mending

When you are challenged in your connection,

When suffering is present,

When freedom is distant,

When the tension pulls and there isn’t enough room to breathe,

Remember.

Knotted and frayed is the thread that binds all life - today and beyond.

Its truth snagged by the splinters of our intimate and universal history.

Dare to find the places tied taut and rigid and say their names:

Death. Grief. Loss. Distrust. Injustice. Silence. Prison. Rage. Fire. Tempest. Bite.

The wrenching within and between bodies is unyielding.

Burrs and nicks in the thread path, each knot distorting the integrity of connection.

Like listening to sound underwater, barely making out the words:

Love. Legacy. Roots. Beauty. Dove. Water. Salt. Tides. Sun. Sky.

Breathe deep and undo the knots one by one 

Create some space to loosen the bind that numbs and disassociates

Respectfully untie the stories living within you that keep you bound.

Remember: Desert. Ocean. Mountain. Grandmother. Grandfather. Hands. Silver hair. Moon.

Let us untangle ourselves from this estrangement!

Combing through the anatomy of what it means to be whole in this world.

Tend to the burrs and nicks. Weave supporting fibers of redemption along the way.

Trust. Freedom. Hope. Brother. Sister. Dream. Rose. Seed. Soil. Falcon. Star. Return.