I've never had a taste for
chamomile tea
But inhaling her fragrance
this cool sparkling morning
Cut from my new garden
The one where I started over
The one that was hard and dry
covered in tangled weeds
Now soft and moist
beginning to bloom
The buds of my wet tongue tingled
I paused to listen
Perhaps I just needed to grow my own
celestial seasonings
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | June 2022
That still, flowers bloom
That still, lungs fill
That still, teachers comfort
That still, nurses tend
That still, we rise
That still, we resist
That still, we rest
That still, we reach
That still, we feel it all
That still, we are still
And in stillness
That still, we live
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | June 2022
What if you also are the son of G-D
You, Her child
You too, Their daughter,
Beloved
What if you also must die
Fall apart
Come undone
What if this too, Beloved
Must hurt like Hell
What if you also must allow this
Like the wildflower trampled by hooves
Scattered remains anointed
By its own inherently Holy oil
Seeping into the earth
Crushed
We say the flower is dead
Almost with disgust
Because we worship youth
And fear death
Meanwhile Holy wind
Carries the resilient seeds of her joy
Compassion and love
Which land in mysterious places
While her body nourishes the
Ground where she lay
What if you also will appear again
Transformed
Though today in the throes of death
Our wildflower was dismembered
But fed the soil which gave birth to blades of grass
Becoming shelter
A safe space for the burgeoning life of a new generation
Incubated and sustained from the death of
The trampled one
What if this wasn’t the first time
What if it’s not the last
Would you still choose to live
Would you bless the darkness of your earthen tomb
Bless the food you discover underground
Would you receive and drink
From unseen skies
Would you stretch
Would you reach
Would you break
Through ceilings
And grow towards whatever feels
Warm
Wherever there’s light
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | April 2022
I’m dating myself for a while
Before I feel ready to date other humans
I dress for how I want to feel
Cool powerful playful sexy free
It was everything everywhere
All at once
I laughed out loud
More than twice
Piercing the contemplative silence
Seen
By some bold invisible soul traveler
Ideas articulated in perfectly ordered chaos
Communicating through screen
Color light space and time
Silent tears in buttered popcorn
Salty pinot noir lips quivering
It was exquisite
About people
Playing their roles
Ignoring instigating possessing lying numbing
Pressuring attacking hiding controlling hurting
Doing what hurting people do
Utterly uncontrollable
Utterly lovable
About breaking out of roles
Shedding expectation
Loosing the grip
Opening eyes
Hearts
Bodies
This body
This moment
Choosing what to do next
The greatest honor of the living
Growing
Deepening
Softening
Hardening
Stretching
Showing ourselves that we are trustworthy
That we will have our back
That we contain multitudes
That there are those we’ll find and choose eternally
That maybe we’ve always been
Everything everywhere all at once
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | April 2022
We’re supposed to be
Supposedly
Marrying for love
And I wonder how many relationships
Exist outside of alliance
Dependence partnership
Spoken or unspoken contracts
How independent
Can a woman be
In the patriarchy
The revolution
Is not
Independent Women
Resisting and persisting
Independently exhausting
It is all of us
Together
Humanity amicably
Asking for help
Receiving and giving
Resting and living
In gracious abundance
The opposite of patriarchy
Is not matriarchy
Oligarchy hierarchy
Anarchy or any-archy
The future isn’t female
The future is all of us
Caretaking embracing healing us
Which means all of us
Showing up for us
As we are
Joyfully
Gratefully humbly
Giving a damn
Interdependence
Mutual aid cooperation inclusion
No thing thrives in seclusion
Egoic delusion
Powerful men tell us we can be like them
Powerfully independent self-made
Standing at the
Tip
Tops of their
Self-made triangles
Crushing thousands of shoulders
Bodies hearts minds dreams talents
Boots on necks
Their capitalist propaganda
Pits us against each other
So that we don’t work together
To save ourselves
Power sharing
Power growing
People power creating
New life free life for free
I don’t strive anymore
For anything or anyone
I exist
Paying attention
Noticing
Showing up with all of me
Which is enough
Worshipper of life itself
Every living thing seen and unseen
Trading triangles for circles
Spirals
Neighbor Sister Auntie Friend
Lover if you’re lucky
Married for love
Married forever
To me
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | April 2022
Identifying weeds
Knowing what to pull
What to leave
When
Is an art
Like living
Like today
