Kaitlin, I love your poem and the reading. What a beautiful testimony to love and to a beloved. Thank you. Nice to wrestle with a word that has so many connotations. Here goes.
Chill
I am always tending to overheat,
be on fire, overtax my spirit,
passion blooming in the seeds of rage,
the burning brightness of dreams to come,
bright lights holding possibility across the miles and words.
Your voice here speaks as one who is patient from experience, and I think it does the subject much justice. I love the way you play several times with heat and cold, out of all the connotations of chill you include :)
“The heat of the chill finding its place in the flames of all wisdom” especially! So good!
I bless you to continue exploring the wisdom in holy anger :)
I look forward to your contributions Jillian. I like the connection to Hebrew and really love these lines: " to be Chill is Is to flow, like a river,To be flowing - not Weak but attentive, not Passive but passionate. It is a singular expression of vivid Aliveness, so present with effortless
Surrender that you soak in the Sum pleasures of the ride of life."
This is an important experience and insight. Presence shapes perception, which shapes living. I wonder what else you carry with you as you move out of that moment. Thank you!
A birthday poem:
Another trip
around the sun
One more ‘til
This decade’s done
I’ve trekked into
The wilderness
Found within me tenderness
Re-membering
The severed part
Earnest as f*ck in my heart
I wear my heart
Upon my sleeve
But I was told this is naive
Learned to power through
With a shield
Invincible, chill, concealed
So here I claim
Unbridled love
Wholehearted for
the years to come
" I was told this was naive "
Yup.
nice.
This is wonderfully evocative and full of life. Thank you Sarah!
On a bright spring morning,
when the days are warm enough
for the heat to be off,
I wake to the lingering cool air of night,
and pull your tiny body closer.
I inhale your lingering scent of baby softness,
and plant kisses on your sleeping face.
I take in this lingering moment,
and I wait for the birds to sing you awake.
I latch onto this memory
the same way you latch onto my breast,
begging it to linger,
sustained by its sweetness.
This is beautifully tender and real. Thank you for this wonderful gift!
Thank you for holding space for it here!
Thanks for sharing this precious memory with us :)
Thank you for witnessing it. This is such a welcoming space.
You’re welcome! And it is indeed. I’m savoring this time, and these new connections :)
Beautiful 😍
Thank you! ❤️
language gives me chills
the way it slips through silence
resonance alive
Yes!! Love this. Language slipping through the silence. Completely agree!
1 Alone
Cold
Hurtful
Insensitive
Long
Lasting
2 Together
Cool
Helpful
Intimate
Loving
Longed for
effortless. eyes closed.
maybe a head bob, a finger snap.
sparce well placed notes
and the spaces in between.
'50's miles.
billie.
a getz samba, a 'trane ballad.
a trombone.
a frame of mind.
no shit to give.
envious.
Chill
When I was young
It meant to be cold.
Now, that I am almost old,
it means to be relaxed.
Words change.
So do people.
That’s chill.
Kaitlin, I love your poem and the reading. What a beautiful testimony to love and to a beloved. Thank you. Nice to wrestle with a word that has so many connotations. Here goes.
Chill
I am always tending to overheat,
be on fire, overtax my spirit,
passion blooming in the seeds of rage,
the burning brightness of dreams to come,
bright lights holding possibility across the miles and words.
Do this immediately, right here, right now;
We have waited long enough.
The first time someone told me to chill,
not sure what to feel, I chose offence.
Not sure what was meant,
but sensing it was not something to like.
One Sunday I heard Psalm 46 a little differently.
Not “be still and know that I am God”,
but “be chill and know.”
A chill not of cold or ice,
But of slowing down, silence, stillness
feeling your love like the gentlest of rains.
Opening, like the flowers in spring.
Fear melting away,
urgency dissolving into emptiness.
The heat of the chill finding it’s place
In the flames of all wisdom.
