The Linger

Never forget,
There is a center
To every storm.

There is a hollow
To every forboden want.
There is a void
To every encompass.

There is a want
To every lack
And an empty
To every full.

There is never light
Without shadow.
There is never joy
Without sorrow.

Dichotomous,
This phenomenon,
Life.

Both Up
And down.
And the tempered air
Between the two.

The awe,
The wonder,
The gasp,
Breath held,
The pause
Before the leap.

The linger lives
In the center
Of every storm.

And both exist
Simultaneous
Within you.

-Angel Marie Russell

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The Schism

Asking one to feel
All that aches
Is asking to split
A schism
Molten wide.

The depth with which
We all can feel threatens
Like the void
That whispers,
You are mine,
It is merely a matter of time.

And oh,
How do our hearts quake
With fear at this space,
That threatens to engulf us
Whole.

And we quiver alive
With electric energy,
That begs our hearts to beat
Our lungs to breathe,
And our legs to run
Far and Fast
Away from that which threatens.

And we jump into bottles,
Into waton embrace.
We jump into too fast cars,
And relationships destined
To break,
Just like our hearts,
That always feel
Just. Too. Much.

And they say
In order to heal,
We must feel.
They say,
We must rip the schism wide,
Unabashedly,
And jump in despite
The burning,
The flame,
And the ash.

Who could blame
That we avoid
All that feeling.
Who would dare
Take such a leap?
Who would so callous face
Such an undoing,
As to feel
So very much.

In order to leap
We must know we are held
In the fall.
We must know someone will catch us
Should we dare to leap,
To birth from the crack, anew.

So, I say,
We must learn how to hold
Each other
When the cavern
Threatens us to leap.
We must rise to flight
And catch our loved ones,
Before they so nobly
Dare to release.

When they feel too much,
When the pressure steams,
And the tears begin to fall,
We see them crashing down,
Under all that weight,
We must hold them,
So they don’t fall alone,
So they know they can rest in our
Winged embrace.

And so that they know
We are all in this together,
There isn’t a need to run.
There is no cave of emotion
So deep, lonely and isolating,
That they may never be found,
In all that feeling abyss.

If we might be brave enough,
We might find
That through they feeling,
And we holding gentle space,
The schism no longer rages,
And healing begins
Where the rift threatened,
To burn it all away.

-Angel Marie Russell

Mariposa

~Mariposa~

When we echo out
Of the cocoon,
Less the old,
And more new,

With eyes slitted,
Winking awake to find
Our reflection
Obliterated.

What came before here?
What strange creature
Stands before me?
A stranger me,
And far more beautiful.

But who is this,
That is I,
This unknowable new,
This timid glance at all,
That’s changed?

And who is this
Thing of beauty,
Staring back just as me,
Who stares behind a face
I barely recognize
Who is me?

And in those eyes
In the mirror I see,
Wonder, shock, and fear.
How can this that I see
Be?

How can I,
But a creeping and crawling thing,
Transform thusly,
Extravagant, winged, and free.

How can it be that I,
Caterpillar, could dare to
Dream of the stars,
And learn to fly?

How is it that I
Could be staring back
At all this beauty, at this self,
And it be me?

With all these thoughts,
My wings have dried
From their birth of cocoon shell,
And I feel them unravel,
I feel them and for the first time,
I really feel.

And my feet lift
One by one,
Toes tipped up and off
The ground.

And the Earth unfolds beneath me
The sky unhindered
By blades of grass,
And I soar untethered,
Alive,
Anew,
And free
And as ever,
More and truly, me.

-Angel Marie Russell

Beauty

~Beauty~

I became

Beautiful.

I didn’t know

It made me prey

For wolves

With tempestuous

Appetites.

And they ate

Of my flesh

And I died,

Unfurled, bright red,

Passion and fear,

They did me in.

And I cried

So many rivers

Of broken sobs

At the injustice

Of the dance

Of beauty and death

Intertwined,

Like the most

Delicate lace.

How cruel that

The moth craves

The heat of flame

And the wolf

Seeks to destroy,

Whilst the sun burns

Molten in the void.

But as the flame

Ignites the last

Bit of wood

In a pile of ash,

I grew warm

And sparked

Aflame.

