The First Step
“The heart is like a garden: it can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?“ Jack Kornfield
Open your heart
Gently
Clear those thorns
And dead rose petals
Let your spirit
Reveal your portals.
This may be the longest journey
Of your life
With myriad dead ends
And lonesome crusades.
Without swords or cannons
Only pencils and crayons.
Open your heart
Gently.
At the edge of the garden
Closed doors, dark woods
Created by all musts and shoulds.
Layer upon layer of protection
Closing you off from
Love and affection.
“Open your heart gently.”
One more time you hear the voice
Offering a new shield of safety
Helping you make the ultimate choice.
Wrapped up with fear
And hesitation
You ask:
How deep is the heart garden?
Who is the guide?
How do we travel?
What if I end up below the navel
Far away from the chest’s neck of the woods?
And the voice spoke softly
Before you enter fix the edges
Bring warmth and shine
Spring breeze makes the air
Nourishing and divine.
Set your boundaries:
Bricks, glass, straw or picked fence
Put a sign NO TRESPASSING
Learn how to be the guardian
Of your sacred space.
Many have entered without asking
Taking it for granted
That their rules
Were your rules.
But now you know
It wasn’t true
Don’t let that
Make you feel blue.
Even they didn’t know
So how could they tell?
When their life
Resembled hell.
Hurt people hurt people
So heal yourself
With compassion
There is no way in
With violence and aggression.
May your healing
Be the beginning for all.
Remember:
You are resourceful,
Creative and whole.
But first,
Let’s fix those edges
Of the heart garden
And give violators
A compassionate pardon.