Firelight illuminates
Shadows add depth
We are the sum of both the seen
And unseen
Even to ourselves
Self is blinded perhaps
Most of all.
What rises to the surface
when heat is applied
Reveals things more precious
Than spent time
Sitting in the warmth
But without the heat
I guess it’s a little obscure
Exactly what I mean
But if you’ve never taken a torch
Through the dark night of the soul
Walked with wolves
That howl
And stepped carefully over the writhing
fractured pieces of a young child’s fears,
While you hugged that sobbing
Banshee
close and said
“I’m here”
Fully present
Learning the terrain of terror
And mapping it forever
Well
Nobody knows
And all I can say
Sitting beneath this Leo full moon
Is
It’s worth it
Because once you have tucked all those fully investigated steaming entrails inside again
Nothing lurks in the dark
At the edge of the firelight
Unseen and unprovoked
Instead
They’re all inside
And you greet those broken folk
Gently
Good morning shadow
My friend
And they nod
Acquiescent
And obedient
To your command
A dramatic way of saying – I know myself better for having walked through the shadow side in 2025.
I am so grateful for the awful events that on the surface any normal person would avoid but once inside the inescapable you find – layers of self that are revealed, old habits that die hard, all the mess that needs sorting in inner rooms. So you set about straightening and tidying and changing.
And when you finally emerge from what you never would have gone through by choice – the whole world is different. Because you are.
Done with that – welcome in 2026, forward facing feet and let old skins, blow away on the wind
Such a profound poem, so deep with the underpinnings of walking in the dark places in the shadow of death, emerging changed, ready and open. Beautiful metaphors, Kate!! xx
I have never spoken to as many people in a year and heard tales of hardship and discovery as 2025. My own 12 months was highs and lows of a proportion I haven’t seen (and hope not to again) in this lifetime. It was a break and remake year, the consequences are still coalescing but I can already tell, at least for myself, it was a year of transformation. I hope it will have done the same for some of those with haunted eyes I spoke to. Love to you ❤️
I watched an interview yesterday with the UK comedian Alan Davies. He was promoting his latest book, mainly by talking about the issue you address in your profound poem.
~
I always said to the kids that once is an accident, twice might be a coincidence but three strikes and you’re out. I’m now primed for a third prompt to take a look in the unclaimed baggage compartment of my life.
Kind regards,
DD
There it is, just read now from Bill Pearse’s post today:
“February was a good time to switch routines: the month was named for a Roman purification ritual, originally the last month of the year before things reset in March. Pay your debts, atone, start anew.”
~
Three strikes indeed!
Perfection indeed DD thanks for sharing 😁
State into the abyss DD – the only monster down there is the kitten of your unsolved self – it roars because there is an echo chamber inside ❣️
Thanks Kate.
A deeply evocative and emotionally charged verse. You are on a roll, Kate. Love your work here. Quite a verse penned. Very organic and stimulating the quintessential within.
I try to only share what has already been worked through Yassie and sometimes it takes awhile to untangle things – my writing is beginning again it feels like from a new layer of dermis. They say memory is driven into and dwells within muscle and hypodermis – perhaps the sauna is melting away old skins within as well as without. Hmm poetry here my friend – best take up the feather quilled ether and write it down before it blows away 😁🫶
♥️🤗
The Las three years have been testing finally I’m back to my secure and confident self covered by hidden scars I am forever changed
I’m so glad you are through and out the other side. Writing helps heal the scars, and mapping their surface ensures you can avoid the pain of opening them in the same location again. 💕
Nothing is worse than the loss I went through I’ve since renovated my house and have my kids back weekends and my writing has helped me to reconnect 😃
❤️wonderful to hear
Thankyou