wider-winged and brighter-lighted…

what if today i breathe easy here in my skin, and exhale - butterflies rising

what if today
i breathe easy here in my skin,
and exhale, unafraid, trusting that there is a
destiny-kissed grace saving me from any cruel wind that
may blow back. i could stand a little stronger in my space…
knowing that it’s universe-given and me-shaped.

maybe i’ll even glow a little here,
be a little wider-winged and brighter-lighted.
let myself consider that everything i am
and all that i want to be is ok.

and maybe not just ok… but what if i am perfectly on purpose.
and what if i can trust that every next step is the one i’m meant
to take and that even when i feel wayward, i’m still always
on my destiny-blessed way.

– butterflies rising

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something i can trust…

if i'm being honest... my relationship with trust is a distant one - butterflies rising

something i can trust…

if i’m being honest… my relationship with trust
is a distant one, and my trust in the universe is a timid thing
because life has felt bigger, and this path has felt harder
at times than i’ve been able to take.

and i’m still trying to believe that i am growing wings
that were measured just for me, that are right-sized just. for. this.
strong enough to lift me through it and beautiful enough to
make it all worth it. but this distance with trust has made me
feel anything but sure… and i guess trust is a muscle memory
i just don’t yet have.

but i want to.

so when the light seems quiet, and the guidance
feels hushed, i’m going to lean in. because maybe it’s gone
quiet to get me to lean in… just so i can learn that when the voice
inside has something to say… that it’s something i can trust.

– butterflies rising

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trying to believe that i am growing wings that were measured just for me…

trying to believe that i am growing wings that were measured just for me - butterflies rising

trying to believe
that i am growing wings
that were measured just for me,
that are right-sized just. for. this.
and when the voice inside
has something to say…
that it’s something
i can trust.

– butterflies rising

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i said, i want to learn to trust you, but i don’t know how…

learn to trust you. then see what your heart has to say about me, and follow that. - butterflies rising

i said,
“i want to learn to trust you,
but i don’t know how.”

and you said,
“then don’t. learn to trust you.
then see what your heart has to say about me,
and follow that.”

– butterflies rising

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and i closed my eyes in the middle of all the wild noise… because there are dreams over there…

and i closed my eyes in the middle of all the wild noise and just stayed still - butterflies rising poem

and i closed my eyes
in the middle of all the wild noise
and just stayed still… and i felt myself
being pulled that way.
and so i asked, “why that way?”
and i heard, “because there are dreams over there.”

and that feels like as good a reason as any
to ever do anything…
and so i’m going to go that way.

– butterflies rising

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and you’re in this place where there are no footprints in front of you…

and you're in this place where there are no footprints in front of you

and you’re in this place where there are no footprints in front of you, and there isn’t anyone else here to ask, and they wouldn’t have your answers even if they were… everything here only feels like you. but it’s how you know that it’s your path.

– butterflies rising

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as many things as you want to be…

in spite of anyone else's barriers and limitations and boxes and stories...  i hope you let yourself dream. and search. and discover.

no matter anyone else’s barriers
and limitations and boxes and stories…

i hope you let yourself dream.
and search. and discover. and grow.
and be many-layered, and curious, and unlimited…
and passionate and wild… and soft and vulnerable…
and have depth or lightness…
and be found or lost…

and be as many other things as you want to be.

and i hope you find a way to be unafraid and
unapologetic and undeterred as you do…

because other people’s barriers
and limitations and boxes and stories
are just that… theirs.

– butterflies rising

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just to be young​…

i just don't know what to say other than i am sorry that we've asked you to be burdened

i just don’t
know what to say
other than i am sorry
that we’ve asked you
to be burdened with living
something like warriors
to only give you afterwishes
and more of these i’m sorries
and i hope that someday soon
you get to feel safe
and that the only thing we
ask of you is just to be young.

– butterflies rising

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dream your wild dreams, love…

her fire is drawn to your fire

dream
your wild dreams, love,
and chase your racing heartbeats,
find it and feed it and play in your own fire…
and she’ll find you.
she’ll meet you where moonlight meets soul light
and everything you both ache for collides,
because her fire is drawn to your fire.

– butterflies rising

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