Poems For Survivors

"Events"

One event can change the world as you know it.
People are oh so much more than just what you see.
They come into your life for a while and
Forever change your world as you knew it.
Some leave lasting hurts that heal into scars,
While some bring lasting joy,
Forever renewing and warming your heart.
Either way, their presence forever changed
The Who you became.
Who you are, and what you can become is
Forever bound together with those
Who entered your life and left you
As the person you are today.
This is the sharing of lives.
Be thankful of all the "Events" who have changed you,
Whether the changes seemed wonderful
Or harmful at the time.
Each person in your life enriches you,
Leaving behind the being you were meant to be.
If you are not the being you wish to be now,
Wait a time for the right "Event" to enter your life
And help you become the being you want to be.
Remember also, you too can be the "Event"
Which changes another’s life forever.



"A New Dawn"

Just when you feel you've reached the death of your dreams,
you must listen to the hero's voice within your soul.
Listen to the voice and let your heart begin to beat with
a new rhythm, your rhythm.
This voice will make itself heard if you are ever to march
to the beat of your own drum.

Your own inner voice can and will replenish your strength
and allow you to weep, not only in anger against the past,
but also to weep with joy for the future that is yours.
Let tears, if that's what it takes, slowly begin to help melt
the crust of inadequacy and doubt you've packed upon yourself.
Let the light shine through the crust of doubt.
It will illuminate a path you have never seen before.
Let your inner voice depict the journey you must begin,
the journey you must take for a lifetime,
a journey with ups and downs, but a journey that is
Your own and no one else's.

You must want what is best for yourself, First.
You must need whatever it is you need for yourself, First.
You cannot be a mirror that reflects another's ideals and images.
To survive, you can't let them see what they want every time they look.
You must scrape off the silver behind the reflection, revealing
only the glass through which they can see You.

You are not a clay to be modeled by your surroundings.
You are a living, breathing, vibrant woman with access
to the collective unconscious of millions of women who have
been where you are now.
Through their help, you can become what you need to become,
independent of anyone or anything.

It is a comfort to have security, arms to hold you, words to make
you feel like a Goddess, but you must seek the Goddess within you first.
She can't be an image created by someone else.
Look for her. Let her help. She's the only one who knows
who you are and what you positively need to be complete and alive.
You must find the God or Goddess who knows you, loves you, and
and let one of them rise to give you the sight you need
to walk in the world as it really is.

Stand up, take a deep breath, look inward, and start forward.
Until you start the journey, you will be welded in place, just existing.
The journey begins with one step, no matter how fast, how slow,
how short, or in which direction, but the step is for you.
Without the first honest movement forward or sideways, you cannot begin
to do anything except tag along on someone else's journey.
Tagging along is no progress. Progress for yourself is to begin
your journey, begin the rest of your life in Your direction.

Don't wither like a flower in the rays of a Sun that's
too hot and too bright for it.
Go slowly. Reach deep within the darkness of yourself
and start a glow from within.
Walk by your own inner light, for it is always the
correct intensity and the correct warmth for You.
Listen, understand, take a step.
Begin the lifelong journey that is Yours.




"Enjoy Your Journey"

No matter what goals you might set,
or what dreams you may achieve,
your joys occur along your Journey
whether it is towards or past those dreams or goals.


Once a goal is met or a dream fulfilled, another begins anew.
Learn to take time to relish your Journey.
Each day is a journey to somewhere.
That somewhere is "Today".
You have not been there before and will never be there again
for "Today" becomes yesterday, and tomorrow never arrives.


Each day's Journey is an experience you have not known.
Your journey is continuous and will happen
whether you reach a goal or never set one.
All you truly get to take delight from, in this world, is your Journey.
Take time to savor it, nothing else matters but the Journey.