Here is the latest installment of Poet’s Corner, presented by the Edmonds Poetry Group.

Strong Medicine

Pain 1

To you
my pain is a mirror.
You see yourself reflected
somehow made more vulnerable and
either move toward me for comfort
or flee rapidly,
remembering too much, too soon.
But my circle is so big,
you are never outside it.
We do bear each other’s burdens after all.

Pain II

My internal clock is ticking
counting time,
like pennies left on the sidewalk,
no longer valued enough to be picked up.
Doing what is right is so far above
this second accumulator.
My eternal clock works
without time, above space,
where God is not small.
Where my pain is mirrored,
on its Golden Heart;
where we each lay bandages of compassion on each other,
sing love songs to God, and move on.

Pain III

Pain is such strong medicine.
It centers you down;
grabs you by the throat;
shakes you like a dog.
Pain is such a friend
to hold me so close.
“Pay attention” it says.
“Get back to the edge of the road,
seize a new image,
another signature for yourself.”
Breathe in – breathe out,
rest in the rest points of eternity.

Pain IV

Pain is a lightning rod.
It moves down my right arm,
down my right leg.
I stand like a person
grounded by electricity.
What began as my pain
is now a vehicle to move
much suffering through my physical space,
purifying an entire area.
So I smile,
make time for myself
to drain the wounds of
unknown spiritual warriors around me;
transforming pain;
releasing it to spirit.
Letting the love flow in,
letting it go out
wherever it wills.

Inez Taylor

~ ~ ~ ~

Lullaby

Sleep sweet soul

Breathe the Sound

As the Light falls all around.

All is all within this day

Let the moments fade away.

Sleep sweet soul

Become the dream

All is not as it would seem.

Softly reach the real within

Everywhere and every when.

Sleep sweet soul

The quiet love

The Master trusts within your care,

Guides you in your dreams tonight

In the world of Sound and Light.

Inez Taylor

~ ~ ~ ~

The Warrior

The sword sings the end of one life;
the flute, a beginning.
The steel blade sings only
with the wind,
silently, swiftly flashing.

The flute eases me into this life
like falling tears with its clear notes;
Only dying, so frees the living Soul
to bring abundance here
in a brighter, bolder way.

I wore out that warrior body
stood back to back in cold fog
while bagpipes swirled, keening.
A whirlpool formed of sound and light,
spinning me from one life
like a maple seed
into the next.

This life, rich with song, poems,
experience –
dreams me new each day,
not waiting for the next life
to begin again.

~ ~ ~ ~

Sole Quartet

I have it on good authority
that I arrived exceedingly early in 1950,
earlier than my three brothers
who came to me when I turned 40,
reminding me we all wanted the same parents
but knew only one of us would
make it this time around.
They said “see, we are always with you!”
the agreement between four souls that
whoever made it to the planet,
at this time and space
to live past a few hours or days,
the others would support that soul
all the days of its life, freely loving,
silent support, never leaving
that soul alone or guilty.
I sit here late so grateful for this gift:
rare I’m sure even for brothers.
My next life in whatever Universe I land,
I’ll return the favor as we four once again
check the door to heaven.

Inez Taylor

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Inez Taylor is a local retired resident who is a member of the Edmonds Poetry Group and is working on a collection of poems for publication. She enjoys other writing groups focused on spiritual writing. She created over 60 dream workshop handouts and presented to groups in King County Libraries for years. She has been published in chapbooks at University of North Dakota and Oxford College of Emory University, locally NW Prime time, Camp Farthest Out, Discovery Singles and On the Horizon. She retired from Boeing after years of computing security compliance and engineering technical writing. She worked as the first women allowed on nuclear weapons on B-52s in the Cold War in North Dakota.