Poetry
Native American legend tells of a Raven who was fascinated with her own shadow so much so that she kept pecking at it until it came alive. Her shadow then ate her. This tells of Raven knowing both worlds. She became part of the mystery.
As I began to prepare myself to make public my poetry I realized that it did not seem appropriate at all to use my proper name. I meditated for an extended period looking for inspiration; it was in this realm that I was drawn to the name RAVEN, through music, prayer and symbolism. Crows are scavengers to survive. In many ways my journey to survive is synonymous with that of the Crow. Many points in my life were dark and difficult and many days were spent scavenging just to hang on with the hope that someday all that I endured would be of purpose. I am happy to say that that day has arrived. Grateful I am!
Lori Ellis-McKinney
For Me
And the journey I have lived.
For my Family,
And the tragedies we have suffered.
For Juli-Anna,
A tribute to her life and death.
For Children,
Our precious children.
For those who I have served and
Who believe in Me,
Thank you.
For you Oh Great One,
Who saved a wretch like me.
In your Honour,
I devote my life.
Mother & Daughter
“One Life”
If it were not for the painful crossroad,
Would we not evolve?
What causes a fundamental shift in this one life of ours?
Is it not the weeping, the raging, the betrayal, the injustice, the sickness, the poverty, the unfairness that causes the revelation.
When the sacred is torn from our lives is it not the soul sickness which follows that causes the seeking, the hunger the insatiable need.
Now let’s sit with that for a moment…
And another moment
And another.
Breathe, oh my dear friends Breathe
Taste the water, smell the air, feel the touch of another,
Amen!
When the sacred is torn from us we will be held.
This is the promise.
Let your body be a prayer to the Divine, kneel down in the grass and Listen.
You will be shown the Way.
I promise, there are no exceptions.
We are one.
Prince of Peace
Living alone in space and time - in a worldly sense,
Living alone
In the temple of the senses.
Abandoning the simple but satiating pleasures,
of the modern world,
stepping away from the trap of the safe and secure.
Beholding uncertainty,
Dancing in the mist of the unknown and the insecure.
Heeding the call to hold the deepest of sorrows,
Standing strong in the face of twisting hatred
Leading with Love
Quietly, simply and profoundly.
Overcoming the brokenness
Living in grace
Letting the river of life flow through me
Uninhibited - passing through the veil of trembling fear,
The journey of life on the face of the wrinkled, Listen.
Mercy.
Dignity.
Humility.
Freedom.
The Love Story
Once upon a time there was a beautiful maiden swimming
On the surface of the deep blue sea.
Along came an intelligent well coiffed pleasing
Man,
The maiden declared I am drowning could you please
Help Me.
The man lingered and told her tales of great stories,
Fed her dreams of love and peace,
She believed, oh how she believed,
Unabashedly.
She begged please take me ashore in your row boat,
He turned and rowed into the sunset alone,
Declaring “that is business”.
Raven swam to shore,
And understood the true nature of Love.
To The Core
Underneath the polished exterior,
Behind the bushes, down the tunnel.
Locked behind appropriateness, acceptability
Lies the mystery of your life.
Can you hear the call, can you feel hunger,
even when it defies all you knew your road to be.
Can you lay it all down?
Let the wind take you up and whip you about, rip you open from the inside.
Can you stand empty, motionless, expunged
And be grateful for the beating.
Thank you.
Peaceful Warrior
Shining against great odds,
Uncaged, open to the Earth’s mighty pull.
The calling to stand, to speak, to bow,
rising, risING, RISING.
HERE I COME, can you see me,
SHINING,
In the vibrant hue of my unholy story,
Triumphant and Broken in the
Same simple moment.
Be the change that you want to see in the world.
Mohandas Ghandi
A Butterfly Song
All along
I have known the butterfly song
But could it be mine.
I watch the butterflies take flight,
At night to the bright firelight,
It’s beautiful to my sight.
One day he was there,
I knew he was there for me
So I asked thee
I want to sing, but what shall I sing,
He said to me
Listen to the butterfly wings,
There’s a song you must learn to sing.
So I listened and I listened,
And this is what I got,
The gentle flutter of a butterfly’s wings
Echo in my mind,
As if they’re whispering to me
The butterfly drifts with the wind ever so gently,
Saying
Tonight is the night to take flight,
But be careful to do what is right,
When it’s right to take your flight
At the end of my song the butterfly song.
The beautiful one of a kind butterfly gently
circled me. Then he touched my heart, in a way
I had never felt before. I yelled “Again, Again”,
But it was too late. The butterfly was gone, going
to help someone else.
A Butterfly Song.
Withered and Well
A bag of bones I shall be
When my days are done
My journey complete.
Defeated I shall not be
No mountain tall enough
No valley too deep
To diminish my light.
Guided, directed, strengthened
By all that is real and true
Mother Earth in her majesty,
The mother of all mothers.
The knowing of - Well Done -,
All that is really required
At my last breath.
To end with clean hands and a warm heart.
It is written…….
The truth shall be heard,
The meek shall rise,
The hungry will be fed.
Love will abound…..
We shall be free.
Lay down in the grass with me,
Let the sky open your belly and
The sun heal your
Wounds.
Walk peacefully, trusting the almighty rhythm of the
Universe.
Tapestry
Have you ever
knelt down in the depths of your own sorrow,
Explored the tenderness of your deepest
Longing.
Can you feel a bird sing
And a river flow,
Are the trees alive.
If you do not yet understand these words then you
Surely have not yet arrived.
Seek on my fellow warriors
Seek on!
Fragrant Whispers
The soul calls out at times for fragrant whispers,
The tender touch of a simple gesture
The awesome explosion of the quiet reckoning.
Quiet and gentle warriors meet on the lonely path of life,
Only infrequently and often very briefly,
To facilitate a fundamental change.
A change in the individuals who are present,
A change in the community in which the meeting occurred and
A change in some way that ripples out through the spirit of
Each soul that was present, to Every other soul
that is touched by that knowing, from that day forward.
We can never journey alone. Change happens in unity.
Thank you for being the change.
All of you.
For a document of all of my poems, please follow this link. Thank you.
