Author: Vanessa

Mother, WRITER, artist, student, dreamer, civil and human rights activist, humanitarian, minister in process, mystic, sentient being. I write to remember; I write to discover; I write to understand; in order to be closer/higher/connected.

Discovering the “Doctrine of Discovery”

~ Vanessa ~ 2 Comments

Once upon a time ago
A Pope sat upon his throne
And decreed all that all will condone,
Doctrine of Discovery,
–This land, this people, this wealth “we” now own,
For God has seen that only certain Christians may decide
who is wrong, and who is right,
And black and white,
And red and yellow,
And East and West,
And North and South,
Left and Right,
Carving up the world,
Like a pie,
Deciding who lives,
who dies,
To whom shackles are assigned,
As slaves to God’s domain,
And on and on it goes,
That was then, 15th century,
And still well meaning “explorers,”
And “freedom” fighters get to cut apart the globe,
Causing wounds so deep they never close,
And this is good,
And this is right,
For the Papal Bulls
and now our government tell me so

Let Down Your Guard

~ Vanessa ~ 1 Comment

If only you could see,
What I have seen,
What others have seen,
To know you are not alone,
To know you have more than a reflection,
To take on this weight,
Ghosts you see are too much for one to wrestle,
Let down your guard,
You need not remain on the battlefield,
Let others carry a torch for you
To see,
The demons are incorporeal,
And you need not be locked in their domain,
Let down your guard,
Take off your stoicism,
Let your human nature be tended,
For the tender nature it is,
You are fragile,
not weak,
Your soul needs time and space to mend,
Give You that opportunity,
That you would give
To any other,
You are but a child
of the universe,
The universe wants to see you whole,
You are but stardust,
Handle your twinkling light,
Even when it flickers,
Delicately;
Let down your guard.

Half a World Away

~ Vanessa ~ Leave a comment

When you were half a world away
I worried for you,
Worried for your loss,
Worried for your life,
Worried for your mind,
Worried for the time slipping you by,
Worried you would not receive my next letter,
Worried I would lose a friend,
I had yet met,
When you were half a world away,

But I was gifted
Something not every pen pal gets,
I was gifted
From half a world away
The chance to see you,
Know you,
Touch you;
My worries were prayers,
Part of me believes,
Answered by angels I cannot name,
That brought you home,
From half a world away

Half a world away,
I cannot fathom what filled your sight,
What fears might still keep you up at night,
That is not my place to know,
But to just be here,
Writer and reader,
Companion
Near,
Half a world away

“We Are All the Same”

~ Vanessa ~ Leave a comment

We want to say
“We are all the same,”
And believe it with our core,
It’s the message we were taught from cut and pasted MLK,
We don’t see the whole picture
If we close our eyes and assert the truth of our sameness,
But are we all the same?
Not in experience,
I cannot say I’ve lived a day in your shoes,
To appreciate how life is as you,
Human, sentient, even then variation makes our experiences
Different,
Location, soci political climate,
Characteristics that dictate our place in it,
Social qualifiers that mark our skin, our minds, our bodies, our heritage,
And the histories behind them,
Must not be glossed over,
It must be worked through,
Recognized,
To see the truth beneath,
And the real meaning meant
Of “we are all the same”.