Sacred Poetry
Sacred Poetry is a page of written and visual pieces, which have been created by people
who have felt inspired and moved to express themselves whilst on Sue’s
Open the Heart and Still the Mind silent retreats.
Sue is extremely grateful for the permission to share their beautiful work.
Anyone wanting to share their written or visual creations on this page can please email Sue on sue.stillmind@gmail.com.
All photos not taken by Sue have permission for use and are credited with appreciation.
To not-know
I know the camphor and the cape chestnut. I know the fruiting outeniqua and the thirsty cape beech. I know the milkwood and the forest grape, the spooning alder and the knobbly assegaai. I know... Read More
There Is No Perfect Path and other poems
There is no perfect path At the end of the Reverent path, I bowed to the mountain And kissed the Damp earth with my feet. The bliss of bird song And warmed skin Soaking in. What... Read More
In the Embrace of the Silence and other poems
In the embrace of the silence Silence fits me like a well-worn glove: I unfurl inside its lining, allow it to cloak me. Only in its embrace can I hear the distant tapping, a patient... Read More
The Mist and other poems
Beyond the Mist… Beyond the mist, laid forgotten secrets Beyond the mist my demons hid and waited Beyond the mist, I sense a deep truth approach Beyond the Mist I believe my true self awaits... Read More
Untold and all-told | Lotus & Mud
Untold and all-told Before I was bereft, I was a winged girl on a horse. Before I was brokenhearted, I was an adventurer who needed no path. For a while, I was a trapped... Read More
Homecoming
The legacy of a leaf lies deep in the roots of the tree it calls home. Read More
A love letter to my inner child
Tell her you love her. Who you may ask? The little child you have abandoned in your internal home. Tell her you forgive her. For what you may ask? For words and actions that... Read More
Transition
You are the plane of stillness between my in-breath and out-breath The interface between Light and Dark The turning point of the unfurling seasons The thread that weaves disconnect to awareness Transition You... Read More
Stolen Lines
While I was sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring came and the grass grew by itself. Now I am walking in silent meditation at Somerset Gift Oak tree shades me Call of the bulbul my mantra... Read More
An Unfurling
Like depleted moths drawn to a flickering flame – a flame so faint it is barely visible – we follow our inner wisdom and find ourselves in the noisy stillness of nature, the silent support... Read More
MEDITATION
May I be at peace, peace, perfect peace May I find clarity in my confusion softness in my strife the wisdom to heal my contusions May I find acceptance in certain truths that water... Read More
IS THIS ENLIGHTENMENT?
is this enlightenment? to discover the urgency of self-love to negate self-abandon? to know the pain of too much love? bound-less love (I thought) boundary-less (you say) to feel the waves of anxiety,... Read More
Under the old Podocarpus Falcatus tree number 16
Under the old Outeniqua yellowwood tree, which has its roots deep in the BRC There is perched a bench for both you and me upon which to sit and contemplate That which we struggle of to... Read More
The first arrow…
Nothing speaks like the innocence, as the actions of a child. Long before disobedience was a cry for help, long before acting out was a cry for love and affection. Do you remember? Do you... Read More
The Sole Of My Foot
The soul of my foot sees the light and dark. As one foot moves closer to life, the other moves closer to death. “Don’t get stuck in the mud”, they say – it can be... Read More
Dear Tree of Blossom & Life
Just yesterday, I could see right through you. Just yesterday, between your twisting and stretching, the path below was clear. Yet today, your tiny buds have sprouted and your flowers bloomed, covering the spaces between... Read More
Listen and other poems
Listen The furled fern Nascent potentiality Listens to the orchestral hum The incessant life force. My heart beats A sine curve around the Zing of my neural moments. I breathe the peaks higher And the... Read More
Entering into Silence and other poems
Entering into silence We enter into silence: reverently pass through the portal into her gentle embrace as the winter breeze pushes across the emerald land. So begins the journey without Beginning. Morning meditation Eyes close... Read More
That Mountain that is Life
I climb the mountain that towers above, looking back to see below, the breeze is blowing, my mind is going, but oh how stunning As I walk on mother earth, She invites me to sit... Read More
Sweet Child
I can see where you are and well you may ask. Ask me anything, sweet child. Yes, tides can change the course of things when the moon pulls the ocean this way, that way.... Read More
Walking Meditation
There is a beginning, a middle and an end, which may differ from day to day. With loving kindness I choose my pace, where I begin and where I end. I put aside unreliable thoughts... Read More
HOMECOMING
You are not the beginning nor the end you are a multitude of discrete moments all muted into this perfect present moment You are the past and the future leaning back and lurching forward... Read More
the hands that hold
“Everything you need is within yourself, hold your being high with reverence and love” Craig and Monique The Blue Butterfly, May 2018 © Craig and Monique Read More
At the Water’s Edge
At the water’s edge I’ll meet you Where the lapping ripples dance Where the wind gently sways soft on the skin. At the water’s edge I’ll meet you where sunbirds come to drink their... Read More
Welcome Home
They say, “Welcome Home” as if it’s a simple act. A joyous event. Like no thought needs to go into it. It simply stands. As it is. Welcome Home. The first word is difficult. Welcome.... Read More
From December 2017 (after Tomas Tranströmer)
Propelled by mindless chatter, words without truth I follow the fynbos covered hills to Walker Bay. The unclaimed has no words, The blank pages open on each side of the road. I come upon the... Read More
The hellos, the goodbyes
The hellos, the goodbyes. There is no beginning, no end. The seamless night turns to flowing day. The point at which day becomes night, and night becomes day, is no point, only a seamless meeting... Read More
How to Draw The Sacred Mountain
Start with a block As scared and as closed as you or I Fill it with stone Your rocks and pebbles A Boulder perhaps To spare Carve out the valleys That the rains... Read More