Thursday, December 14, 2017

Disinterred

I believe you…

Buried for decades, comes a time
to heal yourself from the cancer
that day-by-day eats away
pieces of the person you once were.
Don’t listen to those who question your motives
that scream “fake news”
as if to say that it's okay
to lust after a 14 year old
or force the hand of a 16 year old
to justify their own perversions.

I believe you…

I know that there are certain truths
invisible to naked eyes
that take the innocence of youth.
Even those who know you best
might never know or realize
that you felt you were to blame—
inside bleeding from the shame.

I believe you…

For every Weinstein, Trump or Moore
are other unknown predators
ones with little the cash or fame
that prey upon the vulnerable.
Their victims each recall their name,
and every look and every leer—
how vivid still their face remains.

I believe you…

Those who choose to speak up now
who’ve forged ahead despite the cost;
it can’t make up for time that’s passed
or what was taken, what was lost;
the naysayers may ridicule,
but those who’ve been there know the truth.

I believe you…

Though by the past we’re not defined
at times its shadow lingers on.
We should not let it blight our soul.
The truth should never be confined—
admission waits, long overdue:
I add my voice and say
          “Me too”


© Ginny Brannan 2017

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Goddess: When She Rules — New Book Release!



“Women's stories are as powerful, inspiring, and terrifying as the goddess herself. And in fact, these are the stories of the goddess. As women, we know her because we are her. Each woman, no matter how powerless she might feel, is a cell within her vast form, an embodiment of her essence, and each woman's story is a chapter in the biography of the sacred feminine."
 

Jalaja Bonheim


Welcome to “GODDESSWhen She Rules: Expressions by Contemporary Women”, the fourth anthology to emerge from the Journey of the Heart: Women’s Spiritual Poetry Project.

The time is here to celebrate the contemporary woman: our strengths, our passions, our creativity and our beliefs and how they relate to the world around us and within us .We are all part of something more: we are a sisterhood whose voices rise in love, in strength and in support of one another.

Proud to share that proceeds from this book will to go to the Malala Fund  
~ ~ ~
I have come to understand the ‘ Goddess’, once unknown to me, as an extension of my own spirituality—I see her as the source of inner strength that guides our feminine self; I sense that she lives in each of us as our spiritual guide, especially in times of turmoil. In an era of change, she is our inner calm, our voice of reason, the whisperer of compassion, a proponent for persistence, our endorser for resistence, and our promoter of peace. Within each of her many identities, she reminds us that we are not alone: that our words and voices can be source of hope, of transformation; drawing light out of darkness as we travel the pathways of understanding on this continuing journey of self-discovery
**********
I am so very honored to have two poems in this book:  Birthing Rites which reflects upon that moment during childbirth when we finally grasp what it means to be the conduit that brings new life into the world. The second, Illumination is about embracing our courage and inner strength, and about conceding that we are so much more than even we may realize.


Please join me along with our other contemporary poets and writers as we celebrate the Goddess, and embrace the Sacred Feminine, on this newest and most sacred Journey of the Heart!

Available Here at Amazon: GODDESS: When She Rules

With very special thanks to our primary Editor in Chief, Catherine L. Schweig for her tireless efforts and never-ending support, enthusiasm and encouragement, and much gratitude to her editorial assistants for this project: Sandra M. Allagapen, Julia W. Prentice, and Tammy Stone Takahashi; and all of the amazing poets and writers who share these pages.



And please check out our other publications at Amazon:

Journey of the Heart
Poetry as a Spiritual Practice
Where Journey's Meet