Peace Poetry Postcard Month

February 1, 2017 by leximagines

February ushers in longer days. Where I live Imbolc kisses us with the faintest promise of spring and new life. There is still ice and snow and cold. But there is also hope.

And, most important of all, February gives us Peace Poetry Postcard Month sponsored by a delightful group of poets in the Pacific Northwest who call themselves World Peace Poets. My dear friend, C.J. Prince, also lends her hand to this project. We write a poem each day, put it on a postcard, and send it away!

I teach first grade and my time is so very limited. That is exactly why this is a good project for me. This time of the school year is long, the students are wanting spring even more than I do, and the world needs us.

And so I begin….

Day One – Peace Poetry Postcard Month

First Planting

First we have to plant the seeds.
Creation begins where no one sees.
Deep within darkness where no one sees,
there creation begins.
But we must plant the seeds.

How can we trust that flowers
will bloom or trees push to sky
or grass wave in wind?
How will we know that peace will be,
only because we planted the seeds.

Five Prayers for Peace

February 15, 2016 by leximagines

Marrow
2.11

May peace settle
in the marrow
of your bones to flow
throughout your being.

May peace spread with
every step you take.
and in every touch you give,
in every smile you share.

May peace rest within
and without.

578,424
2.12

May we be broken
open, our doors pulled
down, our minds emptied
out to make space for
peace, a place for compassion,
a place of care for those
who reside within the homes
of 578,424 houseless lives.

May peace be home.

May peace be where the heart is.

Play
2.13

May you know the quiet
melt of ice and snow
of this winter’s day.

May you feel the burn
of winter’s chill, yet know
spring is on it’s way.

My you rest in peace of
all that is created not with
coin or legal tender, just in
ecstatic play.

Pocket
2.14

May the tiny stone,
hewn by its jumbles,
remind us of our
roughened edges
softened by
our life’s journey.

May the wayward bead
now lost from its strand,
remind us that we may
wander but always belong.

May the crumpled
tissue filled with tears
remind us of the comfort
given and peace in
being loved.

Board Game
2.15

May the road circle
round and bring
us home.

May we jump and hop
over obstacles with
lightened heart.

May we see the game
of life as not one to
be won, but one to
live in joy and peace.

.
.
.

Author’s Note:

February is Peace Poetry Postcard Month. Sponsored by World Peace Poets on Face Book, I accepted their challenge to write a poem a day about peace, put it on a postcard, and send it to another poet who is doing the same, thirty-five in all.

The above are inspired by last week’s prompts:
FEB. 11TH Inner peace comes when I…
FEB. 12th More than 578, 424 people are homeless in the U.S.
FEB. 13th Does money buy happiness?
FEB. 14th I carry Nature in my pocket.
FEB. 15th It was a board game: PEACE

Brigid of Kildare

February 7, 2014 by leximagines

In the eye of fire your swirl of spirit burns,
heats my soul, blazes with love. I step to the

Brigid’s Fire by Joanna Powell Colbert

threshold, move out of my own way to watch
geese soar into the early eve’s welkin purpled

in cold that is not yet spring ready. In your
fire-flamed breath I watch my rise, a waltz in

sky’s opening. You called a whispered welcome,
a generous invitation. I step aside, my fear

grounded. I answer, bare feet push
against earth’s grip to join in your dance.

.
.
.
.

Author’s note:

I had the pleasure of meeting a saint, a goddess, unknown to me only a few weeks ago. Fr. Scott Jenkins asked me to do the homily for our monthly Celtic mass as St. Brigid of Kildare. The mass would take place on February 1, Brigid’s feast day and Imbolc.

It was a whirlwind three weeks. Research, writing a script, addition of a baptism at the mass (oh, so appropriate!), making a costume, rehearsing, and regular life chores of a first grade teacher, wife, and caregiver.

It was well worth it.

The homily was a transforming experience for me. My church, A Church of the Holy Family, is a place of loving and wonderful people who accept all. We are part of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion (ECC). I am only a member for slightly over a year, but have been embraced and my gift of writing and acting has been encouraged and honored. I cannot have found a more welcoming home.

Also, I found Brigid, a saint and goddess I will treasure. I was lucky to have gone on a private silent retreat during this time at the Sacred Heart Jesuit Retreat House allowing me time to explore Brigid and Celtic spirituality in some depth. I find that Brigid is leading me in a discernment process right now. I wake to her blessings each day.

And I not only discovered Brigid, but was also connected to an artist through a dear friend, C.J. Prince, a writer who lives in Bellingham, Washington. The artist, Joanna Powell Colbert, was creating this new portrait of Brigid at the same time I was creating the homily. A print of Ms. Powell Colbert’s Brigid’s Fire now resides on my mediation altar. Please visit her site to see Brigid’s Fire, other beautiful work, and a blessing for Imbolc, the beginning of spring.