i believe in magic
choosing to live
is sometimes
difficult,

in a world that is
not kind;
in a world that profits
off your self-doubt
and your anxiety—

but i think of all
the people who love me,
of fizzy, of every flower
i have yet to see;
of every rainbow i haven’t
glanced at yet or every
crow song i have not yet heard,
every walk in the forest i have yet
to take and every magical thing
i have yet to experience—

& sometimes i stop and remind
myself that i am magic, too;
in a world that doesn’t believe

so i must believe in myself.
–linda m. crate

---

pain demands to be felt
pain is subjective,
and there’s also
so many different
kinds of pain;

the body holds onto
echoes of the past—

trauma is trapped
in your bones
and muscles,
pain demands to be
felt;

i’ve always had a high
tolerance to pain
but i can still feel it—

sometimes i think it’s worse when
you have a high tolerance to
something because people pile on
and on and on and expect that you
won’t complain because you can
handle a lot,

but i deserve to be thought of
and treated with respect;
i deserve to be loved in a way that
makes sense to me—

i don’t mind sharing your burdens,
but don’t make me carry it all;
i have my own to carry—rarely has
anyone helped me with mine.
–linda m. crate

---

if you need a journey
when walking around
a carpet of cats
one must be very
careful,

because one clumsy
wrong move and you could harm
one of the beautiful creatures;

so you have to navigate slowly
and carefully allowing each
cat the freedom and space to lay
or move as they wish—

the smartest move would to be
walk around the carpet
because going through it will take
some time and i find often
we’re all in a hurry to get somewhere
fast,

but if you have the time to spare
and need a journey;

perhaps through is just the way
you need to go—
i guess it depends on what you need
to do.
–linda m. crate

---

just look at the crows
i often have dreamed of
moonlit skies filled
with stars,

i once dreamed
of falling through the milky-way
without a space suit
or helmet required;

simply falling through the
laughter of light that was stars

& learning the wisdom of the ages—

when i returned to earth
nothing had changed,
people still didn’t understand me
and i couldn’t fathom them;

but i suppose most magical creatures
are misunderstood:
just look at the crows.
–linda m. crate

---

She is doing well with the Challenge. How are you doing ?