And the death

That deemed

The beauty then

To die,

Also caused the me

I am now

To rise.

And again beauty

Links itself arm and arm

With pain.

Do I weep

Waterfalls?

Do I let the ache

Cause my spark

To void?

Do I lament

At this world that

Both devours

And births?

Or do I rise

Like the smoke

From the flame?

Aloft and away,

I can no more look

At this play,

Than my eyes can

Bear the sun,

And I’ve left rivers

In my wake

Anyway.

So lift me up

Tender heart,

Hold me long

Rib cage embrace,

And reach

Nimble fingers

Up and out

From charcoaled ash

And tempt the beast

Unafraid.

Beauty has learned,

Crowned with thorns

And a heart

Through pain

Made brave.

-Angel Marie Russell

Burn Dragon

~Burn Dragon~

Breathe your fire
Dragon
Burn the villages of they
That would smite you,
They that would
Bait your magic
For sport.

Lay waste to the defilers,
Wreaking havoc of the
Quiet solitude of nature,
The wisp of wing on wind,
A scurry of fearful flight
From man.

I see why your cauldron burns
Boiling rapid liquid fire
Molton to your heart’s core
In rage
At yet one more page
In a very long book
Of man’s lies.
While the mystic dies,
And the wizard laments
At not enough winters left
To make a solid dent
In the poison that
Festers over into kin
That fall sick with greed
And start it all over again;
Just a babe to a man,
A man to a destroyer,
Of nature,
Of water,
Of beaches,
And mire,
Of caves,
And mountains,
And lakes,
And rivers.
Who burn oil and rubber
And lay waste to the wisdom
Of trees,
And the morality of stone,
The breath of the fire
And the cleansing of water,
The knowledge and wisdom
That lives in our bones.

And your tears dear dragon,
Have turned to crystal
In all the years you have wept
At watching one more
Jealous heart murder
And leave nothing left.
The pain of the ground
Weeping only red,
Sheep screaming,
And wolves howling
Deep into the night,
Sorrow,
Suffering, and
Death.

So, burn dragon.
Light the fire within
And teach me how
To lift my noble chin.
Teach me how to rise
Above the man and the sin.
Help me to see the magic
Mystery, and wisdom
That still lives
In the breath of fire
On the wind,
In the wisp of each cat tail,
And the tickle of
Dragon fly wings
And within
My own skin.

Help me to remember
The feel of childish things.
Help me to see the wisdom
In trees, the history in stone,
The years made clear
From heavens tears
And help me see the me
In every being that surrounds; and
Every man.
Help us to see that
Together we can
Rise to save the beast,
Not to slay
For victory or power.

And help me live fully
For myself and for others.
Help me to save every bee
Fig and bush,
Help my liquid fire
Seal this wish;
May my hands always build
Where others have stripped away,
May my heart always beat harder
For every animal in harms way,
May my hurt not keep me
From ever and always loving,
May my feet keep me dancing
In unison with heaven,
And may my nimble fingers playing
Music on string
Give rise to the lift,
Like that of the dove’s wings.
And may every heart fly
With purpose and heat,
To heal all the wounds
Wherever they may be;
Of this world,
Of the next,
Of the last and,
Of the many.

-Angel Marie Russell

Torch

I am holding
My torch high
For all wayward souls.
You can find the spark within.
You can find hope again.
Baby steps count.
And very deep soulful breaths.
You are held.

-Angel Marie Russell

Protection

If you are in the darkness,
If the shadow is present,
Breathe.
Remember
You are held always
In all ways.

Remember love is stronger
Than any foe.
Remember love
By focusing everything you have
On that feeling.
Love. What does it feel like?
Not to dismiss the pain
But to see there is an
Eb and flow
There is a tide,
And love is always there.

We learn from sorrow
To celebrate joy.
We learn from grief
To celebrate life.
We learn from anger
To celebrate tenderness.
We learn from rage
To celebrate the stillness.

Do not banish any part of you.
Welcome it home
With love.
Listen with love,
To what it has to say,
And feel.
Hold eachother.
Have a good cry.
But remember love.
Is always
There.
More powerful
Than any talisman
Stone
Or spell.
Your heart is your
Most steadfast protector.

-Angel Marie Russell