Publication Date: January, 2021
Location: Go to this PoetsOnline link.
Genesis: The prompt at the end of 2020, ‘Thanks’, took me to gratitude, which is part of the ‘sacred triad’ of Love, Forgiveness and Gratitude. This is the first time I’ve written about this aspect of my practice and my relationship with this triad, and I thoroughly enjoyed the process. To be honest, though, I was half-expecting the poem to be rejected on the basis that it didn’t stick strictly to the prompt, and using ‘Gratitude’ as the title may not have been enough. In the event, it was accepted and published, and I’m delighted with the end result.
My shamanic pillar of strength is firmly rooted in the wisdom of the ancients, embedded in rocks laid down long ago, while its crowning glory is the sacred triad of Love, Forgiveness and Gratitude. Love is for myself, for others, for the world. Love is for everything and everyone, despite. Love is for all those who walk, run, burrow, fly, crawl and swim; the visible, and the invisible alike. I’m thankful for all the Love in my life, both proffered and received. Through Forgiveness, bridges are built to those I don’t think I can love for past slights and misdemeanours; for heartbreaks and rejections; abandonments and betrayals; or, for just being different from me in ways I simply can’t understand. I’m thankful that I’m learning Forgiveness, crossing those bridges, one by one, to Love. I start each day in a spirit of Gratitude. I’m thankful for my friends, my family, my excellent health, my inquisitive and questing nature, my talents, my training, my fortitude and strength and resilience. I’m thankful to all of my ancestors who’s collective efforts across the centuries culminated in my very existence here, today. I’m thankful for my enchanted home, in which everything has a story to tell, and is surrounded by the endless, natural beauty of fells, fields, forests, and the canopy of stars on a cold, crisp, winters night. I am grateful for being a part of the All, and that the All resides within me, as One. I Love acknowledging the Gratitude I feel, and I Forgive myself whenever I forget just how blessed I truly am.