Skin to Skin
You lend me your softness
so that
I might remember
the gentleness
that resonates
from touch
skin to skin
and back again
A heaving
of dark days
folded in upon itself
unwinding
amongst the tangles
of
eggshell blue
Egyptian cotton
Your tenderness
spills
like liquid silk
creating rapids
along each softened ridge
to refill
my languishing
vessel
Free Falling
free falling
through the hollow
finger tips straining
desperately, to hold on…
…to what?
That certainty that alludes me…?
one can not grasp that
which is not in reach
I invoke the screams of Alice
beckoned further down the spiral
by the Darkness
that is
my Rabbit Hole
as every nerve cell in my being
chooses to coagulate in my chest
pelting, fruitlessly
like stone cold hail
against the window to my soul
too numb to retaliate
Tired
from the ravishing anxieties
that appear to have swallowed whole
the gravity
of
my being
Flood Ravaged Queensland
broken waters
from river banks swollen
bore down upon humanity
…unleashing with fury
an urban tsunami
a mother’s heart wrenched
her love denied
for an infant snatched
stolen
by a force indiscriminate
…screams turn to whispers
see arms extended
on roof tops, hopeful
to bodies floating
life sucked upstream
…another tragedy
another helpless victim
the grief of Queensland
sunk in the psyche
of a nation, stoic
determindly dedicating
tear stained pages
to heroic tales
of
heartache
….and rebirth
Only Sixteen
She was only sixteen
They said
Her juvenile notions but fleeting
Extinguishable by a puff
of clandestine condemnation
Like sixteen candles
Stuck helplessly
On vanilla sponge
with cream
She was only sixteen…
Caught at the mercy
of life so confounding
Deceit and damnation
The only maiden offering
Her will torn
Dismembered
Anchored in roots
….turned rotten
Whilst visions in shades of joy
and hope
Flickered mercilessly around her head
…I was only sixteen
Insomnia
Accelerated thoughts
Stream,
Surge
At 1am
Nonsensical rapids
of
images and words
Racing heart beats out-paced
Dark corners taken unabashed
Such unhinged leaps of consciousness
Transporting past to future
…in reverse
No finish line of sleep in sight
At 1am
My mind berserk !
Little girl, Little me
Little girl
Me, aged 4
…Little me
Sunshine soaked comfort
Caresses tender, innocence
Salt tainted sea breeze
Augmenting parched desire
An inner thirst
For a want, then unnamed
…Yet secretly possessed
Gratitude exudes
For a pink bunny to hold dear
Your sweetness echoes
in floral strains, near
Such reassurance
In recognition
….A glimmer of me
Caught dancing
between
Shadows of you
Beginnings
A slate wiped clean
Like crisp white cotton
Beckons the Now
To rest upon its’ welcoming folds
A virginal awakening
Giving birth to realisation
Such liberation to behold
In escapement of the soul
Lost and Forgotten
Discharged into the arms of a stranger 
Wearing a government badge
They sent him out into the world
All of three weeks old
“Public Hospital”
Stamped in blue ink
Across the back of his borrowed jumpsuit
Not even a bag
To carry his mother’s milk
Let alone to pack some dignity and respect into
And they said it was okay…
“This is your new home”
They told him
Pointing to the bare grey concrete floors
And the musty, worn sheets on the bed
A frozen pie for dinner
$1.99..is what you are worth
While he watched them eat steak
It was a roof over his head
He should be grateful
And he was reminded so every day…
He dared not move
As they pinned down his arm
For “You have been a bad boy !”
Said the scalding hot water
As he looked the other way
But “..accidents happen”
The perpetrator said
Easier to turn a blind eye
He watched the officials slink away
After telling him he was “okay”
These are the stories of the little ones…
Who simply want a safe space to play
And ‘tell someone whom you trust in’
Is all we have to say
Dreamtime Lore
This photograph has been taken from Digital Photo Gallery of Ted Szukalski
They came with their God and their book
Told him he was outcast, naked and poor
Shunned his tucker, language and lore
Tried to bleach him
With their righteous weapons
Their guns and disease
To scrub and scour all trace
Of what had gone before…
They came, sirens blaring
And took his children away
Filling him with their poison
“It will be better this way”
Yet the cockatoos screeched
a raucous chorus of ridicule
That echoed throughout the land
For the white invaders
Could never extinguish
Spirit’s dreamtime tryst
Between
Mother country
…And this ancient man
Riding Rainbows
Little girls 
My growing girls
Your sweet giggles of innocence
Still tippy-toe
Across my heart
Hear my whispers
Kissed gently upon you
Listen for their song
That only silence knows
Keep riding rainbows
My Little Girls
For loves, thrills and adventures
Lie eagerly in wait
Stretch yourselves with courage
(And delight !)
