Thursday, February 10, 2011

La Loba


La Loba,
Wolf Woman,
stirs and mutters
in the farther reaches
of my soul.

She is waking.
My grief has wakened her
from her long sleep.

The last time
I heard her voice,
I lived in
Wild Women territory,
where our spirit was
at home.

When I left
that power place,
and moved to this
red-necked
mill valley,
cultural wasteland,
she curled up
in disgust,
went to sleep
and has not
been heard from
for eleven years.

Now she is grumbling
and moving about
in the inner chambers.

She has something
to tell me
that I already know.
My spirit
has been caged
for too long
a season.
I have been settling
for too little,
out of fear
of what will happen
if I demand
something beyond
my comfort zone.

Every time this happens,
she starts
banging on the bars,
at first quietly,
then louder,
more insistently,
until finally
she makes
such a clamor
I must listen.

La Loba: Speak.

"Why do you stuff
your life
and your needs
into too-small
containers?
Having known
freedom
and joy,
what keeps you here,
clinging to
perceived
security,
when you know there is
none to be had?
You can feel
change
is coming,
and change requires
courage,
trust,
and one long leap.
You already know this.
And you know
the reward
for such a leap
is joy.
Why do you walk
these tame pathways,
when you belong,
heart and soul,
to the wild?"

10 comments:

  1. Oh Sherry this is so powerful, it really spoke to me.

    I almost stopped reading at one point! as I felt your stirring begin to awaken a similar part in me. That part of me jumped to it's feet and began tapping on the bars, not banging, not yet. But it stirred.

    Wonderful writing. :-)

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  2. Hey, I get to sit next to Susannah!

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  3. Sherry, this is an awakening dream. Love that you are listening and hearing. The Wolf Woman poems have begun,

    Elizabeth

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  4. and have you given her a heartful response?

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  5. I hear the words you speak! Great write! I love that she is waking!

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  6. words well spoken...wolf woman....nice...ands nicely dreamt....I am starting write poems about my dreams....as I get older...there are more and more....so shoulsd be lots of poems...enjoy your place somewhere E of Long Beach....happy trails

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  7. Oh, I so identify with this this, Sherry...I too feel my spirit is squeezed into a container that is far too small to let it move as freely as it needs to. Your sweet Pup has indeed morphed into Wolf Woman who needs space and scope to regain her strength and once more know joy. Can't wait to see where this takes you...:)

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  8. Loved this...especially the red-necked mill valley/cultural wasteland...tellin' it like it is!

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  9. Clayoquot Sound howls for Sherry!!!

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