Take the grass
Leave the dandelion
Pull or let alone the chickweed
From dampened soil
The cleavers and clovers
Medicinal dangerous useful
Invasive invaluable
Keep or clear
Skies still dark overhead
This is what I mean
To know the difference
Some leave noxious choking things
In their gardens
Just in case
But I know they will return
If they're needed
The good ones always do
The baddies too
They're all needed
When there’s more to learn
Something new to share
Fortify disturb disrupt reveal
A door left
Open
Seed dropped
Breadcrumbs
So I choose today
To uncleave
Lest tomorrow they choke out
The tender seeds I’ve collected
Chosen and safeguarded
Impatiently patient
For the time and space
To plant
Still struggling to take root now
The fledglings thirst
Hunger
Reach for light
Give thanks for dark
Emerge exultant
Outstretched finally
Enough space to become
Themselves
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | March 2022
If I must be labeled and boxed
The oppressor's most wicked
Effective tool at
Turning one against another
By lying to us
Cages beget cages
Words labels categories
Meant to separate
Instead I celebrate
Choosing the box of
Fluid
Water
More me
Than anything
What gives me life
In this harsh rigid constipated
World caged stifled
Costumed masked
Anxious afraid ashamed
Is flowing freely
Like the fluid I am
Moving sensing
Transforming
Becoming
Living
Resisting
Oppressors’
Cages
I seep through their cracks
Evaporate gather
Alive
I dance upon the earth
Warm gentle rain showers
Quenching seeds animals
With my fluidity
Clean honest good
Essential
Essentially me
I am welcomed embraced
By all who love freedom
Feared frustrated despised
By the cage builders
Who still haven't realized
They too
Are made of
Water
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | March 2022
Unclench
Release
Take a breath
Drink water
Flowers unfold
Ferns unfurl
Slowly
And not because they're told
No shout shame
Pressure blame
Chase or game
Flowers unfold
Ferns unfurl
Slowly
And not to please a gardener
Neighbor
Lover friend
They don't perform
They are witnessed
When the conditions are right
With time and tending
When they're good and ready
Flowers unfold
Ferns unfurl
Slowly
Stretching toward the light of day
Radiant fragrant
Beacons of nurturance
Beauty sustenance
Vitality
Seeds of future seasons
Decades generations
Futures yet unimagined
Don't have to push
To grow
Propelled by love
Integrity life force
Flowers unfold
Ferns unfurl
When they surrender
To their own
Exquisite
Essential
Being
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | March 2022
I,
Jaclyn Edds Konczal
Of free mind and alive body
Joyfully vow
To my Self
In honor of the beloved friends
Who have become my chosen family
And the beloved family
Who have proven to be my friends
That I will only open my heart
And give the gift of my time
To a person romantically
Who uplifts and nourishes
Embellishes and enriches
Calms and comforts
Supports and delights
My life and soul
As much as my friendships
And I
Have shown me
So clearly is possible
Even in abundance
And if this takes forever
Or if it is never
I vow to trust me
I vow to nurture me
I vow to love me
I vow to be
All of me
Abundantly
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | March 1, 2022
War is not
Simple
A jersey or icon
Coliseum or stadium
War is not uniform lines
Facing off in an open field
Rousing trumpets
Shiny shields
War is not a game
Of mortal kombat
To be played at
There is only chaos
When control
Fear and power
Motivate the man
In the high tower
War is a bloody
Muddled mess of death
Destruction
Confusion
Innocent's last breath
One impossible cruel choice
After another
Those who suffer
Don't want a fight
But a sovereign life of peace
Day and night
To live and let live
A bit of land
A place to call home
Tend soil by hand
But there's only loss
When control
Fear and power
Motivate the man
In the high tower
Our wars are not
Ours
But thrust upon us
By insecure rageful boys
In bodies of grown men
(I can think of at least ten)
Who back us into corners
With no exits
Assuming our immediate
Or eventual
Submission
Their mission a frightful display
Of tantrum terror
Still so angry at their
Mothers
They turn brothers against
Brothers
Spinning yarns from
Blood soaked thread
So desperate to be head
Won't bother counting the dead
Our leaders need to be led
When control
Fear and power
Motivate the men
In the high tower
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | March 1, 2022
G-D bless the ones who have never hurt a fly
Who know they could, but don’t want to
Bless the ones with no violent bone in their body
But who do have a spine
Bless the tender ones, the silly ones, the nerdy, the insecure
Bless the teens and seniors and in betweeners
G-D bless the scared ones
Bless the teachers and plumbers and computer programmers
The writers and musicians and taxi drivers and tax advisors
