Tag: remember

North Burial Ground
Connection

North Burial Ground

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment

many names are engraved here
in this cemetery with lives lost
and hope never forgotten

we keep their memory alive
and we remember best we can
to live each day as the gift it truly is

lives cut too short
no matter the age.
we pay our respects

and share a story or two.
we are made of the stars
as much as what mark we left behind

today I honor all those
who are laid to rest
in this holy sacred ground

Learn more about the North Burial Ground here:
https://www.providenceri.gov/parks/north-burial-ground/

What is a name?
Connection

What is a name?

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment

A name gives us identity.
We can stake a claim
like life itself, it’s ours:
to make, to learn and grow,
to make mistakes

I am a Jen.
It represents my name
in a particular time and place:
The 70s.

Those were quite uncertain times
of war and trauma
and the broken promises
of the American dream.

We all have a choice
even our name

In the end, we are not fixed
like a heavy boulder that sits
and waits to be reclaimed into the earth

We are mineral and bone and flesh.
We breathe and remember that this,
this is us

Mutable like the waters
that can make the biggest stone crack.
We all have that power within

Seeing the world with fresh eyes
Connection · shared stories

Seeing the world with fresh eyes

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment 
I.
Baby sparrows, so tiny and small
There’s three of them 
hopping along the grass

The dew glistens all around
A new delight to discover 
with every peck and nibble

Their tiny bodies wait
Their parents know what to do 
while they frolic and play

They gather up their fill 
to feed their new flock
The babies are distracted 

and wowed at every step

II.
The baby robin follows its mama 
hopping along, just two steps behind
Is it learning how to hunt and gather? 
or is it just playing as it moves 
along paths discovered and replayed 
by ancestors that have no name; 
no memory but their habits remain:

When to leave, when to nest 
Where to go year after year;
It isn’t even a question 
but a shared understanding 
a survival of trust and knowing

We are all on the same path 
of discovery, of remembering 
our true Nature is never buried 
for long
It lives in these bones, and this blood 
that shares the same shade as you.
Awareness
Connection

Awareness

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment 
I am aware and awake 
no longer hijacked by 
the sympathetic nervous system:

Always putting out fires, 
filled with distractions, agendas and othering

Can I offer myself some grace 
in just the remembering? 

To be aware when I am distracted and be gentle 
and even offer a warm smile?

And when I am putting out the embers 
and reacting to others’ agendas, 
can I pause for just a beat?

The emergency can feel more important 
than giving myself three S-L-O-W breaths 
no one will notice

the air that fills my lungs 
brings with it a promise and a knowing 
That I got this

That even when I make mistakes, seem forgetful 
– careless even –
this very moment of breath is true:

What is present and grounded, 
steady and resilient within myself

forgiveness is not a passive attitude 
forgiveness brings presence, 
awareness, and the belief to try again 

And to remember that we are innocent 
and worthy of our own grace


A warm November
Connection

A warm November

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment 
The soft breeze 
kissed our skin 
the sun’s rays 
made our hearts swell

The ocean was beckoning us 
to take one last visit 
to the beach

The golden sun's rays hung 
lower and lower 
edging down towards the horizon

An orange blaze 
reflected on the gentle waves 
where the sky melded into sea

We sat on the bench 
taking in this fleeting, 
panoramic view 

wanting to hold the image, 
the color, the glorious blaze 
just a moment longer

As is autumn’s nature, 
the warm rays rapidly changed.  
There was a sudden coolness to the breeze
We soon donned on our sweaters and headed back

This was a day to remember
The light, the warmth, 
just enough memory to last us 
all winter through
Connection

Remember (part 2)

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment 
I don’t remember being born
or how I came to be.
I arrived and here I am.

I don’t remember the 
very early years,
So dependent on my mom.
Her love, her safety
The spaces we occupied.

My first memory I remember
is when I was two.
My siblings and I were playing
with a plastic toy house.
My uncle blew cigarette smoke
through the second-story windows.
It was such a delight
to see the shape, the form
the floating vapors
that defied gravity.

I remember winters of
sledding down the hill
in the backyard
on my mom’s childhood
Flying Arrow sled.
The joy and momentum
of the downhill slope.

I remember our swing set
with metal frames and
hard plastic seats
that brought me to far away
places only in my mind.

I remember learning to
roller skate for the first time.
Clinging to the side wall
as I found my balance,
my courage, and eventually
my confidence to skate
on my own with grace
and speed.

There are so many 
moments that I may
not remember.
But the ones I do 
are cherished. 
And they connect me
to my siblings and
stand the test of time
as they shaped and formed
who I am today.
Remember
self-care

Remember

Healing Insights with JenLeave a comment 
Remember the scent of the lilacs.
How the air just embodied their aroma
and drifted it into the windows
into my lungs.

Remember when they were teeny tiny buds.
How 5-year old Lilly marveled at their small size. 
Little purple bumps bursting from the green.

Remember the Easter lilies
and this was the first year
I got so low to the ground
I could actually smell them for the first time.

Remember the towering orange iris. 
Remember the hearty rosebush. 
Remember the mimosa tree that
once stood proud, colorful and fragrant. 
Now an empty shell.
Bare branches.
The weakened trunk sways with a gentle push.

Remember the dogwood’s white blossoms
and Lilly called the neighbor’s pink blossoms 
“flower snow” as they fell
and covered the ground in small piles of soft pink.

Remember the woodpecker, the cardinal, 
the new birds that decided to stop by for a visit.
Remember the bunny rabbit, like Old Faithful, 
arrives around dinner time 
looking for her evening meal as well.

Remember the hawk perched on top
of the playset as a squirrel huddled
and hid under the child’s chair
unmoving and the hawk ever patient.

Remember the blue jays that harassed 
and chased that hawk away
and the squirrel that timidly crawled 
commando style and lived another day.

Remember the sweet breeze from the ocean
even reaching here not so close to the shore
and how I marveled at the salty refreshing air.

Remember the first kiss.
The special rock overlooking the bay
and our life began together.
Remember that tender beginning love 
is still here under the surface.
A beloved memory but always here in my heart.