secure this beckoning sunshine

home is a sacred space
set-apart space
sanctuary

safety from the chaos and rush of the world

a retreat, a resting place

hearth and holy place and home

I light my little candle and watch the flicker flame
this is the only hearth I have

I long for home



Sanctuary by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



crossposted to sunbowpublications.com

some things are unexplainable
some things are unexplained still
by scientific knowledge: called
"god of the gaps", if you will

the point of mystery is not
dissection, to lay bare the bones:
it's not to ask "whence Zeus's bolts?"
nor "where sit the gods on their thrones?"

a rainbow is still beauty bright
whether "refraction" or "Iris" you think
reduce it to its photons and
the beauty is gone in a blink

do not kill off the mystery
to find out how it worked before death.
participate, or not, you choose,
but no one way is best. take a breath.



High Priestess II by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



crossposted to sunbowpublications.com

act
mindful
conscious of
consequences
the power is yours
to do with what you will
pick up the paintbrush
sit down and write
sing out loud
crochet
knit

knit
crochet
sing out loud
sit down and write
pick up the paintbrush
do with it what you will
the power is yours
consequences
be conscious
mindful
act



The Magician by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



crossposted to sunbowpublications.com

when life changes
in heartbeats
the world shakes

it rattles the china
and shatters the notion
that life is as
you thought that
it was

the world shakes
and stands still
and spins on



Renovate by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

They say that if you believe
in the equality of genders,
you are a feminist
and should call yourself one.

( Tell me )



if I'm not talking to you, I'm not talking to you by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

I can be anything I want to be.
You taught me that.
Education is important.
You taught me that.

( Perhaps I learned too well )



Aikido by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

London McCabe was six years old
and I bet he knew
exactly
what he wants to be
when he grows up.
All children, except one, grow up—

Fly with Pan and the Lost Ones,
London who'll never grow up.
Find peace and joy and excitement
in Neverland as never on earth.
Perhaps Wendy or Jane or Margaret
shall be your mother—
better she than your own.
Fly with Tink and the Lost Ones,
London who'll ever be known
as just one more name on the roster
of Lost Ones who'll never grow old.
We will weep our tears for you,
and hope you are the last,
and work to ensure the fear killed you
is something of the past.



Fly with Pan, London by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

they say
square pegs
round holes
she's a star-shaped peg
and her mother
(who she should
have been able
to trust
to keep her safe
to keep her whole
because that's what parents
are supposed to do)
tried to cut away the starstuff
and make of her an ordinary
round peg
and when that didn't work
her mother tried
to kill them both
knowing
the world would see
with sympathy
not for Issy Stapleton
the autistic the victim the unperson
but for her mother
come, look up at the stars



#WalkInIssysShoes: Starstuff by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

they say there are two wolves
in each of us
one made of all the vicious things
one made of all the virtues

which wolf wins?
the one I feed

but anger is a thing of vicious wolf
"God grant me the serenity"—
it is not courage that changes things
that can, that must be changed
it is anger

virtuous wolf takes no offense where none is meant
which values intent of speaker
over pain
of those hurt by careless words

if I starve the virtuous wolf
indeed I will become
a hateful thing
a hate-full thing

but if instead
I starve the vicious wolf
I will not be good
just sanctimonious

and how to call someone 'good'
who would deny a helpless animal
its only source of food

I feed both wolves
which wolf wins?
why must there be a winner?



The Wolf We Feed by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.


(the history of the two-wolves story and the version used as reference for this poem)

( serenity / courage / wisdom )



Serenity Prayer by Alex Conall is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.