Visions In Poetry

Visions in Poetry A Spiritual Awakening Journey Jackie Hardcastle Love is all. —Spoken by Robert Logsdail from the Spiritual World Foreword Within the pages of this book, you’ll find the personal journey of a young girl from England who came to Canada at a tender age who struggled to fit in and who suffered many extreme challenges of life. While turning to the solace within, she awakened to another world… a world that reached out to her through poetry, and which inspired a deeper spiritual journey of awakening. This is a poignant story of growth and realization through inspired poetry, that we are not alone in our journey here on earth. It is a spiritual journey. One that we can all relate to in some small way or another. It is a journey of trusting is something beyond our 5 senses, a leap of faith beyond the physical and arriving at a place of ‘knowing’ we are all part of a loving Oneness, and that Love is All that matters Lose yourself along the journey, hear the messages, and find your way back in the knowledge and deeper understanding of your place in the loving Universe. Barbara Simpson Director, Ottawa Spiritual Pathways Centre Together Together we can Taste a beautiful love, Share high energy, Trust in friends, Laugh with family, Climb a tree, Jump, skip, and play. Feel the gift, Find the beauty, Trust life, Make peace today. —Jackie Contents Foreword Preface Introduction Poem: Together Acknowledgements Poem: Who We Are Chapter 1: In the Beginning Poems: The Healing Immigration Chapter 2: Life in Canada Poems: Bullying I Stand Tall Chapter 3: Teenager/Young Adult Life Poem: Abuse Chapter 4: Second Time Around Poem: Death Chapter 5: Drugs, Disease, Divorce, and Redemption Poems: Sickness Crawling Restless Spirit Jumbled Thoughts Your Gift of Love Words for His Love Chapter 6: The Journey Begins Poems: Up in Heaven Golden Bands Mystic Energy The Resort Angel Wings A Symbolic Vision A Family of Wizards Haiti Cries, Haiti Will Rise Hello Someone Is Knocking Crystal Rock The Giggling Pyramid To Forgive Pink Shower Chapter 7: Love and Wonder Poems: Tick-Tock Time and Time Again Love Is All/The Dance of Life The Window Sees I Close My Eyes The Gentle, Gurgling Brook I Said I Would Black Horse Mystical, Magical The Elevator Praise, Joy, Sing Dreamer I Am at Peace Wonder Let Your Sun Shine Bright Energy Healing The Children Teachers of the Children On a Hill I Walk My Day Standing on the Edge Forest Gifts I Knew You Were Here Today Snapshots To Feel Loved A Story We Know Cultures of Earth and More Rules Hovering Dove Chapter 8: 2012: What Is It All About? Poems: How Fare Thee? Truth Truth, Truth, Truth Whirlwind of Words Words, Words, Words The Joy of Books Black Shadow The Door Love Triangle Hugs The Lotus Gift Meditating Freedom A Soldier Tortured Soul The Cycle Dance Drunken Vagabond Deity Appeared Angelic Wings White Wolf White Dove Up in the Universe Unicorn Atlantis Love Is a Dream Me and the Sea They Say I Walk With Angels The Indian Drummer The Tree of Life A Poem, You Say I Am Surrounded Michael’s Words Gabriel’s Words People Ask About 2012 Cherished Memories Chapter 9: Conclusion Poem: The Unfolding Path Selected Bibliography/Resources The terminal of Heathrow Airport, in England, was a huge building, bustling with people checking and rechecking their plane tickets, looking up at all the signs to make sure they had the right gate number. It seemed that everyone had suitcases, but I only saw a few children with small ones like the ones Peter, who was my brother, and me had. It was scary, exhilarating and totally bewildering. There were moving sidewalks; we just had to step on them and they took us along the hallway—which seemed endless. We were both bundles of nerves as we held our parents’ comforting hands to begin our journey into the unknown world of a new country—Canada. Starting out from the hotel this morning I’d thought I was a big girl; now I felt very small indeed. I quickly peered through the window; airplanes were lined up waiting to take off. Which one was ours? “Come along, Jacqueline; don’t dawdle,” said my mother. “But Mom, I want to see,” I whined. “No time; we have to keep up with your father,” was her reply. We settled in the airplane seats; they were so small we were squished. Peter had his blue-and-white teddy bear, Buttons, and a suitcase filled mainly with Legos for his endless building. I had Teddy, my little brown, half-naked teddy bear, who carried the marks of being so dearly loved when I had tried to warm him up by the radiator one day. Mom had had to scrape off the singed fur, resulting in several large bare patches on parts of his back and a neat row of mom’s stitches up across the shoulder. My suitcase held a small doll and some Hot Wheels cars, as well as some crayons and paper. I hoped my dearest Tinkerbell, a large pink-and-white teddy bear that was squished into a large suitcase, was okay. I really didn’t like leaving her there in the cold undercarriage of the airplane, but she was large. I had received her near Christmas time when I was eighteen months old; she had been bigger than me at that time. Her large white ears offset her pink body, but most of all I loved the bells in her ears. She was my confidante; she knew all my fears and tears and listened intently to all my stories. Her large orange-and-black glass eyes, I figured, would scare any unwanted intruders away. Right now, I felt I needed her. The large engines roared in our ears, and Mom gave us each a lemon drop to suck on while the airplane took off. The air stewardess came around, leaned over, and cheerily chatted away with us, showing us how to do up our seat belts; making sure we were safe. We were on our way; meanwhile, my stomach was doing belly flops, and my heart was pounding. Where we were going I did not know. What would happen when I got there? I didn’t know. I had more questions than answers. The adventurous dream was taking a back seat to having a bad case of the nerves. Teddy advised me to look out the window instead. Clouds like strings of cotton candy drifted by. I could see, as the wings of the airplane sliced the cloud, how little puffs were broken off and swirled in the air, drifting aimlessly until another cloud enfolded the little puffball. It was then incorporated into its own design and somehow moulded together to form another shape. .I marvelled at these little clouds silently drifting by; they had no clue where they were going but ended up absorbed and turned into something new, starting out on another adventure, until another airplane careened by.