The Critics
The ones within us are the worst:
the chattering voices
examining and re-examining,
rehearsing and rehashing,
running us round and round in circles,
splintering in a thousand directions.
But there are ways to welcome and calm them.
If we focus on our spines
our bellies and our tailbones,
focus on our breath
and our heart,
the oxygen moving through
our blood and lungs,
how it keeps coursing
whether we make the best choice
or not;
when we have to say we can’t
when we thought we could;
whether or not we did
or we didn’t.
When others withdraw
or throw poison daggers
in our direction,
when we believe all of this is about us,
if we quiet the ones inside
those attacking us tenfold
bring them into our awareness
into the chambers of our heart
help them to
follow our blood flow to our spine
notice how it is aligned.
If we help these critics to
calm and to
allow us to be carried forward,
strong, steady, balanced,
they can transform into
deep listeners that
move us on to the next small thing
one small step at a time,
one flexible movement at a time,
moving through the door
into our chosen future.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
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barbara wrote on an earlier version:
ReplyDeleteyay..... another one to love!! keep up the awesome writing....
love ya~
^o^)
yeah, I know the first version was rough and this is, too. But that's part of the task. Just getting the clay on the wheel. Knowing I can rework it if the bowl comes up lopsided, or the cup is asymmetrical. The learning has to do with just putting something out there, even if it isn't perfect, even if it will never be perfect. Just letting it be. Maybe I come back to it, maybe not, but here it is, out there on its own, unprotected by me, uncensored by me...just as it is...just as we all are...
ReplyDeleteSo BRAVE! What an amazing practice you have fashioned for yourself, while we reap the benefits too! thank you for your continuous generous sharing! LOVE you!
ReplyDeletekaren
it's so funny, because i read this and i am moved and i am inspired to take care of my chattering critics too. i go into the poem and absorb it. and then i read your response to it, marcia, about how it's rough and unperfect, and i'm like...!!! i just want to reassure you that i really believe that most people who read your stuff aren't going "hmmm, that word is off" or "this is a bit rough" but instead are being swept into the flow of it and the meaning in it... and i honestly don't even think your poems ARE rough, at all. i think they are truly lovely. so, just a little feedback there, if it helps. i'm so happy you're sharing these!! thank you! :)
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