In a Shaker Friends’ Meeting

The things we carry . . .
time,
bags of cement,
estranged family members, loved ones who bring sorrow,
we carry . . .

we carry . . .
jokes,
humor, salve to lighten the load,
hugs, to dissipate the numbing pain,

thoughts like squirrels racing in our heads . . . sometimes they take a nap,
and trees who want to stop us . . . and hold us in a healing embrace,

we carry . . .
hurdles
excess baggage ~ rocks, back breaking boulders on the steepest climb,

forgiveness releases all transgressions, lightens the burden, sets victim and perpetrator free

i am a dancer in the dance
’round and ’round the self criticism prance

i am the witness, the observer, the one who knows she knows
i don’t have to carry any thing
in fact, i can be carried . . .