Bless the fathers and brothers, the sons and sisters and friends
Bless the daughters and mothers
Who have no bloodthirst
Who get no thrill, pleasure, excitement
Sense of belonging or self-importance from the fight itself
And still
Stand in line for hours in the cold
Their city under fire
To join the fight
Precisely because they do belong
Because this is their home
Whether they were born here or immigrated here
Whether their skin is dark or light
Whether they live in a large house or a small apartment
They will not give in to bullying
They will not betray their home
Neither fear
Nor
Lust for violence compels them
They simply do what they must
Bless the ones who stay and defend
Once all possibilities of peaceful resolution have been exhausted
They are all
So exhausted
Their minds have hundreds of valid reasons to flee
But they are compelled by their hearts
They stay because anything else would offend their own soul
Bless the defenders of freedom
Bless the ones who know that in war there are no winners
That this is not football
Or a coliseum
Bless the ones who know there aren’t even any teams
The ones who see brothers on the other side, not enemies
Bless the brothers and sisters of integrity
Who conduct themselves respectfully
And who will not tolerate disrespect
Bless the ones who know who they are
Who claim their space, and allow others theirs
Bless those who are willing to fight and die
For freedom, truth, and love
Freedom for Ukraine
Freedom for Russia
Freedom for all
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 26, 2022
Some stars
Especially brilliant stars of great value
Luminous and radiant with love
And integrity
Are especially attractive to
Black holes
The star feels an indescribable pull
Toward the black hole
Beyond its control
The black hole
Having lost its own light long ago
Feels overcome by a desire to consume,
Overpower, control and devour the star
To have it
To own it
To claim it
To take credit for discovering it
Even creating it
The black hole becomes so obsessed that
It is convinced of its own
Self-authored mythology
The black hole is intriguing to the star
At first
Receiving special attention
Being noticed and recognized in the midst of
An expansive galaxy dotted with billions of other twinkling lights
But little by little
As the star is drawn closer to the black hole
By unseen forces
It begins to lose its energy, vitality
And light
Until all at once
It is struck with the devastating realization that
It’s about to be extinguished by a terrible darkness
Its only chance at survival is to muster its last
Remaining stores of light energy
To shoot clear across the sky
Away from the black hole
Into a celestial sea of velvet darkness that cradles
Its light like a buoy
Floating there in the great open sea
In the relative safety of dark but peaceful waters
Before long
Other stars of similar brilliance and luminosity
Begin to make their way over
Floating in their effervescent buoys
They eventually create one giant flotilla of
Light and stardust
Perhaps that’s what a comet is actually
An enormous mass of light energy, stardust, and brilliance
A collective of love and integrity
Tiny specks on their own
But together
One massive love flotilla rocketing
Through space and time
Away from the black holes of
Dominance, bloated ego, and hatred
Growing bigger
More spectacular and more powerful
With each speck of stardust
It picks up along the way
With its collective internal power
The comet accelerates
Taking its beloveds
On the ride of their lives
To places they’ve never even imagined
Places that don’t yet exist
Until they’re witnessed
By the ones courageous enough
To go and find them
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 25, 2022
Frigid frosty mornings
Sun-soaked afternoons
Tastes of carrot cake heaven
A grandpa's tender love
Destruction close by and
Far away
We walk each other through tunnels
Toward the light and
Hand in hand
Find the tunnel
Lit
From within
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
If this seems random to you, it’s because it is.
I hope, for your sake, you will still proceed.
Here’s the thing: Grocery Outlet.
Has the potential to make your life better.
That’s it. That’s all I have to say.
Not true. I actually have a lot more to say about the edifying and valuable experience of shopping at Grocery Outlet, rather than, say, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or Safeway. Or for my East Coast sisters and brothers, Harris Teeter or Kroger’s. Do you have Grocery Outlets on the East Coast? I don’t think so, but there must be an equivalent discount grocery store that absorbs all of the extra, leftover, made-too-many-didn’t sell enough items that are cast offs from the higher end or mainstream grocery stores. And if not, I hope that Grocery Outlet will make it to the East Coast very soon.
