February Poems - 2024

February 2024

Poems and writings from February 2024.

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Your voice is important,

but you don’t have to

listen to its negativity

when it speaks poorly

of you.

-bshivers

Feb 05, 2024

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As you gaze back

across the landscape

of where you have been,

the shadowy places,

the ones bathed in sunshine,

the stormy seasons,

and the lush landscapes,

give yourself the time and the space

to celebrate this moment

and how far you’ve come.

You arrived here

by navigating there.

You made it.

And here you are.

-bshivers

Feb 09, 2024

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One thing . . .

kindness.

That is all.

Kindness to yourself.

Kindness to others.

Kindness to creation.

Kindness to all things.

It doesn’t require understanding.

It requires intention.

It requires attention.

It changes the world.

It changes you.

One thing . . .

kindness.

That is all.

- bshivers

Feb 10, 2024

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Ashes in the Shape of a Heart

(a poem for Ash Wednesday)

Let lament flow.

It may be the only way

to feel real,

to really feel

the pain,

the loss,

the sorrow

of this moment,

of these days.

There are moments and seasons,

those gone by and yet to come,

when ashes are all that remain

of last year’s roses

that were scattered in the path

of our beloved.

Sometimes,

love looks like grief.

Sometimes,

affection feels like loss.

So, we trace these ashes

in the shape of a heart

on our foreheads

to repent,

to remember,

to return

to one another,

to ourselves.

-bshivers

Feb 14, 2024

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Hatred masquerading as piety

wrapped in self-righteousness

is a toxin that destroys

from the inside out.

- bshivers

Feb 16, 2024

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You don’t . . .

have to be more;

have to do more;

have to accomplish greatness;

have to have it figured out;

have to understand;

have to know what’s next;

have to hold it together;

have to have a way forward;

have to say it perfectly;

have to solve all the things;

have to.

You are enough.

-bshivers

Feb 20, 2024

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We inhale the particles

of prayers and petitions

whispered onto the wind.

They enter our being

becoming a part

of who we are.

We are inexorably,

molecularly linked

one to another.

One question remains,

How shall we respond?

-bshivers

Feb 21, 2024

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It’s not true,

you know.

The little lie

you tell yourself.

The one that quietly

tries to convince you

that you aren’t enough;

that you are

somehow less than.

It’s simply not true.

-bshivers

Feb 22, 2024

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The children . . .

all over the world.

The children.

Can’t we, at the very least,

protect the children?

The living breathing children.

Feb 24, 2024

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You have purpose.

It isn’t for the machine

to use you up,

to drain you dry,

to cast you aside.

No.

Your worth

can’t be measured

by production,

by output, by impact,

or by the way you

“move the needle”

for someone else’s gain.

You are here.

You are you.

And that is

everything.

In fact,

it may be all

you need to know.

-bshivers

Feb 25, 2024

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Protect the vulnerable;

the ones the powerful,

or those in positions of power,

often seek to silence,

to marginalize, to destroy

through words or deeds,

policy or doctrine -

the young,

the old,

the trans,

the nonbinary,

the queer,

the misunderstood,

the miscatagorized,

the neurodivergent,

those with disabilities,

those “othered”

for any reason.

It may be the only true measure

of our compassion and humanity.

-bshivers

Feb 27, 2024

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“I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.” Psalm 4:8

To both lie down

and sleep in peace

should be something

for which we strive

not just for ourselves

but for everyone.

Feb 28, 2024

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Be this.

Do that.

Go there.

Stay put.

Think these thoughts.

Believe this way.

Act like me.

Don’t change.

Always adapt.

On and on

and on and on.

Break the cycle.

Breathe in

the beauty and complexity

of who you are

where you are

right now.

You are loved.

You are enough.

You are not alone.

-bshivers

Feb 29, 2024