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After an hour on the internet

I laced my shoes up

And went outside.

There were so many shades of green,

So many edges and textures,

Such depth and dimension.

The birds and the wasps had something to say,

And the River taught me to breathe again.

The complexity of the web of life

Reminds me how to be human again.

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I do love the complexity and intricacy of nature. This is a lovely poem with deep and simple wisdom. Thank you!

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The river taught me to breath again! I felt the breath.

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Birds and wasps 🙂

a neat combo of critters

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I love this Lisa! And the turn from cyber interacting to the world and some of the ways our senses can be impacted is so real! “The complexity of the web of life reminds how to be human again.” So true and so eloquently expressed.

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Complexity

If it were an intricate association

of related things, meant

to keep us safe,

then “complex” might be

a rabbit trail worth chasing;

but, far too often,

it’s more like a shape-shifting goal

that’s wholly unattainable,

constantly dangling before us

like a greyhound’s lure,

not only uncatchable,

but also not worth reaching.

You can keep almost all

of the complexities

the world offers.

The only one I’m interested in

is the complexity of our souls,

that unfold before us,

begging only for our attention.

THIS is the beautiful complex

toward which I want to lean.

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Me too!

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Ah yes, the complexity of our souls! I'm with you, Todd.

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I wake up to the night’s collection

Of alerting apps and noisy notifications

They are coldly vying for my attention.

Not today world. There is enough confusion and sorrow in my heart even without you.

What here would help if anything?

“How am I feeling right now “ nope.

“Bottlerock 2024” nope.

“New post from the Liminality Journal” Okay. That might help.

Complexity????? Arrrrgggg.

Yet here is a welcome complexity. Joy and sorrow. Beauty and truth. Words tumbling opposite each other but like in a dance or fireworks show. Energy displayed in a welcome array.

Inviting. calming.

Calling on quiet.

Hushing the worries

Demanding nothing.

Here. Here I’ll stay a bit.

Then walk away.

Find something three dimensional that I can hug

Or that will hug me.

Calmed by the complexity within this shelter

I gather courage for the “real”day ahead .

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Omg

Me

Breathe

It’s ok 😢

We can do this

(My encouragement talk to me)

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I hear you Colleen!

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When it comes back in

more complex than when it left

what the fuck's the point.

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So true!

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Yup.

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Go here

Go there

Do this

Feel that

So much energy

You see the light, before you hear the thunder

Erratic

Deep and shallow

Nuance

Black and white

And all shades of grey

Ahhhhh

And then there's the color

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Nice, Gloria! I love "you see the light before you hear the thunder." Yes!

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I need some time

with you

to read a familiar poem

we both love —

the thing to steady us.

Then we will write a new poem

together,

a way through

this complexity.

I will use our poem

like a fine hook

to unknot the tangles in my mind.

You will use our poem

as a container to hold

your swirling, churning thoughts.

And in this time together,

we will stand

steady and grounded

on this shaking world.

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Steady and grounded!

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This is quite beautiful, Elaine. The middle is exquisite:

"Then we will write a new poem

together,

a way through

this complexity.

I will use our poem

like a fine hook

to unknot the tangles in my mind."

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Thank you, Larry. That was a section that came to my mind quickly and easily. Some other parts needed more time and much rewriting. Thank you for taking the time to read the poem and comment. I’m glad you liked it.

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This morning I committed to reading today's prompt and writing a poem today before doing anything else...including eating breakfast. But now there is one important thing I need to do first and most of all.

That is, encourage more of your readers to become paid subscribers. I attended the writing session this past Monday and it was a truly wonderful hour of listening, reflecting, sharing and lots of focused writing that opened and and refreshed my mind and heart. Our hour together gave me confidence that I can show up to the page and fill it with words that are true and insightful (to me) and (I hope) eventually beautiful and poetic (with lots of practice).

Thank you, Kaitlinn, for this offering. It may even be of greatest benefit to those of us who don't consider ourselves writers.

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I'm sad that I missed it.

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It was a lovely gathering. Hopefully you can attend the next one.

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I am so thankful for this space, for Kaitlin, her poem and her leading, and for each of you.

^

“How are Jade and you doing,” I ask.

“It’s complicated,” my friend replies.

I knowingly nod “yes” in solidarity.

^

Relationships of any sort are, well, complicated.

And they are also complex.

So complex.

A puzzle place of mystifying wonder;

a rubrics cube of digging deeper,

a labyrinth of discernment and discovery.

^

Love is not meant to be simple.

Friendships are formed in the complexity of interbeing,

nurtured in the garden of experience.

Families, ah families, define complicated

and complex.

^

Bless the complex.

Savor the complicated.

Celebrate the compatible

Honor the commonality

Of being

Alive.

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I appreciate the wise insights in your poem, Larry, and especially like the last stanza. Thank you for sharing your poetry about the complexity of human relationships. It’s something I’m struggling with at the moment.

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Thank you Elaine. It is often a struggle, it seems. Blessings to you.

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'bless the complex. savor the complicated' 😍

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A big smile to you Natasha! :)

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A black and white world

is so simple,

so clean.

With sharp lines and defined borders,

it's easy to know

who's right,

who's wrong.

I can rest in my rightness

(whiteness;

coincidence?)

With no room for gray,

there's no need

to think,

to wonder,

or doubt.

And yet.

The complex chromatic

convoluted world

is gorgeous.

Asking questions leads to

fascinating (at times,

horrifying)

rabbit holes.

Greater context brings

new perspec-

tives.

A bigger picture

includes

more people.

I chomp into the juicy red

apple, and my life

explodes into

color.

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This is very nice, Sarah! I love the nod and honoring of non duality, which is most of our world and lives!

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I am trying to befriend the spiders

The complexity of

our relationship is such that

I am trying

desperately

to respect them,

and all I want in return is

for them to stay

far the fuck away from me.

.

I am in the garden,

clearing leaves and debris

from around our

Rose of Sharon when

I see a wolf spider

with a white sack

on her back end,

and I squeal

and I squirm,

but I soften.

As I stand back,

I am trying

to give her space to flee,

to get away safely.

I catch myself thinking

I hope she made it okay.

.

I think it helps, to know

their name and their nature.

I am trying

to identify the spiders

I see around my house,

the way I do

with the birds

and the flowers,

so I will know

when it is safe

to let them be.

It is only fair, I think.

.

I am trying.

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A true wonder, A. I have grown to appreciate spiders,for all the other things they may trap and eat, but also becuase I can only imagine what this world may seem like to a spider--it frightens the dickens out of me--I can only imagine how it would feel as a spider. No wonder Spider Man is so edgy!

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It's complicated.

Isn't everything today?

It is what it is.

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Yes

excellent syllables

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Yes, yes, yes, Jane!

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the space

between I love you

and

I love me.

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This is perfect, Natasha. The power is between and in the lines.

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thank you!

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You are very welcome!

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I've enjoyed your poetry series a lot.

Maybe you've already used this word: SUBMISSION

If not, I'd be interested in what is conjures or provokes. A loaded term for many -- I wonder what responses from people would be to it in the form of a question like, "What have you found in life that you've realized you have to submit to...to be healthy?"

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Not drinking.

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*somewhere, something, someone, some way*

4 “somes” we all need!

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