Reflections

& Poetry

Reflection

This poem is part of a small series 'Two Minds One Poem' written by my Mother and me during the COVID-19 2020 pandemic crisis when we could not be together. 'Two Minds One Poem' created a space of healing when we were physically distant. Feeling isolated and alone, we longed to be together and eventually, we began to dismantle our sense of belonging within our respective roles to one another.

Through this process of connection through language, a renewed sense of partnership began in our mother-to-daughter rapport. To open we begin with the thought-provoking statement, “We are all in a state of awakening and reckoning.”

Awakening and Reckoning

Recognition of my cause

Would be the awakening

Of my judgement

Heart and mind torn

Seeking permission to maintain purpose

Purpose sits in judgement

Wanting to exist without reason

Shifting through time

Stirring and restless

Falling in and out of purpose

Finding self inside one’s restless spirit

Attempting to be bold and brave

Yet in the end, starved and defeated

Purpose seeks reason

To strive and prevail

Belief is reason

Reason is self

Inquisition of what it means to be human

To possess a heart, a mind, and quite possibly a soul.

Credit: Jessica Dailey-Swanson (Mother) and Christina Mayes (Daughter),

July 28, 2020, to August 2, 2020; Published on Medium.

Reflection

Guided by Dominican University of California’s Masters in Fine Art writing prompt to write a poem based on a dream, without disclosure this is from a dream.