Thursday, December 15, 2016

And as I journeyed further
Walking through the golden gateway of compassion
I found that all of the shattered pieces that I had thought were 'my self'
Were but beautiful reflections of all of us
It was in this shattering
That I awoke
To how tightly I held onto this sense of self
that was nothing but an illusion
As I bent down to collect the broken remains
I saw that each shard
that I had thought was 'me'
was just a reflection
I held the shards up to the light
recognizing all the forms of suffering and sorrows
And vowed to practice compassion
even more deeply
It had become clear to me that 'i' was made of nothing of any substance
And that there was only one unifying force
and that it was my duty to learn and to study and to practice
the way

-Atara Schimmel
It became clear to me
as I shattered
into a million pieces
that there was only one gateway out of this hell
It became clear to me that I could choose to continue suffering
trapped in rage, sorrow, despair for eons
Or I could make my way to the golden gate
that stood before me
humble and small
shackled and bound and utterly free all at once
And so I walked through that gateway
the gateway of compassion
And there I found all of the pain that I had been shutting out of myself
And all of the suffering that I had been denying
And i came to it with love
And I came to it with tenderness
And I came to it with forgiveness
And i was healed
-Atara Schimmel

Sunday, December 11, 2016

My hands are not broken yet.
I will weave fire.
And I will carry this burden back to you.
To be a balm for all those that still suffer.

I will restore my own healing.
I will weave fire and flame.

Wait and see.
you are not done with me
I will be back

the bullies might seem strong now
but they will fall
they will crumble down
as i walk over their forlorn bodies

there are those i will hear
and there are those i will pass over

justice and compassion will reign