No feeling is final. (Rumi)

The rising of Venus,

of the evening star,

like a precious gift never asked for,

but freely given for all to see.

It is a gleam of hope

cracking open the darkness

encompassing my being earlier today.

Not a brilliant, blinding light,

but a gentle, slender beam,

coming through as if I’m

a bleary-eyed baby bird in it’s egg,

making the first crack  in the shell

that has contained me.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

I bow, this night, to the beauty of the light,

that pierced my blackened, scorched soul,

giving thanks to Jizo, and allowing the vision

of being Chibi, my inner child, wrapped safely

in his robes, to fill my heart as I try to sleep.

Namaste.’

(with thanks to Valerie Johns for the Jizo/Chibi Meditations on her website www.jizoandchibi.com)

Original painting by Valerie Johns – see above website.