Ravyn’s Nest

Art by Maija
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

Image by Ravynword
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)womanwithacrowpicasso

 

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