Because,
Grocery Outlet, sometimes (very disrespectfully) referred to as “Gross Out”, is actually the best.
Here are at least 10 reasons why:
1. Amazing selection of organic, quality foods, even from local farms and dairies.
2. Artisanal pantry items from small-scale producers.
3. Best music in the grocery biz. I shopped at the Vallejo Grocery Outlet on Admiral Callaghan exclusively for 3 years and never once did the music in that place fail me. Mo-town vibes all day every day making even someone who felt dead inside start to shake her booty and wiggle down the aisles. When we had to move away suddenly early last year I was skeptical there’d ever be a Grocery Outlet with as good of tunes. But y'all wouldn’t believe my luck. Petaluma Grocery Outlet, ALSO has a fantastic soundtrack. That’s how good it is. It makes you feel like you’re a moviestar in some indie film about a single mom just trying to survive in this treacherous, heartbreaking, tragic, spectacular, magical, glorious, beautiful world. A single mom who is so goddamned thrilled to be spending 50% less than she would be at Whole Foods, on twice as much actual food. Food she’s excited to eat and feed her daughter. And we love to eat.
4. Diversity. If you are a white person who only ever sees and interacts with other white people and/or you live in a predominantly white, fairly privileged community- I am not mad at you. I am also white and fairly privileged and now live in a town which is predominantly white and fairly privileged. Are there people of color aka indigenous and world majority folks living in Petaluma, CA? Of course. However, Petaluma/Sonoma County, CA has an incredibly high cost of living relative to the rest of the USA and since Black/brown/indigenous/world majority folks have been enslaved and/or oppressed for the last 300+ years in this great nation, access to building any kind of wealth or being free to prosper has been denied these folks, their families and ancestors, all the way up until now. It’s still happening every day. So are you likely to see mostly white people at a Sonoma County Whole Foods? Yes. Are you likely to see a mix of folks at Grocery Outlet, including more people of color? Also, yes. Diversity, inclusion, and wealth redistribution are important to me, that’s why I love supporting and being a part of the ecosystem of Grocery Outlet. Which leads me to…
5. Guess who doesn’t own Grocery Outlet?
Jeff Bezos.
Grocery Outlets are locally-owned and operated, and the ones I’ve been to have been owned by people of color and employ a large number of women of color, working moms, seniors, and folks who are differently-abled. I’ve gotten to know some of our cashiers, one of whom I always see at school drop-off at my daughter’s elementary school. Things like that make me feel more connected to my community and I prefer that feeling over lining the pockets of a billionaire with a track record of oppressive labor practices and just a big pile of fuckery in general.
6. I like saving lots of money. Like, lots. I’m not going to make this one flowery, because it’s just math:
More groceries that are delicious and healthy x less money = happiness.
7. I’m a sucker for an underdog, which has bit me in the butt in some major ways, but not in this case. In this case, the underdog doesn’t bite, only cuddles and looks lovingly into my eyes and then cuddles some more.
8. Plants. Y'all know I love plants. I’m a florist for pete’s sake. Some of my plant children have grown into teenagers by this point, having purchased them on my 26th birthday, my first year living in San Francisco, almost 12 years ago. But I always find room for new plant babies, and Grocery Outlet, at least in Petaluma, really comes through in this regard. I’ve gotten spider plants and alocasia and anthuriums, and palms, and pilia. They have calathea and cacti and rabbit foot ferns.. I could go on but you get it. Plants. Great selection at reasonable prices.
9. Beverages. I also really really love beverages. All the beverages. I love trying different beverages and Grocery Outlet has some of the most fun, tasty, and steadfast: La Croix all the flavors, Oat milk, Almond Milk, Cashew Milk, Walnut Milk, Coconut Milk, Flax Milk, literally every kind of milk that doesn’t come from cows, PLUS all the cow milk too. Kombucha, kefir, and every fermented drink that I ever want: wine, beer, hard kombucha, sake, every kind of liquor. Great tea selection. Even sort of out there drinks like reishi mushroom black lemon tea in a can and Genius coconut smoothies.