Through the clouds that will float by
‘Til your finger tips come to rest
Upon your horizons
And when your dreams and ambitions
Land momentarily
To catch their breath
Toss me a star
And I’ll join you there…
The Well Within
I always knew
the well ran deep
A seemingly bottomless pit
So dark and hollow
That for such a long time
I dared not look into…
For the vastness scared me
When I peered inside
Having never learnt
There were walls
Called boundaries
With special nooks
That lay within
To tuck away
Little reserves
of love
Just
…for
Me
Ebb and Flow
Like a line in the sand 
You draw me to you…
Each grain of tender energy
Leaves trails
Along the valleys
of breath intertwined
then, exhaled
To settle
Between the ebb and flow
of the gentle, knowing tide
that binds us
Pierced through the Heart
Like a needle
Pierced straight through the heart
Desire
Loss
Craving
…the inaccessible…
Patterns that bleed
Through each year
Each month
Week
Day
Moment
Of the tapestry
That is
My Childhood Story
Those knots
in my stomach
…Stitched so tight
Leave gaping holes
In my core
My sense of love
for myself
So intrinsically linked
With
You
Happy Birthday Chloe !
You lay
Where they placed you
A Bundle of Love
Soft and warm
Against my skin
Exhausted
From the twisting, shoving
Little trooper ! ….
You fought for your place
Here
Relaxed
In the knowing
You were adored
Courage exuded
From every
innocent pore
Each limb
Extended
…little shoots
of solid oak
A strength
transplanted
from your mother’s love
HAPPY 11th Birthday, My Darling Daughter Chloe xoxoxo
Bless Me, Oh Mother, for I have Sinned
Bless me Oh Mother, for I have sinned
It has been a lifetime since my last confession
And these are my sins
Forgive me Oh Mother
For I am your child
I am heartily sorry for having offended you
By daring to ask
To be held in your arms
And in your heart
Bless me oh Goddess,
See me bow my head
As I revoke any longing for your approval
I detest all my childish neediness
For I dread the locked gates of heaven
and the pains of hell
Hear my confession, Oh mother
I have been impure of mind and body
For I have looked in my heart
And am no longer afraid
Release me Oh Mother
Watch my spirit soar !
Towards all who are good and deserving
of all my compassion
and all of my love
I firmly resolve
with the help of my inner grace
to honour my choices
to turn fear into love
and to cherish myself for who I am
Amen.
The Lost Children
Whose child ?
Flinches, Winces
Burns inside
Silently screaming
Breathless
Tongue-tied
Whose child ?
Cringes, Shudders
Hides their eyes
Compliantly settles
Guts knotted
Despised
Whose child ?
Nameless, Blameless
Belittled
by a Bureaucracy, blind
To lips pursed in anguish
…Yet no words to describe
Who will protect the children
Society denies ?
A Thank You Note to Memory
Memory
Oh Memories…
Where do you hide ?
I sense your presence …Lurking
At the corners of my mind
Stealthily I creep
Feel the slowing of my breath
Ready to pounce
When your shadow takes a rest
I blink and you are gone
Trails of confusion
Litter your space
Yet I still feel you in my cells
In my bones
And on my face
You are the most faithful play mate
Of this game that has no end
The rules remain unwritten
Tactics rehearsed so well…
You know I’ll never catch you
And I know …
You’ll never tell
Hope
Hope shimmers
Rays of golden thread
Cleverly interwoven
Between bleak greys and browns
Providing enlightenment
To the fabric of life
Man oh Man !
Men of courage, honour and resolve
Mere fantasies created
Through stories once told
Whilst here stand before me
Boys parading
in grown men’s bodies
Size ten boots
Boast of lands conquered
Yet rolled up sleeves
belie the frayed seams
Of the Self and Soul
…That read like a little black book
Scrawled with every nameable insecurity
With lips pursed
To contain my disappointment
(For no hero exists to slay the troll)
I send another on his way
…Those desert eyes…
To lap at some other oasis of need
No such mirage engulfs my energy
For with the autonomy of every womanly muscle
I must drag forth the resolve
To be my own protector
my own husband
…my own father
Pathways
On tiptoe we tread 
Tentatively tracing
New stepping stones
Before us
Hesitancy seeks to confirm
The offerings
of
Wholeness
With magnetic force
the mystery of possibiliites
Draws us deeper
…Closer
Clock ticking
Heart trembling
To step…
………or to Leap ?
An Open Door
Sometimes 
Friends blow in
Their warm words
Stroking
the skin
Whispers of kindness
Chasing the shadows
Of
Past doubts
That linger
Within
Disquiet
Your silence is deafening
Not even ear-plugs of disdain
Can quieten the echo
That richochets through my heart
Still…
Sweetest Thing
Unraveling inner purpose
Requires exquisite execution
Bravely we must grasp
At
the corners
of those shiny layers
shrouding the Self
And in one delicate
motion
With a twist of Faith
Release the pull of opposites
To reveal the sweetness within
Thank You Life !
Gratitude burns
Through every cell
As
I stand here
In awe
of
all the Good
and of all the Abundance
that flows
Lovingly
From the Universe
into God’s vessel
that
is
My
Heart
Colleen DuBois ~ Reflections of Me 
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