Slow, slow, breathe
Gently, breath by breath,
Stretching and rolling,
Entering your body’s sensual world,
Come alive!
All that moves,
All that sings
Inside you.Let that flow
Move you,
Sing you,
Dance you….
And traps you
In the self
You think you are.
With your deeper self,
That draws
From wisdom’s well,
Revealing
To you,
The truth and beauty
That are yours.
Eternal moment,
Free, alive,
Filled with joy, grief,
Unending bliss,
Connected to heart,
Sinews, breath, spirit,
Wonderfully attuned
To all that is,
Reach out now,
To touch another seeker,
Heart to heart,
Grief to grief,
Bliss to bliss,
Enjoy this meeting
Of cells and souls.
For ever held
In life’s loving embrace,
Dance with me
Your journey
In the landscape of love!By Sue Bayliss, www.sulisconsulting.com, written to celebrate the experience of Journey Dance with Toni Bergins at Kripalu as part of Module One of the Journey Dance Teacher Training course. Completed 30th July, 2012.
When you go
Into flow
Then you know
You can grow
And sow
Both below
And above
All the love
That you have.
Not to save
Or be brave
But to fly.
Not to try
But to see
And just be
Who you are
If you follow your star!
The pulse of the drum
Speaks to me,
Awakening old wounds,
A cry from the earth.
I begin to feel the grip
Of pain, terror, death,
Destruction,
Endless grief,
Wave upon wave,
Overwhelming me,
Passing through my body
To the patient earth.
Killed by white invaders.
Here in Vermont.
Bright red blood
Staining the golden leaves.
I am the white invader,
Secure in my arrogance,
With my vision of division,
Driven by greed and ignorance
And fear of the unknown.
Like a walnut.
But, wait,
Now, it opens,
Like a lotus flower
And tears stream down my face.
Though no longer mine:
“I am so sorry, so sorry,
That they died, so sorry.”
Over and over I speak
The healing mantra.And Rosemary,
A woman on the good red road,
Her Native American blood
Resonating with my borrowed epiphany,
Leading this dance of transformation
With the magic of her drumming,
Strokes the tears
On my face,
Thanks me for them,
And understands completely.
She pours forgiveness over me
As a libation,
Celebrating the alchemy
Of arrogance transmuted
Into compassion and deepest sorrow.
She and those around me
Have birthed this miracle.
How powerful we can be together,
Our energies interwoven
With intent.
Healing has come
For oppressor and oppressed.
I am privileged and grateful,
To have been the open channel,
To funnel the suffering
And the wisdom,
To bring healing and forgiveness
Rippling outwards across the blood-stained land
To touch all who dwell there,
The living and the dead.
Sue Bayliss, December 2008
Written after experiencing a Native American workshop led by Rosemary Wolf at Dreaming Mountain, Vermont, part of a training with Lewis Mehl Madrona.
Before the ritual Rosemary had mentioned seeing shirts with bullet holes in a nearby museum, testimony of the killing of the Native Americans by the invaders.
Trailing wildflowers,
She appears.
Her dress is grey,
Loosely draped,
It caresses the forest floor
As she walks.
Come for me?
I look around.
Is there another here,
Someone more worthy
Than I?
Overhead.
I start.
She stops
Before me.“You are blessed,”
She says.
And in that moment
My whole life makes sense.
All the pain,
Rejection,
Doubt.
All flee
Before her words
Of grace.
And now I feel it
In my heart,
For I am
Truly blessed.
And shall bring forth
My fruits,
The fruits that come
From suffering
Turned to wisdom,
From pain
Transformed to passion.
And my fruits
Will seed others
To bring forth
Their own wine,
And together
We shall create
A place of healing,
And of celebration,
A world to live in,
Not to die for,
A world that is waiting
To be birthed with love
By all of us.
Completed 15th November, 2015, begun during a writing workshop with Julia McCutchen.
And the next,
Let there be love.
And the outbreath,
Let there be love.
And my body,
Let there be love.
And the feeling,
Let there be love.
And its fading,
Let there be love.
And its opposite,
The English coast,
Where once I stood
On a Scillonian beach,
Looking out towards
Distant America,
A young girl dreaming,Let there be an ocean of love.
And, filled with it, rising like a wave,
Let me take flight with the seagulls,
Soaring to ever greater heights
And deeper peace,
Seeing all life touched
With the fingers
Of love’s dawning.
Sue Bayliss, October 2008, written on the beach in Swampscott, Boston, MA
Listen to the call,
Heard
In life’s inbetween moments,
A whisper in the dusk.
Knocking on the door
In the dark night
Of your unawareness.
‘To your life’s purpose,
Your true calling,
Your hero’s journey,
To greater wisdom
And deeper love.’
‘Not now, not yet,
Who am I
To wear the hero’s mantle?’
‘Who are you
To deny your destiny,
By playing small
And playing safe?’
Beyond it stand
Your helpers,
Guardians, ready
To help you face
Your demons.
No warrior’s tale.
Attune
To your centre,
To the larger field,
The power of spirit.
And supported
By your community
Of saints,
You can embrace your demons,
Feeling them
Transform
Within you,
Met by love.The miracle of healing
Can be yours.
The old wounds,
Life’s battle scars
Bring new resources.
And your path
Lies before you,
The hero’s way
Of wisdom and fulfilment.
And now your greatest gifts
Come forth
As blessings for the world.
And sensing this,
On your journey,
Filled with serendipity
And surprise,
With its twists and turns,
Its challenges and joys,
You finally take
The homeward road
To share your gifts
With those you left behind
So long ago.
So take heart
All you who suffer,
And whose souls
Are locked in sleep.
Awaken to your hero’s journey,
Fling wide the cage
That keeps you trapped
In smaller things
And fly away to freedom.
Fly like the moth
That seeks the flame
To let your soul’s fire
Burn brightly
As a beacon
To the world.
July 29th 2011, after reading Robert Dilts’ and Stephen Gilligan’s book The Hero’s Journey
Not made out of man,
But born of Earth,
Pachamama,
Who holds us
In her loving embrace
And lets us
Open
To the power of light,
Making love
To every cell
Of our sacred body.
Feeling the life force
Dance and sing within us
And the love flow through.
To caress the Earth
Through our bodies,
And thus we learn
Our sacred task
Our blessing,
And never again
Throw ourselves away.
At God’s command
But from the blissful union
Of Earth and Sky,
And we belong
To the whole universe.
Meet the goddess
Within,
Feel the love,
See the beauty
Of your body,
Feel the fire of life,
Your life.
Find your song,
Your dance,
Your healing story
And bring them forth
Courageously!