<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class="">I have been in the habit of sending the poems I read on the Way of Mastery zooming session.<div class="">I often am graced with wonderful comments as a response.</div><div class="">Right now I am making a selection of poems for a book.</div><div class="">I would love it if people who cared to comment would add a grade from 1 to 10.</div><div class="">Or just give a number.</div><div class="">I would really appreciate</div><div class="">Thank you so much</div><div class="">Riantee<br class=""><div><br class=""><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class=""><div class=""><div dir="ltr" class=""><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">The Protest<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">To my Spirit House’s Brothers and Sisters<br class="">
<br class="">
Yes, I protest<br class="">
the life that has given me no life,<br class="">
the circumstances that have made me a victim<br class="">
of a belief that was not mine,<br class="">
of a fate that did not belong to me.<br class="">
<br class="">
<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">I protest the things I did because I thought I had to,<br class="">
and the ones I did in rebellion and resistance,<br class="">
the books I read because I had to learn<br class="">
and was told it was the only way to acquire knowledge.<br class="">
<br class="">
<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">I protest<br class="">
the enlightment I sought<br class="">
that made me blind to the light, <br class="">
that light that shines within me<br class="">
every moment to be rekindled,<br class="">
by words,<br class="">
by flame,<br class="">
by rock, <br class="">
by the shimmering whisper of the river,<br class="">
by the sparkling scales on the ocean’s skin,<br class="">
the velvet of your voice,<br class="">
the twinkle in your eyes,<br class="">
and the smile forever stretching <br class="">
beyond the limits of the unknown<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">to be known<br class="">
by the love of my friends,<br class="">
brothers and sisters in the circle,<br class="">
my ancestors,<br class="">
my children,<br class="">
all my relations,<br class="">
by the love of the mother and father<br class="">
always with me,<br class="">
so close<br class="">
and yet so far<br class="">
when I forget to step out<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">of the have-to, the must, the should,<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">the prison of who I thought I was,<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">through a door invisible to me<span class=""></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class=""><span style="" class="">but always opened<span class=""></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";" class="">as a reminder of who I truly am,<br class="">
that door now so wide and welcoming<br class="">
when I walk into the circle.</span>
</div>
</div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>