Letters to a Young Poet(ess) III

August 31, 2018      
        
Ahavati        
Cherokee, North Carolina        
       
Dearest Duende,        
       
      I am writing amidst a beautiful view of the blue ridge mountains; I'll enclose a post card so you may enjoy the same while reading.  Currently a hint of change permeates the trees, as though whispering vibrations of color they will cyclically attract: golden ocher, burnt sienna, cadmium lemon, raw umber, alizerin crimson.  Soon they will don Joseph's coat of many colors quilted as far as the eye can see - before releasing slowly, transforming to naked bones. Isn't it beautiful how they teach us to let go gracefully until renewed by an inevitable spring?        
       
     I have come to believe that we too are cycled evolution; emerging from dormancy, whether returning as human; or, breaking as an azure ring of sapphire on a butterfly's wing.  Can you imagine seeing trough a butterfly's eyes over an ultra-violet spectrum? It would be more exquisite than imaginable, especially if your favorite color was purple. Butterflies use their senses to survive in the world: migrate, find food, mates, safely lay eggs, and avoid toxic predators. While caterpillars can sense more tangibly: touch, taste, smell, sound, and light. Isn't it a wonderful metaphor for us as well? We gestate a caterpillar, squeeze our way through a narrow birth canal, slowly and painfully that fluid can circulate independently of our mother's umbilical cord.        
       
     How ironic in metaphor that caterpillars are earth bound while butterflies have wings. I believe this to be our ultimate experience; each life lived advances us toward weightless flight amid spiritual fruits of fate. How must we feel as caterpillars; do we know our destiny, plod through the brush until a gossamer sleep envelopes us, rely on innate instinct to guide us.  Do you believe that everything you have experienced was pre-chosen by you in order to evolve? While it sounds far-fetched, for who would desire such painful circumstance, it is true, nonetheless.        
       
   Your recent strife was merely the contrast of what you truly want in your life. When charting your growth, you realized the insignificance of agony compared to the benefits of evolution. Torment is but a blink of an eye in eternity - while maturity is forever. There are those who repeat the cycle of abuse because they fail to recognize not only red flags of predatory behavior, but the value within themselves to realize all they need lies within their own rib-caged heart of breath. To see oneself as one's Savior is the ultimate step to independence of happiness that relies upon no other: Enlightenment.    
       
     You are unashamed in profession of your humble past because you reach for the future instead of hiding behind truth. By refusing to don a perfect mask, you boldly face potential judgment of those less awake. By standing tall amid the race of sisterhood that has so often succumbed to the dominance of men ( and women ) who are less evolved, you reveal yourself to the illumination of Source - where all strength is drawn. You will see this Source through your very eyes when you gaze in the mirror; you will feel this Source when you whisper to yourself, "I Love You"; you will become this Source when you accept love and forgiveness the little girl within you cries for daily. When you nurture her as you would a child, wrapping your arms around and rocking yourself, you will come to know the comfort of your true Being; you will come to know the undeniable truth that you are, and always have been enough.        
       
     When you realize that very veracity, your well-spring of life will flow in the direction it is meant to go, and your vibration will attract like-minded who in turn are happy within themselves. There is nothing more exquisite than two people walking side by side who are deliriously in love with life. Not for what it offers, for that is gratitude. But, for what they can contribute individually to make it a better place. There is might in numbers  - but one small person can make a difference building an inclusive bridge, than a mob mentality destroying it. When two like-minded, independently joyous individuals come together on the foundation of friendship, there is no limit to the heights love will rise -- much like butterflies in flight.        
       
     This, my Dear Duende, is the vision I see for you, whether or not you are aware of its truth.  I have walked your shoes, and reached a stage of evolution recognizing steps I have taken - paths I should choose, and those to avoid.  The least I can do is extend a torch of knowledge to another woman and poet of such great esteem as you yourself hold among your peers.    
   
     And, being younger does not mean that one day you cannot hold light for me as well; you already do as a reminder of honesty and truth. For who doesn't, despite age and experience, feel lost while gestating inside the cacophony of silence, held within a dark cocoon we must all endure countless times before our wings have spread and dried?        
       
Very Truly Yours,        
       
Ahavati        
       
P.S. - I found your enclosures of poetry a testament to the beauty of survival at its most poetic.          
       
       
       
#RainerMariaRilke