10. Every now and then I like looking cute when I go grocery shopping. On these rare occasions, I don’t go to Grocery Outlet. I go to the local community market downtown where all the cool attractive people seem to shop and I buy the few items that I can’t find at Grocery Outlet, like locally-made artisanal bread and Frey organic wine. The other 90% of the time, I prefer to grocery-shop looking however I look, which is typically a bit disheveled and tired. I am embraced at Grocery Outlet, where everyone else also looks however they look and it’s fine. With Marvin Gaye on the loudspeaker we all feel like a million bucks regardless, and are much closer to those million than if we’d shopped elsewhere.
11. (I knew there would be more than 10.) Minimizes waste/ keeps more food out of landfills/ helps small food businesses. By selling overstock at lower prices, Grocery Outlet helps provide affordable food to working class people, and also prevents the waste and carbon emissions that good food in a landfill would create.
In conclusion, I’m a fan of Grocery Outlet for at least 11 pretty good reasons. If you’re lucky enough to be friends with me on Instagram (haha jk I’m just feeling cheeky), then keep an eye out for some of my favorite yummies from Grocery Outlet. Nobody is paying me to say this. If they did I would probably use it to buy stock in Grocery Outlet.
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
A word, for Christians, whatever that means anymore, but in case it still has something to do with Christ:
Guess who listened to women? Guess who protected women?
Guess who believed women? Guess who trusted women?
Guess who relied on women? Guess who revered women?
Guess who loved and uplifted and respected and admired and honored and blessed and healed women?
That’s right. Just like in Sunday school, the correct answer is: Jesus.
Not just the women in his own family and community, and not just the admired and beloved and well-behaved and attractive and well-off and religious and esteemed women of high societal standing, and certainly not just white women, of whom there were likely very few, if any in his orbit. He respected, cared for, and spent time with the beggars, the prostitutes, the dirty, the poor, the hated, the “foreigners”, the witchy, the old, the sick, the slutty, and the disabled. He was not above them.
He was with them. Emmanuel.
The other men thought he was crazy. Their insecurity and fear and social conditioning had them believing that Jesus was insane and reckless, and worse, a heretic. They accused him of breaking the law of God by associating with these women. They believed they were above women. They believed they had every right to possess, dominate, and rule over women. They believed in hierarchy. A hierarchy that conveniently had them at the top.
Jesus terrified them with his message and teaching. They were so terrified, those holy men, of losing their power, their position at the top, that they viciously crucified him. They crucified the feminist.
If your version of Christianity enables you to habitually shut women up, dismiss or diminish or mock or interrupt or gaslight or overtake or sexualize or shut down or coerce or deceive or intimidate or cut off or take advantage of or pressure or take for granted or neglect or distrust or overpower or silence or manipulate or use or smear or control or casually discard women,
Then whose disciple are you?
Who is your God, really?
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
Discovers
Her
Own
Magic
She leaves the nursery and everybody in it
With a kiss for Nanny the only one who sees her
A love-filled hug for her brothers whom she’ll always visit with stories of her harrowing adventures in the real world
A long embrace for her mother, whose own magic never stood a chance
Though it’s never never too late
One last gaze at her father, the saddest lost boy in the room
And consequently the most dangerous
She’ll remember Peter as the one who had the honor of witnessing the rebirth of her magic
Who saw her splendor
Who fell in love with her
{As much as a narcissist can}
But he and Tink can go fuck themselves have already found
Some new pretty thing to toy with in the Bermuda Triangle of their depravity
She will never forget how many times they risked her
Safety and even deliberately tried to harm her
Their callousness born of their obsession with their bottomless egos and insidious insecurity
Wendy stands on the threshold of that fateful window with a serene smile upon her lips
Grateful for all of it
A heart on fire with love and longing
A soul at peace
She says goodbye to all she’s known
And steps off that ledge into the soft light of dawn
She soars
With the serenity and power of a woman
Who knows who she is
In full view of the passersby below who gawk
And shake their heads in disbelief
At the woman flying solo
She catches the twinkling eye of a little girl below then
Wendy winks and blows her a kiss
Freedom ever after
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
You are more powerful
Than you’ve ever been led to believe
Or let yourself believe
When it hurts like hell
And it will
Let it
When you think you might split
Open from the pain of it
Remember
You are water
You are air
You are earth
You are fire
You are made of magic stardust
And none of these ever remain static
They crack and split and crash
And thrash with their fury and might
Allow the pain
To move through you
Like water
Like air
Like fire
Like earth splitting open to create
Brand new things
You are more powerful than you know
But soon you will know
Fear not
All that you need
Is all that you already have
Within you
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 15, 2022 | for Bri
I was weeding our front yard/garden today when my neighbor walked by on her way to her car. I looked up and she said, "I don't know why you bother."
