 Stretched well away, from your solid core centre.
Wrapped around root, every cranny you enter. Up stem and over bush, in relentless full pursuit. Clambering over everything, a claustrophobic brute. Rhizomes are splayed, far and wide you do grab. Clawing at the soil, unsuspecting seedlings to nab. Of poison you are, to a gardener’s fair mind. Treasured bush strangled, light robbed plain blind. Secateurs are then brought, to which you are chopped. Cut back to the source, many tears are then mopped. The harvest gets a breather, but wary it should be. For soon you’ll gather strength, and back you’ll come with glee. For every time you are slaughtered, knocked down to the ground. You lift yourself back up, where more anger abounds. Enraged that you are, of being bullied again. Of your right to grow strong, and bring resistance to men. For in your fair essence, there is this persistence. Where it is futile to banish you, for high is resilience. If only we could learn, to love your white bloom. To bask in your morning glory, and give you more room. For in the realm of Great Spirit, that of our Eden. There is a place for us all, to thrive and be feeding. Keep trying we will, to make our effort reap pay. To shine if we might, discover joy and to play. By Simon Blackler Copyright © Simon Blackler 2020 If you care to comment on this poem at all please feel free to do so below.
0 Comments
 From birth I was rejected, as God had left his mark.
A lesion on my forehead, mother’s shock, quite stark. So little time to suckle, so soon upon the bottle. Forever sat upon the pot, so scared I was to puddle. Quickly I began to learn, to be nice boy, quiet, timid. To fit in with parental kin, keep lid on, know my limit. Such ingrained conditioning, I soon was lamb to slaughter. At mercy to my friend or peer, bully, thug or father’s daughter. At school I came to realise, the suffering and the pain. Of muddied shoes and spitting foes, pushed down banks in solid rain. And then there was a locking arm, closed taught around my neck. To the unforgiving floor I fell, and wondered what the heck. Off to head of year I was, returning from the black. To resolve this issue, once for all, to get some existence back. More difficult though it seemed to be, as formed I was, the walnut. Tight within the shell I lived, no thought to shape, or being hermit. For when one bully disappeared, another came at once. More dangerous than the one before, more tyranny, more months. Punching arms and kicking legs, left just holding thread. To the last day of the term, where I was wished plain dead. A pattern had been formed, to college and to work. Every oppressor I could meet, to administer any hurt. So attractive I seemed to be, a wondrous bully magnet. My life led to others rule, criticised, controlled, their pet. At the heart of me however, was one undying firm belief. That another way was possible, to bring ultimate relief. To a counsellor I would go, eventually to reach out. A thought to gamble all, win big or leave with nowt. Gatekeeper to another world, porter to the door. Where I could spot a realm of flight, where I could rise and soar. The path was being shown to me, the runway to take off. To leave the caterpillar way behind, greet butterfly and that of moth. And so it was to seventeen, not age but turns of wheel. To drop all facades that were fake, to live life that more real. Where many members of my clan, Lepidoptera of great power. Would give me teachings, learnings, prose, of nature and the flower. For stag to come, and gift masculine to the bone. For tiger, wolf, panther to arrive, to start to bring me home. For condor to appear, and raven, that of owl. To be blessed with healing arts, for me to cry and howl. For here I was beginning, to find myself at last. Animals supporting me, ensuring such a blast. Working with me hand in hand, to be trusted without fail. To assist me in supporting you, as me, myself, swallowtail. By Simon Blackler Copyright © Simon Blackler 2020 If you care to comment on this poem at all please feel free to do so below. The Hedge Bindweed Brings The Quality Of Resilience, But Why October? The Hedge Bindweed is the flower that wanted to present itself to me as the next natural Flower Essence Of The Month for the Allies Of Nature range of flower essences last October. With a quality of resilience and a message that 'Persistence Pays' we may have to ask ourselves why in particular this time of year?
The question is a valid one because initially when this flower essence was gathered it soon became obvious that the prime objective for collecting it was its relationship to being able to help alleviate some symptoms of bullying. Indeed, of all the flowers in the range that have come to assist in helping people overcome the effects of bullying to discover their true identity this flower is the flag bearer of that campaign. This is because even though the flower itself can be seen as a bully in the way that it clambers over, suffocates and strangles other plants in the garden, the more it gets cut back the more it comes back stronger. It gives us the power of creating a strong root or centre to our being and indeed embrace the quality of resilience because each time it gets knocked down it gets back up again. Resilience by definition according to Google is 1) the capacity to recover from difficulties, i.e. toughness and 2) the ability of a substance to spring back into shape, i.e. elasticity. So in order to be resilient you need to have both of these qualities combined, that of toughness and elasticity. In October, going by the Celtic calendars, we are about to enter winter, (officially winter starts on November 1st). At this time the majority of the deciduous trees in the Northern Hemisphere are either shedding their leaves or preparing to let them go. The week of Halloween and Bonfire Night sticks fervently in my memory as being the time when the majority of leaves fall from the trees within the year. Nature at this time is preparing to let go of anything that no longer serves it, the trees are readying themselves to go back to their plain wood, their root, trunk, branch and twig and nothing else. This is so they can become more resilient to the frosty mornings and sub zero temperatures of the winter months. They don't carry any baggage with them at this time they tough it out with the bare essentials, so that they can spring back again in March to be in full leaf. So this is why the Hedge Bindweed appears as the Flower Essence Of The Month for October and offers us the quality of resilience, by being persistent we too will navigate the colder months and begin to bloom again in the spring. If you care to comment on this blog with regards to any issues or feelings it brings up for you please feel free to do so below. |
AuthorSimon Blackler Archives
April 2023
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed