Survival pt. 1

The grasses of the plains knelt in reverence to the passing winds. There were still patches of snow here and there and puddles splattered across the landscape. Keisha straightened up with determination. She hugged her sweater closer as the icy wind nipped at her skin. She climbed onto her quad. It was slow going with the trailer in tow but she knew she was better off than a lot of folk. She raised her hand to the horizon, gauging how many hours of daylight she had left. She would need to find a place to camp for the night soon. She started the ignition and her dog, Tier, ran into view. He jumped up into the trailer, panting with excitement. At least someone is having a good time, she thought grimly. She started off across the fields searching out shelter among the trees that grew along their edges. She could only guess her journey would be another 300km and she wasn’t sure she’d have enough fuel in the jerry cans sitting in her trailer. Even worse, she feared the countryside would become hostile if she came too close to any settlements. She had been as prepared for this as she could be but at the moment it didn’t seem to be enough. It had be a strange couple of months, riddled with natural disasters and human catastrophe. It seemed that the world was falling down around her, and she would have to weather these changes. She smiled bitterly as she thought about how she had been living. Perhaps she deserved this. People on this land had been living beyond their means for too long. Regardless, it was going to be a long and arduous journey if she was forced to continue on foot at some point and she would have to leave behind a lot of her supplies.

To the east she saw a likely spot to make camp and she started towards it. The sun was creeping lower in the sky as she came to a stop and pulled out the little pup tent in the trailer. She stuffed a piece of dehydrated meat in her mouth and chewed while she set it up. She gave one to Tier, who gobbled it down greedily and looked up expectantly. “No more,” she said, “We need to conserve our rations.” Tier whined slightly. “Sorry boy, but you should go hunt a squirrel if you’re still hungry.” She said. She took the bag with all the food and began hoisting it into a nearby tree. Tier whined again but sat down with some resignation. Keisha’s stomach grumbled its own complaints for the tiny meal. She sighed and crawled into the tent. Tier followed closely at her heels so that they were soon cramped into the tiny tent, uncomfortable but warm. Keisha lay there for awhile listening to the sounds of night falling before drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

This City

The city pulses
Bustling streets
Each city has a vibe
This one is seeping with a mish-mash of buildings built over centuries
Not every city could pull off this jumbled look
This city does with ease
Its personality
Flows
This city is intuitive
Maps are useless
As streets flow into streets
You find your way by following the heartbeat
Escape by fleeing it
This city has history
It vibrates through your veins
Strange electricity
It builds solace in natural wonders, not a machine
Never mechanical
This city
Is an organism
We take the roles of cells
Each of us bringing life to it
Navigating its veins and arteries
Allowing it to breathe soft sighs

Gran, I love you.

Gran, wherever you are
Watching us from afar
Your love is with us everyday
Guiding us along our way.

Please guide me
I don't know where to go next
I love you
I don't even know you
I'm alone
But you are watching, loving
You know the path
Please show me where to step.

Gran, wherever you are
Watching us from afar
Your love is with us everyday
Guiding us along our way.

I am your flesh and blood
I am your kith and kin
I love and know the light
You saw
With eyes clouded
Mind free.

Gran, wherever you are
Watching us from afar
Your love is with us everyday
Guiding us along our way.

You knew the answers
You dared live without fear
You faced horrors
To give me freedom
To let me know love
To create this life for me.

Gran, wherever you are
Watching us from afar
Your love is with us everyday
Guiding us along our way.

I am a lightworker
You passed me healing hands
My eyes see, unclouded
My mind unclouded
You taught me this
Even in absence from this world
You are my guide.

Gran, wherever you are
Watching us from afar
Your love is with us everyday
Guiding us along our way.

MidNight

The night steals me away, fitful dreams. Memories. Fade to black.

The Shaman's Trial

I was journeying again
And dreamed in the master Dream
The world rose up to meet me
And things are never as they seem
I dreamed that I was full of fear
And that I ran away
But in running I found shelter
And a loving place to stay
I dreamed of cultures immersed in time
And time itself was strange
I saw creatures who plagued all the earth
And they were widely ranged
Each creature was an insect which fed upon our fears
They burrowed deep inside us
And filled our hearts with tears
To overcome these creatures
You must learn to forgive
Every single living thing
Live and let live
To overcome these creatures
All you have to say
Is “I accept you as you are”
And love them in this way.
Then there is only light inside,
No insects burrowing deep.
And joy fills every human heart
Causing it to leap.

Cherish Each Moment

i dreamed a dream just for today
that all my doubt would fade away
i am the moon, the stars, the sun
the universe, and everyone

we should not hate
or we'll hate ourselves
we should live
with love, heart-felt
when you hurt me,
then you hurt you
now does it seem
the right thing to do?

the world is hurting deep inside
with emotions that we try to hide
war and violence
we discriminate
we build our prisons
out of hate

but if we look,
and truly see
we would know
the earth's beauty
we would cherish each moment
and when it's gone
cherish another
going on and on

we are one
so release fear
release anger,
and bring love near
because it is all that we need
to conquer selfish hate and greed

Alone

At home,
Alone.
I'll write a poem.
Finally a place to call my own.

It seems the days are getting colder
Every time I'm feeling bolder
Forgetting to look o'er my shoulder.

All alone.
In toque and slippers
Sipping tea.

No doors or windows keep from me
The terrible draft -40 brings
So I will sit and dream of springs
And summers sitting by the lake
Far from shivers that make me quake.

All alone.