...be chilly and know"... Amen
Loving your poem today as always :)
Your voice here speaks as one who is patient from experience, and I think it does the subject much justice. I love the way you play several times with heat and cold, out of all the connotations of chill you include :)
“The heat of the chill finding its place in the flames of all wisdom” especially! So good!
I bless you to continue exploring the wisdom in holy anger :)
I
Wonder
If our skin
Ripples with chills
When something is so
Beautiful and true and unifying
That our heart cannot contain it
And our body is alive
To what could be
What should be
Possible
Now
I love this and the images you paint with your words.
Chill
immediately brought to mind
a line of song from the 80's
and then another
then I read the wonderful words
of more wonderful poets
on the same subject
and life happens as I
ponder my own words
in the subject
chill
and in my exhaustion
spiritual that exhausts physically
causing emotional numbness
that gives mental fog
so I chill
my words ramble
hopefully poetically
but no worries if they don't
one day this poem
may be edited
or perfected
because today
I chill
taking the words
of my fellow poetry travelers
to heart
I chill
This is a wonderful, bold experience and experiment! I think you’ve gotten the essence down pat :) Thanks for the bravery and persistence here.
What a wonderful sentiment and a clever way to frame this prompt! Keep chillin'!
An unexpected cold chill,
Ripples through my body,
Reverberating into my soul.
I welcome it in summer,
Yet find it confusing in winter
Instead of letting it simply be
This is a truly beautiful capture of a subtle and profound moment. I love the real-time wisdom here. Thank you!
Thanks so much!!
I love this prompt today :)
Chill
Do you need more than that
Smile on your face
As you sit, content, watching the
Trees sway in the breeze,
World so green it makes you
Weep if you let your attention go?
.
In Hebrew, they say to be
Chill
Is to flow, like a river,
To be flowing - not
Weak but attentive, not
Passive but passionate.
It is a singular expression of vivid
Aliveness, so present with effortless
Surrender that you soak in the
Sum pleasures of the ride of life.
.
You are clear and strong because
You choose to see,
And so you shall receive.
.
Choose
Highest
Integrity
Living life
Luminously
.
I’m willing to bet you’ll
Take that smile with
A cup of orange tea, sit out
On your porch, and watch those
Trees sway until the sun sets.
I look forward to your contributions Jillian. I like the connection to Hebrew and really love these lines: " to be Chill is Is to flow, like a river,To be flowing - not Weak but attentive, not Passive but passionate. It is a singular expression of vivid Aliveness, so present with effortless
Surrender that you soak in the Sum pleasures of the ride of life."
Thank you!
The neighborhood is dead silent right now and with the fog settling in I feel a chill but it is the kind that can be warmed quickly.
My sweater is right here and I snuggle into it.
The week has been long and adventurous.
This blessed moment in a favorite chair, in a favorite cardigan, in my little home with my beloved near.
I must hold to this memory and use it when the world once again demands action and reaction
to quench the fires of rage and hatred.
The fog thickens and still the birds sing!
I love Sundays and Spring
This is an important experience and insight. Presence shapes perception, which shapes living. I wonder what else you carry with you as you move out of that moment. Thank you!
(I also love Sundays!)
Chill
When the unknown,
the mysterious,
crosses over
that very thin
threshold
into my space,
I feel a chill
run up my spine,
knowing I’ve just experienced
the really Real.
A little late....
No Chill
Summer comes early in the South.
There is not a chill in the air anymore
Each day when I open the door at sunrise.
Heat and humidity greet me.
But such is the season.
Karri Temple Brackett
May 7, 2023
https://themarvelousandthemundane.com/2023/05/08/chill-in-the-air/
Day Seven: Chill
Early morning chill,
Warming sun not yet risen,
Birdsong not yet heard.
***
The sky to the east
Lightens slowly,
A magic time for slow breath,
Quiet mind,
Grateful heart.
The Blue Hour,
It’s called.
Not quite dawn,
More twilight
As the sun still lies
Deep below the horizon.
Vibrant, deep,
“Sweet light,”
Soft light,
A time of tranquility,
Meeting the chillness
With my favorite fleece.