Tag Archives: encouragement

Christmas 2017, by Jennifer Angelina Petro

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Christmas, 2017

By

Jennifer Angelina Petro

 

 

We all know

Whose birthday it is today:

 

Yours.

 

Throughout the womb

Of this dark year

Of tyrants and blindness,

You formed yourself

Afresh and full of doing.

 

You made it, you did it.

You are born today,

A child of light, wonderful,

A counselor I am sure

To someone, and yes, why not—

Mighty Divine Being,

Everlasting, non-gendered—

Unless you want a gender—

Person, and Prince, Princess,

Fairy Queen, Unicorn Badass,

Of Peace.

 

And for all of you

Thinking this poem is

Heretical—grow up,

Or down, whichever you need,

And while doing so

Look into the eyes of your friends,

See oceans of mysterious wisdom

Reflecting back at you,

And know you reflect back

The same, and know too,

The mirror reflects a light

Begotten and holy and never before

Seen or felt or known

On this planet.  You

Are born today anew

To save the world

By being who you

Are born to be.

 

And if your heart or life

Or room feels like a manger,

That’s alright for today,

And even for tomorrow—

Let the kindly animals

With the luminous, marble eyes

Come and nibble from your hands,

Laugh and chortle as you grow,

As you know, every time

You hear the word: Jesus,

Christ, God—they are

Referring to you.

 

Born today you are,

Born today you ever will be,

Born today, this day

Of days, you are here,

A star, a child, the magi,

A lamb, a shepherd, an angel,

A parent to yourself

Who may be being told

In a dream to move on

To safer lands—rejoice,

You are here, rejoice

You are the light, rejoice

The safer land is there,

In your voice creating the world.

 

 

 

When There is Nowhere to Turn, I Find Myself Surrounded by the Moon and Her Messengers of Light, By Jennifer Angelina Petro

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When There is Nowhere to Turn
I Find Myself Surrounded by the Moon and Her Messengers of Light
By
Jennifer Angelina Petro

moon

One morning, walking through the January forest,
I watched the path double back on itself and disappear.
One evening, sailing on an indigo ocean of questions,
I saw the horizon swallow itself whole, like a monster all stomach and mouth.
I too searched for brains, a heart, and a home,
And the yellow-brick road turned into rust.
Heaven has fallen from the sky like so many shot-down stars.
There is nowhere to turn that doesn’t lead to ghost towns and empty silos.
My aspirations get stuck in the trees, like shreds of shawls.
Angels’ wings have folded.
Smiles are rimmed in blood.
Embraces reach for me and miss, grasping themselves.
The time has come for whirlwinds and blizzards,
The time has come for floods, and bone-rattling thunder,
Look—the sun was just swallowed by a wolf—
Look—the bridges have all burst into flame–
Look—
The moon is growing fuller,
Taking over the darkness—
Look—she is pulling the sun from the belly of the wolf–
Look—she is stilling the thunder and plucking my prayers from the trees—
Look-she is unfolding the path and shaking out the horizon and spreading it afar, anew—
Look—she is picking up the fallen stars and hanging them back in their places—
Look—she is brushing the angels’ wings and rubbing their shoulders—
Look—she is wiping the bloody mouths, like
A mother wiping a child’s face—rough and tender, all at once–
Look—she is steadying me so I don’t duck or fall when the embraces come—
Look-she is gently scolding me to listen better to her messengers of Light called:
“You.”
Look—she is lifting me, rocking me in the softest of breezes, singing,
And whispering runes and spells, affirmations, and ways through the dark,
And treasure maps and secret passageways through mountains and dungeons–
Her tears fall down her breasts, mixing with her milk as she lets me suckle
For as long as I need in the cradle of her light-filled, infinite arms.


 

 

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