My name is CAMELLIA STADTS. I have lived in Michigan my whole life. I have a BA in English from Marygrove College. I love writing poetry which seems to set me free somehow and I often get what I call nudging’s from my Spirit that gets the words flowing. When I’m not writing I also enjoy knitting and crocheting and spending time with my grandson.
—
Easter, God and Me
I am so grateful for God in my life.
He has always been there and
has never left,
But due to my insecurities, bad
and hurtful experiences,
wanting so much to ‘fit in’ to life
I often didn’t shine in God’s Light.
I had wanted to be part of this world
Until God finally showed me,
“You don’t belong there”.
I thank God for opening my eyes
And showing me I was made
for something more.
—
The Silence and the Struggle
There is no shortage of violence
In our streets and in our world
We seek the silence of peace
In our hearts, that too eludes us
Our breath becomes restricted
And harsh with words
And thoughts of anger that we
Did not know we were capable of
The more we seek to stuff down
Our ugliness the more it rises up
And hurts us as much as it hurts others
To forgive,
To love,
Too often seem like unsurmountable tasks
That leaves us exhausted before we even begin
Seemed like a good idea at the time
Is a familiar refrain in our heads
The famous saying, “The road to hell is…”
Yes, you know the one—in itself gives us
Comfort because of its truth,
the perfect scapegoat. We laugh and
We go on and the violence in our streets
And in our world continues.
Searching for peace that is just out of reach…
—
Take Me Back…
Take me back
Where clear waters run
And dragonflies flit
With no fear
Take me back
To a time when
Honey bees are healthy,
Eagerly awaiting the
First blooms in spring
Take me back
When elephants roamed
The great lands – where their tusks
And babies are safe to grow
To full strength
Take me back
To pure love and a state
Of grace
Take me back
To smiles and laughter
That are known to all
Take me back, just take me back
Dear mother of the Earth
Mother of all…
—
The Sky is Falling 1
Yes, Chicken Little, the sky is falling
In the form of rain and tears and bombs.
Bringing with it grief and sorrow
Praying for the sun to shine,
But the clouds keep coming.
Chicken Little what can we do
Not to be destroyed by the fox
That is waiting…so sly, so vicious,
So cunning…
Do we have the courage to run the other way?
Not knowing what awaits…
—
SILENCE 1
To love yourself enough
To love others even more
Is the tallest order to
Living a well lived life
While on this earth
It’s too easy to be dragged
Down by what the outside
World says about you.
You can’t let that stop
You from hearing the
Loving voice of your Soul.
Silence must become
Your friend so that you can
Hear that tender voice
Above all else.
The silence will bring you peace
The silence will make you whole.
—
Rain
I hear tires on the rain soaked streets
And on my window as it pounds the glass
Just when I think it will slow down,
it starts up again harder than before.
I hate being alone on nights like this
The rain beats the world and I just
Want to yell for it to stop.
What is it about the rain that causes
so much anxiety in me? When it’s
unrelenting I can’t help but think
of the blows that came hard and fast
as I covered my head—
the yelling sounds like thunder, and
the lightening is what I would see when
a punch would make contact
with my eye. Make the rain stop
Is it rain or is it tears? Just make it stop
Please…
—
April
Renewal
Precious Life
Shades of Pink and
Lavender dance from
The brown earth.
Fruit trees burst with color
And glorious scent.
Even the Song of Solomon
Sings of the blossoming vines
After winter has passed.
Bunnies, foals, piglets and calves
Are born from the womb
Chicks, ducklings and goslings
Break free from their shells
You can hear their happy peeps
Jesus opens the tomb after
Three long days in darkness
To bring Light and Warmth
Peace and Love renewed
For all the earth to sing
Hallelujah! Amen.
—
HEALING
The mind blows wide open with heat and freezing cold
Thoughts that terrify, but I keep focusing on
them knowing that once they have broken,
scattered and returned to “normal” it will be laid out.
To see all that was hidden for protection from torment.
Something has caused this torrent, this ocean of feelings, but what?
Turning into a deluge that rides down the mountainous plains
of cheeks and breasts.
The salt water that flows, first gathering at the abyss,
then like a surge, the waves pour out of
the broken dam, the body and mind that for so long kept
all things safe, all things hidden has shattered never to
be put back the same way again.
The light comes shining to places that have been dark
with shame and self-hatred for too many years of desolation
It hurts and feels good at the same time. Does that
make sense?
What has caused this pain to soften, to make room for
a new way of looking at the body with its scars that no longer
look ugly, but lovely. They show my strength, they have served me well. I touch them for the first time with tenderness, smiling through tears
So what has burst this wall of protection? Ah! It is LOVE
—