IT'S OK ~It's ok to cry as long as you remember to wipe away the tears to smile again. ~It's ok to stumble or even fall as long as you remember to brush yourself off and take another step forward again. ~It's ok to shut the door on the world as long as you remember to open the door to rejoin the world again. ~It's ok to be silent as long as you remember to speak again. ~But most of all, it's ok to shut your heart as long as you remember to love again. ~~Ravyn
Ravyn’s Nest
Walking away
Why these endless and countless mind games?
Why this tug close and pull away?
Why your words of thoughtlessness and cruelty?
Does it make you feel bigger to make me feel smaller?
Do you despise me because money is not the currency for me to spend time with you?
Do you reject me because I have seen you at your worst?
When I break down or strike out in anger, does it validate you?
Do you punish me because I felt your tears and seen your weaknesses?
Do you hate me because you feel more for me than you can admit to yourself?
I have tried to walk away
I have burnt bridges
You won`t let go and I allow me to be kept by you
Hoping for your forgiveness and absolution that never comes
I made excuses for you and given you the benefit of doubts
Now, I can't disinguish the truth from the lies
I can't save you and am beyond exhausted to keep trying
In being loyal to you, I lost myself
The ultimate sacrifice of my life that you take for granted
Is a price too high for me to keep spending
Perhaps one day you will realize what you had in me
The bad has now far outweighed the good
I am walking away
And this time...
It is for good
Walking away
~~Ravyn
Ravyn’s Nest
Whose i am
i drop to my knees with head bowed
i am overwhelmed by my shame and guilt
Nowhere to go and nowhere to hide
My soul singed with failure, my tears wet the ground
Covered with ashes of regret, lost hopes, and abandoned dreams
Bowed, muted, and numb, i am overwhelmed by defeat
My soul striped with scars and open wounds
i long for the oblivion of death to lose this burdening need This incessant need to escape this harsh and cruel reality
Mocked by my useless endeavors to coat my agonized soul
My soul constantly raw and abraded by believing i am unloved and unseen
Reaching out again desperately for my heart to feel anything but this endless pain
Make it go away, i plead, make it go away
Striving for peace that is seemingly beyond my reach
My hands outstretched to be touched and held
My fragile house of cards collapses
My sins exposed and my pride laid bare
My secrets revealed with the underlaying lies
Longing for darkness and yearning for refuge
i cling to the disentegrating and shredding of my faith
You do exist but i hate you i whisper
i hate you i scream and i look up with clenched fists
Defeated yet unwilling to yield my last card of hope
i finally concede i am done and sink into inevitable surrender
i feel the cool wetness of mud on my closed eyes
Mud wetted by your tears of grace
i see you as you gently lift me to my feet and tenderly whisper
The weight of your struggles have not gone unnoticed or unfelt
You have always matter from the very beginning
You have been rejected by others but never by me
You are not an option or an inconveniece
You are valued and you are worthy to me
You were brought with the price of my own blood
i open my mud coated eyes and peer into your unrelenting gaze of love
You grip my bowed shoulders with reassuring passion
I will not let you go...I got you...I will not let you go
I am yours and you are mine
Freed with the affirming and spoken words of truth
I stand defiantly in the comfort of your embrace
When who i am is transformed to whose i am
When where do i belong is revealed that i always belong to you
When who will love me is acknowledged by me that i am already loved by you
~~Ravyn
Ravyn’s Nest
God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites so that you will have two wings to fly, not one~~Rumi
Note: these are iris flower buds.
Guest Photographer–Christian Peay
Our Sacred Vows
It is almost too much I wearily nuzzled you
I know but we must go on you whispered softly to me
Faithfully fierce
Fully fearless
Our sacred vows
Sworn proudly to protect
Surrender only to peace
Our sacred vows
We must go on I impatiently nuzzled you
We hang tough you strongly whispered to me
Our sacred vows
~~Ravyn
From the Perch of Ravynhed
A Better Place
Tracing the rainbow in the midst of the breaking clouds of the storm
Hearing the echo of the thunder in the distance
I found grace in a better place
Clouded eyes cleared
Unfeeling heart softened
Broken dreams made whole
Unmet expectations fulfilled
Chaotic mind stilled
Clenched fists loosened
I found grace in a better place
I found mercy in Your embrace
I found love in Your tears trailed down my face
I found grace in a better place
~~Ravyn
From the perch of Ravynhed
THE CHOICE
Your eyes boldly met my eyes
Conditions offered
Conditions accepted
Yet, the spark between us ignited spontaneously
The fiery flames that no water cannot quench
Do we take flight recklessly into the expansive unknown?
Do we remain rooted and grounded into familiarity?
Scary yet secure…what shall we choose?
~~Ravyn
From the perch of Ravynhed
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for caring about me
Thank you so much for sharing your lives with me
I can never stress my gratitude enough
I can never fully express my wonderment of God’s love freely shown
You both are my angels in disguise sent from GOD above to me down
~Ravyn
Collaboration by Carolyn E. Ford
More than enough
When all is lost and when all is gone,
Health, friends, family, pets, car, home, and finances
Hopes, dreams, plans, love, and faith
I sit amongst my broken pieces of what was and what is
Only what remains is the LORD
Dare I hope again?
Dare I reach out to HIM?
Dare I see light faintly in the darkness?
I find myself lost in HIS embrace
I find myself tightly held in HIS grip of grace
I find myself in awe in HIS presence
For HE has never left me and HE has never let me go
For I am HIS and HE is mine
For HE is God alone and the Great I am
Where HIS grace and mercy meet, healing begins
HE is more than enough
~~Ravyn
Collaboration
Artwork by Pablo Picasso (1904) titled “Woman with a Crow”. Found at the Toledo Museum of Art.
Poetry by Carolyn E. Ford (Ravyn)
My Black-feathered Friend
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who listens to my secrets better left hidden and shrouded in darkness
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who sees my broken wings and yet is unafraid of the turmoil unspoken
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who touches my soul blackened by deeds best left unsaid
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who touches my tears of bitterness and regret
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who smells the decaying wounds of my heart
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who allows my melancholy to embrace us together
Shhhh I whisper softly to my black-feathered friend
My friend who replies healing to my sundered soul raked by sorrow
Shhhh we sigh together to await the darkness that brings promise of light
Shhhh we sigh together and wait for the invitation for resurrection
Shhhh we sigh together and wait for the rising sun to live again transformed
~~Ravyn