Tuesday Poem - Let Me Say It Straight by HEIDI ROSE ROBBINS

                        LET ME SAY IT STRAIGHT

                        You can't write a poem
                        if you can't feel your heart.

                        And I would argue
                        it isn't worth reading one
                        if your heart
                        is otherwise occupied.

                        I'm not saying a thing
                        about the state of the
                        vessel.

                        Bring it broken,
                        guarded or heavy.

                        Bring the yearning,
                        the ache,
                        the celebration.

                        But bring it.

                        It's beating under
                        everything
                        after all.

                        Don't allow the escape
                        to regions north of the neck.
                        That's too easy.
                        You've seen that vista before.

                        I'm begging you to travel
                        to the fiery center,
                        not suspend above it.

                        Let me say it straight.
                        I want the heart of the matter,
                        even if it means
                        a good bushwhack
                        through guarded
                        precarious terrain.

                        Heidi Rose Robbins 2011

I had the great pleasure of meeting Heidi Rose Robbins in Mesa, Phoenix last month. Poet, esoteric astrologer, mother, group facilitator and actress-by-training, Heidi's beautifully-paced, full-hearted conference presentation revealed a no-nonsense woman of huge heart and considerable intellect. I found her and her way of being captivating - not only was she fascinating to listen to and talk with, but also to observe at work. 

Words for Heidi are not small, bite-sized shapes that emanate from the mouth alone; rather, they are elements for creative expression that may - or may not - involve her whole body. She seems to me to be one of those rare individuals who is able to be still and in motion at one and the same time.  

As regards today's poem, Heidi writes, 'Let Me Say It Straight was written one morning in Ojai, California. I'd just attempted to read a poem in an unnamed publication that was about as impossible to understand as they come. And I felt frustrated. Poetry has the capacity to blast the heart wide open and I felt like I was trying to solve a riddle whose ultimate answer wasn't going to be very satisfying anyway. 

I was simply ready to cut through everything and sing of the power of poetry. I was ready to speak to everyone who had given up on poetry because it felt elitist or removed. I wanted to sing my love of poetry from the rooftops and invite everyone to bring their whole selves to steep in the beauty of the language of the heart. And - as I write in this poem - it doesn't matter how broken we feel or how crinkled our heart is. All we need do is arrive and allow our hearts to unfurl.'

Heidi describes herself as '. . . a woman who wishes to love more fully, presently and deeply.' She has a thriving astrology practice in Los Angeles, California with clients worldwide. She also offers Radiant Life Retreats for women that combine her love of astrology, poetry and movement. Her first book of poetry - 

Sanctuary

 - is now available. A one-hour talk on CD - with all the poetry and how it came into being - accompanies the book.

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For more Tuesday Poems, please click on the quill. Therese Clear is this week's TP editor. She has chosen a spacious, compassionate poem titled Travelling at Night by fellow US poet, Kathryn Hunt.