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Influencing Each Other For the Love of Poetry
by Elaine Murray & Michael Bedford
Poetry is a strong messenger. Poetry touches the soul with
kindness. We reach out to each other through poetry. Poetry expresses how we
love, think, desire and feel about nature. We reach out to each other with love.
Michael expresses his affection for Elaine through the following poem:
ANGEL
sometimes there is a person
that comes into your life
you think she is an angel
must
have fallen from the sky
she touches your life with magic wings
her light shines so
bright
you feel that nothing could ever happen
with this angel in your sight
she is the
light of your day
and when all hope is gone
and life seems amiss,
she uses her gifts of
magic
so your problems don't exist
We aim to touch others in a spiritual, mystical way about the earth, sun,
moon, stars, animals and how we think and what we believe in. The following is one of Elaine's
poems about nature:
MOTHER EARTH
wings flying high
I see through the eyes of an eagle,
with sharp contrast of brilliant
burning
orange ambers flowing through my eyes
and passions burst into flames
the goddess
of light dances
until earth itself cries out for rain
hot caldrons being stirred up,
the
tempest has started
with one breath from sky
clouds burst into tears with racing winds
mother earth has now spoken
Both of us have bipolar disorders that have given us insight into how we
think and live. As a wife, mother, artist and poet, Elaine has a gift of expressing her
experiences using creative poetic imagery.
As Unitarian Universalists, we believe in the worth and dignity of every
person and the motivational power of love. Elaine wrote the following poem as part of a workshop
on the myths of Joseph Campbell at First Unitarian Church. It was performed at a Human Rights
Coffeehouse with Michael's accordion accompaniment and an unveiling of Elaine's art mural
"Floral Starburst".
TIME OF MY LIFE
how time and timeless dance together
it has a song of time long ago
my Celtic past beckons
me to the dance of noble chieftains
I call upon the earth, rain, sun, moon, stars, clouds
and sky
and all the planets to dance in harmony
my life starts and ends on earth
my
spirits unite with spirits of past and present
I feel I go around earth when I close my
eyes
and I take flight
the ancient ruins tell us about man's story
of life, beliefs, and
how they lived
my poems will live on and on
and, so I follow my bliss
When life has its mood swings Elaine and Michael use poetic notes to
communicate to each other in a loving manner thoughts that are difficult to convey verbally in a
conversation. The following poems by Elaine expresses such fire in the soul burning to come out
and be resolved with acts of love.
RACING THOUGHTS
I really at this point
I write anything about relief.
my mind spirits are out of control so
fast
racing thought like a comet
my intense fear is like a comet
that hits the earth
and thousands of particles
fly all over the place
sometimes like a top
I keep
spinning
then sunlight moves in
calming me down
so natural like
breathing in and
out
LOST IN SADNESS
I feel breathing down my neck
the hot breath smells like death is near me
reveal yourself
to me
a feeling comes over me of sadness
where is comfort when I feel this sadness
then I know what was breathing down my neck
the mood of darkness fills my soul
I call out
to the creator
to take this darkness away
but my cries go unheard
I feel all alone and
afraid
I call out to the sun
fill me up and help me
to the light of happiness
the
light comes and lightens up my soul
and takes darkness out of my heart
I was lost in
sadness
I am reborn to light
Bipolar disorder is a double edged sword that requires awareness of moods
without manifesting emotions that may be socially inappropriate. The ability to observe, change
and modify attitude and behavior is a constant challenge of balance and moderation. Michael's
poetry expresses the cognitive process to overcome tendencies to relapse and move on.
MOVE ON
take a second look, look again
nothing is the same as it once was then
take a second look,
look again
you are not the same as you were then
take a second look
movement of bodies,
movement of minds
movement in circles, movement of minds
so look, look again
changes in
action, changes in will
everything changes, nothing sits still
you are not the same
changes in others, changes in you
living is changing, everything new
not the same as you
once were then
old things departing, new things arrive
noticing changes Is staying alive
Our underlying philosophy for procovery is to achieve an active and fulfilling
life, but not the same as before. We use our gifts of music and poetry and intellectual inquiry
motivated through participation in community groups and volunteering at First Unitarian Church.
We initiated a Caring for the Soul Action Group on the Human Rights Committee of the Social
Justice Council raising donations to the Price is Right Shoppe. Our philosophy is encapsulated in
Michael's poetry.
OF WISDOM
Socrates said:
"Our greatest blessings come to us by way of madness,
provided the
madness is given by divine gift."
I say that failure can be a divine gift,
for true
success in life is the experience of growing so receive your spiritual gifts,
and don't have
any fear that our life is not moving,
for working in community we all hold so dear
is the
answer to fear.
Confucius said:
"I hear and I forget, I see and I remember,
I do
and I understand."
I reflect that I see things that other people don't hear.
music
speaks to me
in the confinement of my own mind.
If it were not for music, poetry and
dance,
I think we would all go insane.
so, we ask you to reflect.
How do you talk, so others will listen?
How do you listen, so others will
talk?
How do you understand, so love will win?
For without love, there is nothing.
LOVE
love is neither taken nor given
but discovered and allowed
no one is without love
only
some cannot see it
love is an ancient memory
a future dream
eternity breathed through
mortal lips
love is the force that brings all things
into being
enters us
connects
us
into being together
Narrative and poems reprinted by HopeToHealing.com
with permission of Elaine Murray and Michael Bedford.
© 2004 Elaine Murray and Michael Bedford
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