forgotten, But Now I Remember, came through after a particularly momentous breakthrough session with intuitive healer/midwife of the soul Dawn Knapp.  Choosing to remember may just be Job #1 on the path to wholeness: find the poem here.

BTW, you can learn more about Dawn’s work over here (www.dawnings.org).

3. In the post, ordinary oracles: the tao of automobiles, I donned my robe to give uncannily accurate automotivology readings. If you’re stuck in neutral, seem to be going backwards, or have a tendency to veer off the road, check out this post. Personal readings still available, although they now come with a request for donation.

4. I could never forgive myself if I didn’t include my prayer for radical forgiveness in my list of favorites for 2008.

5. Intelligent inspiration for writers with new resolve to write! Here is a reprise of my 20th-century essay, voice lessons: finding your inner writer.

6. Rumi’s expression of Divine love never goes out of style! Click here to visit (or revisit) my post, this Rumi poem & video ought to be rated R for Ravishing!

Need I tell anyone that there are powerful energies at work throughout the planet? Rather than try to wrap your brain around any of it, tune in to this divinely soul-nourishing video by rysa5, who has a youtube.com channel here, devoted to a world of videos on enlightenment, abundance, and a host of other high-vibration, multidimensional topics.

The music is Devi Prayer, from the Divine Mother/Sacred Chants of Devi CD by Craig Pruess and Ananda; learn more here.

Journey deep. Listen well. Enjoy … and allow yourself to stretch into new realms!

Forgive me for not sharing fully in your pain
for my own basket has been filled with seedpods of blossoming sadness
and ripened fruit dripping with disappointment

Forgive me if I do not remember your name
or the light aching for release from your crown
for I have been searching too long simply to remember my own name
and the codex that bears the story that is mine

If I have seemed aloof, apart,
forgive me,
for my sense of alienation has weighed heavy for eons,
obstructing byways of true connection
despite my unfettered yearnings for authenticity

Forgive me for random bouts of arrogance
for detours short and long that led me away
from unbridled compassion
for untold moments in which my own inner brilliance blinded me
and left me seemingly no choice but to return to refuge,
for brief bouts of hesitation that kept my heart in check
while a calcified mind carried the reins in its tightened grasp,
forgive me

For sequestering myself
in the face of emergent tenderness,
forgive me
For pushing away your outstretched hands
in the name of independence,
forgive me
for clouding love with judgment spoken or believed
for not peering deeply enough into your frantic eyes
or listening to the muffled mewings beneath your angry words,
for clinging fearfully to the riverbanks
and forgetting to let go and be carried by bands of angels,
forgive me

For giving to others the care and nurturance I could not muster to give myself
for giving my power away to darkness within and without
for giving undue honoring and withholding true reverence
in the face of fear or interference
for giving excuses and rationalizations time and again,
for giving up moments before everything was given to me,
for choosing fear over love
confusion over clarity
conversation over contemplation
noise over stillness
illusion over truth

For this and more
for every morsel
for the sake of The All
forgive me

"Forgiveness" by Thierry Ona

Today, create the opening Heart

Unshroud your inmost Desires and
lay them down gently in a field of dew-kissed wildflower
Let flow a river of Forgiveness
For yourself, for others
And revel in the soft waftings of a breeze
as it carries away the unlatched chains of soul’s oppression

Create the keys that unlock your ancient Rememberings
Take them down from the nail on the wall
Feel them slip with ease into their appointed hallways
And know that you have held them in your hands for eternity

Today, create with the instrument that is You
the Music that is the background for your becoming

Express in every act the Beauty, the Art that meets the gaze
of those who would truly see

Create in all its unimaginable majesty
The beckonings of Peace
Surround yourself with long-sought Contentment
Simply cease the straining that has time and again produced only striving
And allow a gossamer cape of unwrapt Radiance to envelop your aching soul

Now is the time to create the space for Love to enter
For Joy to join you at the table
For Stillness to claim its too-long-empty seat
For your Infinite Being to take up full-time residence
within your inner rooms

Today, dismingle the wheat from the chaff
Precious Gems from errant pebbles, Gold from dross
Truth from illusion
Walk away from the old, the tattered and torn
Let the Call of the New guide you on your way

What will you create today?
The ground has been prepared
Your seed pouch bulges with potentiality
Rain waits in the wings
Even as a holy chorus is poised to sound
the forever tone that carries your Sacred name

The All patiently awaits your emerging choice
Your Yes! of Creation
Only You, in your vast and immeasurable essence,
Can lay upon the doorstep of existence
The singular gift that is You

This is Today
She has arisen fresh and virginal
and filled with the exhilaration of anticipation
Her eyes search out your Heart to ask the quiet question:

What will you create?

Let this be the day
The day of silent wisdom flowing through cupped hands
Spilling over the battlements in enquenchment
Trickling into your parched and blistered heart
And bringing forth the tender blossomings hid thereunder

Let this be the day you softly douse the final ember
Cool the incessant fire that once threatened to leap over hedged edges
Sought to swallow every morsel in its hot and baited breath
Lick delicately crafted intention into submission
And singe spirit’s embryonic beginnings and nascent ends

Let this very day couch beside the river of becoming most gloried
Shirking ambiguity
Thundering a roar of acquiescence
Reverberating through inner hallways of infinite knowing
And gently blowing open doorways to rooms gilded for your inner gain

In your deepest pockets of being you have ached for the anointment of this moment
Have poked and prodded
Cried out with fervent yearning
Resuscitated too-long buried passions
You have beseeched the keymaster endlessly for that which has always been yours

This is the day for the loosening of limitation
Shuck off your brittled fears
Surrender to unfathomable imaginings
Within you universes are impatient to be wrought!

Let this dawning be the first splash of light to grace your freshly rendered countenance
This moment, let it herald the opening dance
Rise up with every breath that passes through you
Relinquish its luminescence to cavern walls bedded deep inside your shadowed self
Let this be the day for there is no other
Save this day and this day and then again, this