creative writing

Gideon’s Challenge

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TendernessTenderness…

It comes
with the softest touch.
Delicate
like a feather.
Warm
like the kiss of sunlight.
With senses
heightened
even the slightest brush
creates fireworks.

As much rough and tumble as we enjoy, it’s the tender moments that sink the deepest.  Intimacy between us is so intense and often violent, and yet the aftercare is the sweetest tenderness I’ve ever known. I do not need to be treated like delicate porcelain, I crave that intensity and collision of power and need… but it’s the tenderness that comes after that touches the heart and breaks open the inner protective shell, granting you access to that part of me that none other has ever been allowed to witness or touch.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

 

 

Gideon’s Challenge

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IMG_4607Lips…

So many
precious things
slip from your lips.
Sweet nothings
and fuck babble,
sage advice
and curious questions.
It is, though
the words you speak
with love in your heart
and sacrifice on your sleeve
that always
stand out the most.

I love you, man.  There are times when I’ve needed time outside that I know that you wanted to be selfish and say “No, stay here with me” and yet instead you say “you need to go for a hike”.  This is a sacrifice given that demonstrates the depth of your love.  A sacrifice of time spent with you so that I can instead lose myself among the damp green embrace of the forest trails.  You sacrifice what you hold precious to you, sacrificing your own need, in order to give me the self care I need.

Those words from your lips?  Are a testament to your love as no kiss ever could be.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Gideon’s Challenge

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KnowledgeKnowledge…

It is not straightforward
nor organized
It is tangled
and multifaceted.
Complex.
It must be untangled
just to be understood.
In combing out the strands
we find the each one
a treasure
to be added to our own
Pandora’s Box.

When we learn, it is a form of organization.  We take a jumble of information and we organize it into our minds in a way that creates its own sense.  Its own interconnections and meanings.   This is how knowledge is created, by the obtaining the tangled soruces of information and the de-tangling of those strands as we suss out meaning… and absorb it as our own.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Gideon’s Challenge

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StrengthStrength…

Sometimes,
it isn’t about
what you can do
on your own,
but rather
about what you
can accomplish
Together.

I am very much guilty of trying to take everything upon my own shoulders and not “bother” others with requests for help or assistance, even when I desperately need it.  Instead, I continue to pretend all is well, even as I drown under the weight of too much.

That is not strength.

Real strength comes in reaching out to others and allowing them in to help.  Real strength is about love and trust.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography

Weekly Creativity Prompt – Childhood Antics

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Draw up to three cards from your tarot (or oracle) and use them for guidance in choosing  something to share with us about your childhood.

IMG_4794The Emperor (Ego) –  Once when I was very young (around the age of 9 or 10) my sister and I decided to do an impromptu ritual in our front yard.   We had been doing our own rituals and spellcraft for quite some time, and we were both very confident in our abilities.

The Star (Elation) – We set  up everything outside and began our ritual.  Everything was going along great.  We had been very careful in our set up and things were going smoothly.

Justice (The Lesson) – Until I accidentally bumped the small makeshift altar we’d set up using a wooden stool, and one of the candles toppled off into the dry summer grass.  We were both barefoot and the little cup of water we had for offering didn’t put out the flames (which are incredibly difficult to SEE on dry grass in the middle of the day, by the way.  I had to run and untangle the hose, turn it on and then bring it back, because we were not prepared!   Half the yard burned before we managed to get the fire out.

Moral of the Story –  When preparing for ritual or spellcraft?  It’s not enough to prepare to do the ritual or spell.  You have to prepare for if things go wrong as well.   ie: If you’re playing with fire in the middle of a yard of dry grass?  Have the hose ready and the water already turned on.

DECK USED:  THE STITCH RABBIT TAROT

 

Gideon’s Challenge

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DesireDesire…

Come my love
and lie with me
upon spongy moss
and fallen leaves.
Roll among the ferns
with me
as laughter fills the air.
Dappled sunlight
kissing skin
as Fae watch on
and sigh.

You are my love.  My heart.  My desire.

Photo © ZenStatePhotography