Between Skins

Between places bring to mind a notion of imbalance but to me these seams in the fabric of our lives help us choose what the design of it will look like. Between-ness frees us from being stuck in a relationship, job, indecision, etc. The hard place of between is where we are given the opportunity to view our circumstances from every direction. We come into difficult places of uncertainty to stitch softness into the sharp edge of choice with a needle of trust.

Betweens are a threshold to a spiritual state of contemplation, a place of gentle unfolding to pause and listen for guidance to take the right next action. The fray of between-ness is an opening to our higher self. These are powerful places of observation and to gather understanding of how we got to where we are, so we can get where we want to go. We forget how much of life is lived in this potent space for intuitive decision making. The pause between our breaths, words, thoughts; these are sacred spaces charged with clarity.

Be grateful for these points of contemplation. It means you have a choice in the direction you want to grow. There will be many times in life when you feel you don’t have one.

Hem in worry and life stops unraveling.

Between Skins

Garter Snake left something behind,
a lacy sleeve
of his diamond design.
Soft and fragile,
thin as a whisper.

He breached restriction,
peeled it away.
hooked by the log
inside out and in one piece
the tissue print laid.

Trusting each twist, every turn
Surrendered to the struggle.
I wonder how that feels
to wholly leave behind
all that will not grow with you.

Wet flesh of newborn knowledge
understanding’s tender spiral.
Shedding is both
quiet and beautiful,
skin and tears alike.

Garter Snake and I
both have reached this place
where we can be
stretched no further—
stretched no further.

I looked for him
among dead leaves
and smooth grass.
Perhaps he sought refuge
under dark undergrowth.

Restless as the forces of creativity
Garter Snake can’t be held still
or tight for long.
When stirred hidden passion glows
like embers buried in ash.

In this place—between skins
all of me
wiggled free
by creative energy.
All of me free.

Here grow the light,
live in the sunfields
when you can be stretched no further
leave something behind—
leave something behind.

Author: sweetwisdoms

Angeline Haen was raised on a small dairy farm in Sobieski, Wisconsin, where the love of the earth and all things of nature collected in her heart. She and her husband, Andy, steward a forty-five acre hobby farm and tend to the needs of two teenagers, four beehives, a 110 pound yellow lab named Wally, two and a half horses, flower beds, berry patches and gardens. Her first book, Sweet Wisdoms, was released by Shanti Arts Publishing in February 2017. In 2015 two of her poems were published in the Wicwas publication entitled Safe To Chew. When she’s not writing, you can find her sharing some lov'n from her oven, driving a school bus or watching grass grow. View all posts by sweetwisdoms