1
Let the mist of morning song fill your heart with sacred gratitude for shared moments of connection
Be full with the presence of tall trees as they rise from lands that hold deep roots of wonder
Bow your head in prayer to clear waters that pour forth from spring that rises from the belly of the earth
Honour those cries of grief that wrap around your bones with deep wounds of past love and loss
Lay down that rock of twisted thoughts in a bed of wildflowers and sing comforting lullabies
To nurture and embrace those shadows that blossom like roses from the thorns
For you are a gift to the universe as you are, enough in that beauty that is held in your upturned hands
That glow with a thousand stars of your own divinity to grace the world around with sweet blessings
2
Don’t you dare
Shine your light brightly across windswept moors as a welcome to weary travellers with feet heavy of burdens
Lest you outshine your neighbours who keep the storms at bay with heavy shutters made of thick wood to deafen the pleas of help
Don’t you dare
Run and laugh amongst the meadows of scented wildflowers whilst the sun dips it’s head to the eve in grace of surrender
When there are dishes to be washed and shelves dusted so as not to leave the scattered remnants of life untouched
Don’t you dare
Raise yourself to be seen and know of your own worth as the whale breaches from the depths in magnificent herald
As those flaws will be highlighted in the ascent like barnacles that crust and mar as blemishes upon otherwise perfect skin
Don’t you dare
Give yourself permission to be enough as you are in your cloak of many colours that swings around your hips
Instead hide your divine feminine behind that glossy paper as it dulls that sparkle from your eyes that see only perfectness of others
Don’t you dare
Listen to those whispers that call from deep inside that work their way to surface through broken glass and shedded tears
Let the crooked views of other’s minds bring shame to your own temple when it houses the gift of you that sits so perfectly
Within your own divinity
3
I am ready
To listen to the charm of goldfinches amongst the apple blossom and delight in the flurry of colour as they dance together
To ascend the hills with the song of morning lark to fill my soul as they welcome the sun to join them in embrace of sky
I am ready
To taste the cool waters of fountain spring as it cascades over rocks worn by the hands of time and falls into sweet pools of stone
To scent the spring bloom that adorns meadows with new colours that warm the lands with welcoming hands of change
I am ready
To touch the bark of ancient tree that stands firm in its resolution to brave the winds of winter storm and find courage in the stillness
To feel the leaves that have surrendered to fall in beautiful grace of passage as to allow for the hope of tomorrow
I am ready
To gaze upon midnight sky and open my arms to the magnificence of stars that swirl with brilliance in the depth of darkness
To sink myself to my knees in sacred prayer for the rich soil beneath my feet that nurtures my connection to the earth
I am ready
To welcome all of these jewels into my hands as they are my own breath of divinity that are reflected in the joy of nature
- Jo Cooper
Jo Cooper visited Hawkwood for a residential counselling training with Wiltshire College, 2019. These are some poems she wrote “whilst in my journey of self and the nature around.”