Category: Poem

Aspen Life

I find messages in nature beautiful – there is a message in the shared root system of aspen trees should we choose to hear it… we too are separate yet connected.

I am living an Aspen life.
Rooted as I am
In the life, the energy
That flows, and whirls, and dances
In all things.

I am living an Aspen life.
Being my own self,
Separate yet connected
To all that lives around me.
Many yet one.

I am living an Aspen life.
Knowing I am free
To grow in my location;
Tall or short, wide, or spindly.
As I please.

I am living an Aspen life.
See me taking shape;
My gnarls, my sprouts, my colour,
My life showing in my form,
Pain and joy.

I am living an Aspen life.
When my body’s term,
Comes to its end, through disease,
Injury or time’s decay,
I remain.

… for the Aspen life continues.

© Share D’All
July 2023

How do you love me?

It seems that at the heart of many of our struggles as human beings is a fear that we are inadequate in some way. I believe this is often rooted in our understanding of God, or the feeling that we are left wanting when compared to others around us, or the standards we set ourselves. Unless we find a way to be at peace with ourselves, this perspective leaves us depressed, craving love and approval, or fighting and competing with each other to prove our adequacy, or superiority. This is the first of a series of poems – it starts with the question, directed at God, and then a series of replies.


It’s so hard for me to believe
That you love me
Without requirement.
That there is nothing I can do,
That will make you love me less.
That there is nothing I could do,
That would make you love me more.
That there is nothing I need do,
To make me acceptable in your eyes.
It’s hard to believe,
But knowing it was true,
Would set me free.

I have heard so many things
That tell me differently;
That make it hard.
I am a worm, a sinner
Born tainted
By the transgressions of my forebears.
My many failings in this life,
Simply serve to prove the truth, that
I am unworthy in your eyes.
Needing redemption.
Needing salvation.
Needing the mercy of a wrathful,
Loving God.

So, it’s hard for me to believe
That you love me,
Without requirement.
That there is nothing I can do,
That will make you love me less.
That there is nothing I could do,
That would make you love me more.
That there is nothing I need do,
To make me acceptable in your eyes.
It’s hard to believe,
But knowing it was true,
I’d be at peace.

I have known so many things
That seem to prove it’s true;
That make it hard.
So many ways in which I,
Disappoint;
Both myself and others around me,
By things I do and do not do;
Failing to meet expectations
Or needs of those I share life with,
Even when I try.
I need forgiveness.
Somewhere inside I feel, that I am
Not enough.

So, it’s hard for me to believe
That you love me
Without requirement.
That there is nothing I can do,
That will make you love me less.
That there is nothing I could do,
That would make you love me more.
That there is nothing I need do,
To make me acceptable in your eyes.
I want to believe,
Because if that’s the truth,
I could love me.


© Share D’All   2021
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