She meant it humorously but I was embarrassed for a split second as I knew that hand-weeding our entire front yard in bare feet looked a bit cuckoo. The garden was covered completely in a thick blanket of clover with cheerful neon yellow flowers, which I've enjoyed this past month as much as the bees. I bounced back from my brief self-consciousness by responding with the truth, that working in the garden on a day like today, 70° and sun shining with my daughter snacking on tangerines and periodically throwing stuff at me "because it's prank day", was actually really therapeutic for me regardless of what I accomplished or how long it took me.
What she still doesn't know, what none of my neighbors know yet, is that there are hundreds of flower seeds under that nice damp workable soil. I planted them months ago in the cold and wet, anticipating that by mid February I'd be feeling the slog of winter and would need something to lift my spirits, something pretty to look forward to.
It took me several hours to rip up the clover and chickweed and grass by the fistful, shaking the loose soil from their roots and tossing them into the mountainous green pile on the sidewalk. At one point, after clearing a few chunks, I spied what looked like the foliage of baby cosmos, and then I saw the very first wee flower. The tiniest cosmo that ever was. A few moments later I spotted feathers and the head of a small bird. A dead bird, but fully in tact, like it had just crawled into the thick forest of clover and weeds to sit down and die. How noble, I thought. Peaceful.
I picked her up gingerly and set her at the foot of my tiny baby cosmo plant with its fledgling flower. A reminder of how the decay of yesterday nourishes the budding life of tomorrow. I scooped the ash from the fireplace and sprinkled it on top of the still damp soil with its face in the sun warming the seeds below ground. I've written so many letters at this point which I've never sent. One is even stamped, but will likely go into the fire and end up in this fertile graveyard where pretty things have already begun to grow.
My body is sore now and fingernails are holding onto a bit of earth. This is why I bother. To tend to what I've been given and let go of what is no longer mine.
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
I’m a writer because I write
I’m an artist because I make art
I’m a floral designer because I design with flowers
I’m a naturalist because I revere and observe nature
I’m a mother because I mother
I’m a friend because I am a friend
I’m a neighbor because I act neighborly
I’m a singer because I sing
I’m a dancer because I dance
I’m a lover because I love
I am immensely more than these
I am none at all
I need no payment profit certificate followers
Salary degree job title accolades or approval
To validate any of it
I am validated by doing what I do
By being who I am
And when nobody sees
And when I am doing nothing
Sweet nothing
I am who I am
I am me
I like me
I’ll always be me
I’ll like and love me
Even when I don’t
Even when there’s nothing left
Not even this body
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
When we want to die
There are parts of us that must
There are relationships that must
There are parts of our lives that must
There are ideas about ourselves that must
There are ideas about the world and our place in it that must
There are allegiances, loyalties, and memberships that must
There are defaults and impulses and mechanisms and dependencies that must
When we want to die
Maybe we don’t really want to die
Maybe our spirit is crying out, longing to really live
Standing naked before a mirror staring at our tired dead eyes
The sparkle nearly snuffed out
We see death and decay behind those eyes and all over our body
If we allow them
If we even have a choice
Tears will stream from those dull eyes
Washing, cleansing, baptizing us in their holy waters
When we open them again
The sparkle has returned
Not from happiness joy or ecstasy but pure light
A reflection at once of our divinity and humanity
When we want to die
Maybe our spirit is begging us to let go of what
Is killing us and holding us captive
So that we can really live
Let go
Let it die
Let it fall away
The trees allow their deadness to fall
To the ground beneath them
Fertilizing their futures
They don’t clamor after their falling leaves
Chasing and grasping as they flutter to the ground
Trying to somehow reattach what has already died
Embrace your deaths
Allow them to nourish your next life
You’re still in there sweetheart
I see you.
{A wise man once said, those who would cling to their life, would lose it, and those who would lose their life, would find it.
Be the loser.
Let it fall away. Reach your roots out for support from your fellow trees. Send out a message for help through the mycelium of our interconnection. You are loved. You’re not alone.}
[For M.]
Jaclyn Edds Konczal | February 2022
