Submissions by Ahavati
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
Proprio Vos Sanguine Pasco
Holy
Visual Christmas
#Christmas
275 reads
16 Comments
2024
I know what my spirit says
Look how far you’ve come
and all you've done.
Still, shadows lick my feet.
I know I’m blessed.
But what I really wish
is for blessings to be commonplace.
An everyday occurrence
for each human to experience.
I've seen those suffering
while seeking direction
—gazing out the window
from an office cubicle
pretending to be content
with a noose around their neck.
Staring endlessly
into traversing clouds
beyond whatever assignment
is...
Look how far you’ve come
and all you've done.
Still, shadows lick my feet.
I know I’m blessed.
But what I really wish
is for blessings to be commonplace.
An everyday occurrence
for each human to experience.
I've seen those suffering
while seeking direction
—gazing out the window
from an office cubicle
pretending to be content
with a noose around their neck.
Staring endlessly
into traversing clouds
beyond whatever assignment
is...
#HumanRights
381 reads
31 Comments
The Joy of Knowing
The Joy of Knowing. . .
that in Spirituality
there is room for everyone,
no matter the god they serve,
nor how old or young.
Because we are all Spiritual
beings at the core
of this human cocoon
just waiting to emerge.
that in Spirituality
there is room for everyone,
no matter the god they serve,
nor how old or young.
Because we are all Spiritual
beings at the core
of this human cocoon
just waiting to emerge.
#spiritual
277 reads
10 Comments
Axis of Offering
As the Sun rises in the East
so too does gratitude:
"Here I am, behold me,
I am the sun.
I am you."
We are all cousins,
brothers and sisters
to everything in existence:
Sister Hawk, Brother Mountain
Sister Bear, Brother Cloud.
Spiritual dust rolls on
through our blood
no matter the name: God
Great Spirit, Allah, Jehovah—
what partially drifts through us
exists wholly as Itself.
As above, so below;
as within, so without.
There is no separation ...
so too does gratitude:
"Here I am, behold me,
I am the sun.
I am you."
We are all cousins,
brothers and sisters
to everything in existence:
Sister Hawk, Brother Mountain
Sister Bear, Brother Cloud.
Spiritual dust rolls on
through our blood
no matter the name: God
Great Spirit, Allah, Jehovah—
what partially drifts through us
exists wholly as Itself.
As above, so below;
as within, so without.
There is no separation ...
#historical
255 reads
19 Comments
Israel
Peace was a promised land
of milk and honey
after 400 years of servitude.
But there were wars—
and rumors of wars
scattering the twelve tribes
to the four corners of the globe.
Then came ghettos of burgundy blood
dried between cobblestones,
and scientific experiments
pronouncing victims dead or deformed
. . .while the world looked on.
Until it threatened them.
Home was a promised land—
a final return
after many a...
of milk and honey
after 400 years of servitude.
But there were wars—
and rumors of wars
scattering the twelve tribes
to the four corners of the globe.
Then came ghettos of burgundy blood
dried between cobblestones,
and scientific experiments
pronouncing victims dead or deformed
. . .while the world looked on.
Until it threatened them.
Home was a promised land—
a final return
after many a...
#war
214 reads
12 Comments
Choctaw Cherokee
I channel it often
without even trying
feeling the reservation
beating history's
drum of time
Dust devils swirling
around moccasins
summer heat distorting distance
into fractured particles
across the Blue Ridge
Winter's stillness
under a Moon so engorged
children believed
it was pregnant with snow
We lived simply; rose early
knew our purpose
honored our daily duty
to the tribe as a whole
Never had money
but lacked for nothing
through sharing and trade
...
without even trying
feeling the reservation
beating history's
drum of time
Dust devils swirling
around moccasins
summer heat distorting distance
into fractured particles
across the Blue Ridge
Winter's stillness
under a Moon so engorged
children believed
it was pregnant with snow
We lived simply; rose early
knew our purpose
honored our daily duty
to the tribe as a whole
Never had money
but lacked for nothing
through sharing and trade
...
#historical
233 reads
12 Comments
Palestine
We burn with stars at night
calculating how many drafts
it would take
to get the poem right
How it could capture and transfer
the weight of dirty water buckets
across shoulders of women
balancing rubble each morning
Or the shrapnel of wind
cutting through the skin
of displaced families
with nowhere to go
We stare down reason
like a vulture, ready for its death
go for its throat
swallow every bloody decision
yet to come
We wade through ghosts
knowing the ground...
calculating how many drafts
it would take
to get the poem right
How it could capture and transfer
the weight of dirty water buckets
across shoulders of women
balancing rubble each morning
Or the shrapnel of wind
cutting through the skin
of displaced families
with nowhere to go
We stare down reason
like a vulture, ready for its death
go for its throat
swallow every bloody decision
yet to come
We wade through ghosts
knowing the ground...
