And She Gave Herself Away

This wonderful poem is submitted by Peggy Blake, whom I had the pleasure to meet and share dreams with at Robert Moss's Active Dreaming workshop in Mystic, Ct last month. I am honored that she felt inspired to put pen to paper and craft her very own poem as a result of one I wrote and shared at that workshop, "And She Gives." And I'm thrilled that she has offered to join me on the Dreaming Poetry blog, giving voice to her own life experience and dreaming poetry.... Here is her touching poem:

And She Gave Herself Away

Reflections fill her as she recalls,
The life she gave to her fatherless kids.
She saw her own dreams turn to vapor,
Quick as a hail storm on hot metal grids.

Left with no home and hardly a dime,
With five hungry boys, like crows on a fence.
Telling herself her purpose in life,
Was to put them first, at any expense.

Spending her honor roll potential,
She showed them big smiles while she hid her sobs.
She wiped their noses and packed each lunch,
While she rushed to work, most often two jobs.

No time to feed her very own needs,
Facing bills piled high that threatened more loss.
Laundry seemed like an army in mud,
While mountains of meatballs simmered in sauce.

Boys turned to men, while Love was her fuel,
She felt it worthwhile, her mission complete.
Her aging bones are warm to the core,
Tasting this victory is ever so sweet.

She knows that she gave herself away,
She's without a stage and can't take a bow.
Though funds are spent, her heart overflows.
She's giving herself to grandchildren now.

~Peggy Blake, 12/15/08

And She Gives

And she gives herSelf away
Learning how to walk with broken limbs
Forgetting once she had wings to fly,
Now gathering dust in the rickety crib
her parents sold for $5 at a garage sale

And she gives herSelf away
Believing hard-won toe shoes,
lipstick stage smiles
and all those laps at the YMCA
might redeem and prove her true

And she gives herSelf away
Feigning illness and injury,
convincing them, who in turn convince her
what she needs most is
Rest, crutches, noodle soup

And she gives herSelf away
Choosing rebellious flirtation and 3 am
window exits, dark secret lies and loss
Pretending his starry blue, night-eyed passions
are her own.

And then….she remembers to dream
And then….she dreams to remember…

Her wings fly home
and as she exhales years of dingy dust
Dream glitter splatters and splays,
lighting and sparkling
upon her shoulders

Toe shoes she trades for New Balance,
laps at the Y for jogs on her God Path,
where she meets deer angels
and Spirit of the Waterfall,
where she prays and connects with Truth

Her body breathes and pulses wellness
Radiant soul bits aligning
Healing and creating energy flow,
craving most
belly laughs, mystic adventures, lobster sliders

She chooses Fairy Tale Erotica,
spoiling and growing old with her man,
Chasing her own passions defined
through DreamTube classrooms
of natural light

And she gives, and she gives,
and she gives Herself away…

~Robin, 11/23/08
Dragon's Egg, Mystic, Ct