You’re a gypsy when it comes to life and love…
what with your crazed desires
your lofty ideas
your wild push and pull ~
your wandering essence knows no rest.
Your feet are forever on the ground,
ensconced in the finery that suits you best,
be it stilettos or sneakers ~
you’ve hopped, skipped and jumped in them all
while you were everywoman to everyone.
And at the same time, your imagination
roamed free in the clouds, conjuring up
all the ways you could sprinkle and share
your magic.
You’ve loved on those who needed you most,
and even those who didn’t deserve you.
You gave until you felt empty,
only to arise from slumber hours later
with a verve and a notion to give more than you did
the day before.
It’s your amiable ambiance,
your nurturing nature that
sprouted grass and flowers, trees and stories,
songs and poetry and novellas
and little ones, little ones…
all around you.
You took care of every single thing while
giving precious little thought to your own sustenance,
because with each morsel you lovingly spooned
into tiny mouths,
a bit of life came from your own tongue ~
you fed each one from your very spirit.
But it’s your turn now.
To nurture your nature, only
you’re lost and confused as to what that is
or what that may look like.
What it may be.
There’s a burning in your belly now
to give to yourself just a tinge
of all that you’ve given to this world,
when one day you look in a mirror
upon the completion of an arduous journey
and see that the joyful gleam that once
flecked your eyes with gold in a certain light
has extinguished.
The color of your eyes is rich still, yet
there’s darkness there.
Far too much for your own liking.
It helps not when the culture cloak of invisibility
is one day draped over your shoulders
without notice
and certainly without your permission.
This, despite the myriad of talents you’ve amassed
over these many years,
is the thanks you get.
You are the expert in doing for all
every minute of every day ~
two hands doing the job of twelve
like you were born to do, and really…
what choice did you have?
It’s desperately unfair, what society deems
unnecessary, as if sacrificing your very self wasn’t enough
in the creation of your dynasty,
your legacy.
That sensation of being
overlooked and underappreciated
scorches the lining of your heart,
because all those years, you gazed longingly to the left
while you were obligated to turn right.
It was all you could do to stay on the path
of least resistance,
when highways and byways, oceans and skies
beckoned you still.
Cry,
you say to yourself sitting alone in the car
or in the stinging spray of a hot shower
or the quiet of your kitchen
as a dazzling late afternoon sun streams on cold quartz.
Let it out. It will be better.
But tears don’t wash away the turmoil
or reignite the golden glimmer in your eyes.
They just remind you of all the lifting you’ve done.
And when you find a mirror to tap the tears away
it occurs to you that the delicate lines around those eyes
weren’t all cut from laughter, but from the
trials, tribulations, anguish, and
the constantdemands of those
you elevated day after day after day,
providing so religiously to them
at the expense of your very core.
But there’s a time to breathe…
Step away from the mirror, my beauty,
rub all that indifference from your face.
Scrub it clear away, flick it off your fingertips
like the stinging poison it is, and
know this ~
Indecisiveness never looks good on anyone, love,
let alone you.
There’s a fierceness burning within.
You feel it. You know it’s there.
You know what you want and you know
what you’re capable of.
You’ve built your strengths without even
knowing they were there and
you embraced your magnificent flaws to the extent that
you celebrate them now.
They are a glorious part of you.
They are the most perfect part, if truth be told,
because through all of life’s stumbles
you taught yourself that it was perfectly acceptable
to dance in the heat of your own fire, and now
you’re known for pulling everyone right in
with your incessant mirth and vibrant brilliance
burning the retinas and illusions of those
who fall head first for you
their weakness apparent
their prowess laughable,
nowhere near your match.
So dare, you fearless gypsy goddess ~
to feel, to dream, to laugh, to cry, to write, to sing…
Dare to slay your own heart.
Flip that hair, strut that gorgeous strut of yours,
wrap a brightly hued scarf around your wild curls.
Extend those loving arms and throw your head back.
Flaunt the gold hoops and bracelet stacks ~
Let them hear you coming.
Let the sun kiss your freckled shoulders.
Let the moon bless you with renewed breath.
Let the stars infuse you with heightened glory and a
fresh perspective to live your way another day.
Wander your prairies, lose yourself in the nirvana.
Go and steal some souls.
You’re good for it.
Hell, you’re better for it.
Take your prisoners.
You know your heart can hold them all.
“DANCINGSOUL”by lorraine_cormier is licensed under CC0 1.0
