Love
Title: “Love: Advent”, Part of the Tabiji Eggshell collection. “Tabiji” means “journey through” in Japanese.
Media: eggshell, acrylic paint, thread
Side view
A poem to share with you my beloved Soul Shelter friends…
I am Charcoal
Aftermath
of an airless inferno
no longer the tree
you knew yourself to be
gone are your leafy green arms
celebrating the sky
face to the sun
now fallen
charred
smoldering
one with the ground
for endless days
memories wander
grieving among the ruins
of what once was.
Love comes
seeking you
undeterred by destruction
strong hands extend
inviting yours.
You turn away
unable
unwilling to see beyond sorrow
so changed you are
unrecognizable
altered completely
by fire
by suffocation.
Love waits
with heart open
till you are ready
softly singing
that endings are also beginnings
my beloved
One day
Someday
Maybe
you’ll take Love’s hands
step in to welcome
to embrace
be gathered up into a gentle dance
circling together
sweeping over wide stones
each slow turn
drawing
creating
new lines
a new arc
of unseen wonder
of what will be.
…
Wendy Lew Toda
Inspired by loss, love, how tree charcoal is made, and what it’s like to draw with charcoal itself.
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