#war
320 reads
9 Comments
The Definition of Love
Are you at peace?”
It’s not far-fetched of you to ask me
in your prayers each night
and thoughts each day
The much-known concept of two lives
is swallowed by the living each year
First, when we are physically birthed
and slapped into breath;
the second when we wake to purpose
and life slaps us into a vessel
for something greater than ourselves
The lesser-known concept
of two deaths is fully understood
on this side of the veil
First, when our physical being ...
It’s not far-fetched of you to ask me
in your prayers each night
and thoughts each day
The much-known concept of two lives
is swallowed by the living each year
First, when we are physically birthed
and slapped into breath;
the second when we wake to purpose
and life slaps us into a vessel
for something greater than ourselves
The lesser-known concept
of two deaths is fully understood
on this side of the veil
First, when our physical being ...
#death
#graveyard
#memorial #love
#memorial #love
400 reads
13 Comments
Crucifix & Candlelight
In the necropolis
there is no life after sundown
Branches weigh heavy
with its slumber
Here at the ofrenda
we wait for the heart of it
amid sugar skulls
and old photographs
Course salt laid out as a cross
to purify and cleanse
providing courage to remain
and alter a memory
This is the part where we tread
gently, knowing the past is present
camouflaged in the thick space
of enveloping incense
wafting...
there is no life after sundown
Branches weigh heavy
with its slumber
Here at the ofrenda
we wait for the heart of it
amid sugar skulls
and old photographs
Course salt laid out as a cross
to purify and cleanse
providing courage to remain
and alter a memory
This is the part where we tread
gently, knowing the past is present
camouflaged in the thick space
of enveloping incense
wafting...
#death
#memorial
#graveyard
296 reads
6 Comments
King of the Castle
I stopped playing
King of the Castle
when I was about ten
All that pushing and shoving
to get to the top
lost its appeal for me
not because I was a girl
I was a tomboy
and could hold my own
against any boy
I preferred to watch
others play the game
from the freedom of a swing
or tree
Then I realized something
I hadn't when playing the game
because I was too busy trying to win
or retain that crown
...
King of the Castle
when I was about ten
All that pushing and shoving
to get to the top
lost its appeal for me
not because I was a girl
I was a tomboy
and could hold my own
against any boy
I preferred to watch
others play the game
from the freedom of a swing
or tree
Then I realized something
I hadn't when playing the game
because I was too busy trying to win
or retain that crown
...
#children
336 reads
13 Comments
Anu
Ancient God of Akkadia
gifter of knowledge divine
mathematics, schematics, geometry
structures that baffle our mind
How divinely blessed am I
bathed by your morning Light
offering service in gratitude
for patience, mercy, and truth
Brush from my thought all darkest night
attempting to swallow my soul
reveal the Light within all hearts
that I come to know them as Love
May you deem me worthy
for the wisdom that you bestow
as one who works for the greater growth
of humanity and Mother Earth
~
gifter of knowledge divine
mathematics, schematics, geometry
structures that baffle our mind
How divinely blessed am I
bathed by your morning Light
offering service in gratitude
for patience, mercy, and truth
Brush from my thought all darkest night
attempting to swallow my soul
reveal the Light within all hearts
that I come to know them as Love
May you deem me worthy
for the wisdom that you bestow
as one who works for the greater growth
of humanity and Mother Earth
~
#spiritual
298 reads
14 Comments
Queen Nefatari's Tomb
When our bones are lowered
six feet, or burnt
to fill an ornamental urn
I'd like to think
no matter how careful a mortician
particles of us escape
Earth as they did life
inhaled into an orbit of light
by the vast Universe
to float weightless
of worry
unless pulled back
Like the fine particles
of pristine stars
on the ceiling, still intact
in Queen Nefatari's tomb
reborn from the grave
into galaxies of...
six feet, or burnt
to fill an ornamental urn
I'd like to think
no matter how careful a mortician
particles of us escape
Earth as they did life
inhaled into an orbit of light
by the vast Universe
to float weightless
of worry
unless pulled back
Like the fine particles
of pristine stars
on the ceiling, still intact
in Queen Nefatari's tomb
reborn from the grave
into galaxies of...
#death
261 reads
DU Poetry : Submissions by Ahavati