Category: children

uncertainty

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, children, consciousness, Daily reminders, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, paradox, pathless path, Poetry, spirituality2 Comments

uncertainty

our days are filled
with uncertainty
that’s the edge
for all of us
we just don’t know

the sun seems
to rise every day
but, scientists say
one morning it won’t
big trouble

I doubt
we’ll be here by then
we’re successfully
killing ourselves off
but I don’t know

marvels happen
every day
the next baby born
might save our world
cool the fever

of rising degrees
but who will be left?
sun-loving creatures
the meerkats?
the hippos?

this is for sure
after we’re gone
knowing will shine
blazing awake
and aware

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

from darkness

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, Breath, children, Daily reminders, light, loss, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, pain, paradox, parenting, PoetryLeave a comment

from darkness

as first light skims
the sky, I consider
how we birth
from dark

what a shock light
must be for the infant
as her mother finally
pushes her free

she is caught
by a stranger, then
cut from her source
with a snip of the cord

dark’s comfort vanished
warm sea washed away
where is her refuge now?
no wonder she cries

imagine bewilderment
as new systems begin
lungs fill and empty
for the very first time

she squints and blinks
in this startling world
filled with loud sounds
and smells and sights

as she lies skin to skin
stroked and soothed
by her mother’s first touch
a new passage

from darkness to light
and one into two

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

the tube

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn children, feelings, heart, loss, memoir, Musings, pain, parenting, suffering, Surrender4 Comments

the tube

September, 1974, five weeks old

deep in the hospital
an x-ray room
bone-cold
the intern straps
my tiny son
stripped to his diaper
into a plastic tube,
velcros it tight
around his chest
his skinny arms
forced high—
his screaming begins
leave now, I’m told

forty minutes alone
on a bench in the hall,
skewered
by his wailing, his howls
that pierced the door
I shiver, tears streaming—
I didn’t keep him safe
a revelation of mothering
I need to protect him
from doctors

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

my place – a pantoum

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, children, Daily reminders, memoir, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, simple pleasures, spirituality4 Comments

The pantoum is a poetic form originating in 15th century Malaysia
that uses repetition. It’s a poem of any length composed of four-line stanzas
in which the second and fourth lines of each stanza serve as the first and third
lines of the next stanza. The final stanza is often two lines from the first stanza.

my place

it’s where I went to find deep quiet
I needed a sacred place to be
a child, I pictured a secret garden
a secluded space all mine alone

I needed a sacred place to be
a haven my parents couldn’t scorn
a secluded space all mine alone
so I crafted a private inner place

a haven my parents couldn’t scorn
skeptics, they could not apprehend
so I crafted a private inner place
free from breach and ridicule

skeptics, they could not apprehend
my need for prayer and quiet
free from breach and ridicule
I sank into my inner garden

I needed a sacred space to be
a secluded place all mine alone

camaraderie

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, children, Daily reminders, feelings, memoir, Musings, parenting, Poetry, suffering9 Comments

camaraderie
1976

hunched on a hard chair
in an airless room,
I cupped my head
in my hands and wept

to save his life
they would saw
through his breastbone,
his chest as small
as my open hand—
stop his heart,
rebuild the inside
staple him shut

a presence beside me
her hand a mere moth
dusting my arm
she murmured,
here—for you
offering a fresh-lit
Marlboro bearing
her kiss of lipstick
I accepted the gift

glancing up, four
others—all mothers,
waited
us, too, one said

before

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, children, Love, Musings, parenting, Poetry, spirituality, suffering2 Comments

before
1974

before—
sunshine centered
on me
my life, my curiosity,
my need

unintended,
you showed up at dawn
screaming, so skinny
five weeks too soon
I recognized your eyes

enormous, innocent,
squinty in first light
they locked on mine—
you knew too much
you knew what was up

after—
white coats, stethoscopes
windowless hallways
cardiac cath lab and blood
fear clutched my bones

mama-grit flared
your eyes made me—
you broke me
am I grateful?
fifty years on, the sun

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

shearing

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, children, Daily reminders, heart, joy, kindness, memoir, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, parenting, Poetry, stories1 Comment

shearing

1995

the snips and burr
when she sheared
his mane, curls
wanting to dread,
he surfaced
wide-eyed
from all that hair—
it lay in heaps
at his feet

staring at the piles
his teenage angst
washed away
he said to me,
I want the birds
to have it to keep
their babies warm

hung in clumps
on the fence, we
watched it bleach
from mahogany,
blaze red
to almost pink,
and wondered

four years later,
the corvid nest
tumbled from a fir—
the boy, now man
pointed, look!
threaded through
the sticks
lining the lair
his hair

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

the secret garden

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, awe, children, Daily reminders, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Silence, spiritualityLeave a comment

the secret garden

a natural bower
her sacred space
hidden away
from grownups
for deepest rest
she wanted
this
searched for it
her fort
in the woods
mimicked
but she found it
turning inward
it couldn’t be spoiled
that way
teased, ransacked
or taken
her taunting brother
didn’t know
this retreat
safe passage
hers alone

2023 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

the test

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn Awakening, children, Daily reminders, dogs, Love, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Poetry, spirituality1 Comment

the test
1974

infant son
malformed heart
callous docs
severe surgeries
wailing baby
life, a hard cushion

she was pushed
to notice the good—
so many gratitudes!
hot tub’s warm embrace
hound’s comforting nudge
her little boy’s hug

noting grace became
her way—she learned to
heed life’s finespun
palette—delicate
melding from one
soft hue to another

2022 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.

bloom with laughter

On By Amrita Skye BlaineIn awe, children, Daily reminders, Musings, Non-duality, nonduality, notes from self, Surrender, thoughts2 Comments

bloom with laughter
note from self

so many bumps
in the road
craters, too—
times she gets
caught, shaken
and rattled—so
what does she do?
soothes a friend’s
blues, mops up
spilled stew, its
gravy leaked wide
walks the dog
who insists, pulls
apart bickering kids
wanders into the
garden throws back
her head and roars
laughing—she feels
eyes are upon her
squirrel hovers nearby
unsure paws folded
as he stares—
giggles
escape her, she
cannot control them
it’s life’s consolation

2022 ©Amrita Skye Blaine
I’m writing a poem a day. These are drafts—not final versions.