Waterlilies and warm hearts

excerpts:

The time may come
when all you want to do
is be the flower that you are.

Lily of the Deep
a water lily drifts upon a pond
rooted in the dark and sustained by the deep
it opens petals in a dance with existence
when a tender light comes
to shine upon it

From Of Water Lilies and Warm Hearts
© Nanna Aida Svendsen www.pleasanthouse.com

Listen Deeply

Listen deeply
to the soft voice
of your soul.
It knows who
you are.

Even when lonely
how intimately
you belong.

Its wisdom resounds
beneath the nagging
of your shame, guilt and fear.

The tender presence
of your core brings solace
when needed.
A sense of rightness
when remembered.
Communion when close.

The sound
of your original voice
calls you to essence
over and over again,
sometimes with such
vital vulnerability
you would weep.
Sometimes with such
fiery ferocity you would cry.

Sometimes with such softness
it calls for your surrender.

Yes,
listen deeply
to the gifted grace
of your soul.
And in the listening
may the beauty
of your life
be revealed.

From Of Water Lilies and Warm Hearts
© Nanna Aida Svendsen www.pleasanthouse.com

Moon out of Bounds

I read today the moon
is out of bounds
circling the planet
outside the planes
of earth’s orbit
round the sun

I read emotions
are unruly, sensitive
to extreme
security feels threatened
we are placed on shifting sands

even the solid presence
of the earth
as we have known it
no longer seems assured

there is a need
for stillness
retreat to stabilize
reconnect with my core
and return
to a place of openness
and trust in existence
as it reveals itself to me

From Of Water Lilies and Warm Hearts
© Nanna Aida Svendsen www.pleasanthouse.com

Will You?

Will you be still?
Quiet, Gentle,
Undisturbed,
Present and receptive
Like a silent sea.

And in that silence
Will you stop
The ancient game
Of shame
Of nagging on yourself
And others.
Or mindless doing
Of the unessential?

And in that stopping
Will you plumb?
Find Alignment
With existence
In the deep?

Will you reverberate
With Gaia,
Turning on her axis?
With Moons
Circling their planets?
Stars,
Spiraling in their galaxies?

Will you trust
The whispered voice
That lets you know
How profoundly
You belong?

Will you be still

And in that stillness
Allay the agitation
Of the world?

From Of Water Lilies and Warm Hearts
© Nanna Aida Svendsen www.pleasanthouse.com

Falling Down

We try so hard
To stay up
To keep from falling down
Yet there is a falling
Into ourselves,
That is of the essence.

There is a tumbling
Into the heart
That means we must open
To our beauty and our pain.

Without a willingness
To surrender
To a flow of feelings
Receive them with compassion
We may never come to know
That sweet sense
Of oneness with ourselves.
That simple bliss
In being
Beneath all our distress.

Without a willingness
To surrender
And turn attention
To the quiet
That underlies the turmoil
Of the mind
We may never come know
That sweet sense
of oneness
With existence.
That sweet sense
of love and trust and flow.

We try so hard to stay up
Yet there is a falling down,
That is of the essence.

When Angels Dream

Quit everything dear one
That does not bring you
Joy. That would ask you to strain
Against your self.

Let yourself fall
Lovingly
Into your own embrace.
Linger there
Cocooned like some cherub
Wings folded about you.

This is not a time for flight.
This is a time to hunker down
Huddle into the earth
As she warms you with
Her presence.

If you only knew how much work
You do every day.
How much is transformed
Through your being
You would rest
Knowing you are already
Doing what you must.
Have already done more than enough.

Yes cherub like you wait
Wings folded about you
Changing the world as you dream
Until it is time again to take to the sky.

Love Yourself

Love yourself
As thought you were your child

Give yourself
The listening, the mirroring,
The tenderness, the patience

The presence you would
If you were not so afraid

If you did not think
You had to school
To manipulate,
Shame and should

Or do the very thing
That stopped you
Loving you
In the first place

That made you close
Your heart
To receiving who you are

Am I speaking of being selfish
Ego aggrandizement,
The separated self
I am not

I am talking about
Finding and honouring
The soul sense inside
The essence of who you are

I am talking about connecting.

Love yourself
As though you were your child

Cherish sooth encourage
The sacred sense of who you are
Who you really are is wanted here.

And the world needs the gift of your love.

Live What You Love

Behind the counter
At the laundry
A woman
Sorting washing

She looks at me
With my big bundle
And beams
Till her smile
Illuminates my life

“You’ve a lovely lot there
So good of you to bring it
I love doing laundry
There’s nothing in the world
I’d rather do.”

Happily I leave
My curtains to her tending
And find myself in thinking

Live what you love
And you will have a smile
To light the sky.

Of Water Lilies and Warm Hearts

Poems to Soothe the Soul