Pegasus the Horse: An Affirmation of Healing
Our founder crafted this poem after experiencing an incredible coincidence which occurred while being being tattooed. She had chosen the tattoo after being inspired by a passage within Waking the Tiger written by Peter Levine, the creator of a revolutionary trauma resolution method called Somatic Experiencing. The carefully selected intention of the Pegasus as the tattoo image served to mark an important moment on the trajectory of her healing journey after rape. This poem, Pegasus the Horse, celebrates the intrinsic wisdom of every living being to not only survive trauma, but in fact, to be transformed through the courageous effort to heal. This challenging and ongoing process often brings the unexpected, magnificent resources we already hold within to the surface of our lived experience. Pegasus the Horse is dedicated to the endless teachings and gifts of nature that are available to us if we can still ourselves long enough to notice them. You can also read the full story that inspired this poem in her essay “The Physiology of Resilience“.
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Pegasus the Horse
Pegasus the Horse,
flesh, tendon and unbridled velocity
pulsing, beating heart
respiration sounding the storm,
like wind,
like the feeling of having overcome,
having been able to outrun,
cardiac catharsis churns out
sweat on a wet coat
smooth and shiny
sinewy shadows of muscular strength
running, leaping, in spontaneous stride
rhythm unbroken,
uninhibited coordination, innate and ongoing
tearing up the ground beneath for the simple purpose
one destination,
forward
four legs, one articulate tail, crushing but humble weight,
and a mane that bends with the air we breathe
the physiology of resilience.
Pegasus the Bird of Prey,
soaring, feather power circling upwards
hollow bones borne of an uncluttered mind
cumulative practice
effortless manipulation of an energetic current
an ease that comes with capturing universal abundance,
the atmosphere’s treasures
responsive to weather, pressure, heat and clouds, moving up and moving down
water repellant, wind empowered,
visions of the future, past, present
and internal sight
movement requiring the specificity of the here and now,
touching down and reaching in
depth perception, far sightedness and precision
surrender and stability,
relying solely on the shape it was given,
the arc in the sky
nature makes no mistakes.
Pegasus My Flesh,
colors bleed slow like sunset
pink, turquoise, orange, yellow, purple into blue
colors to brighten my view
fierce and ready to protect,
this flesh taken back, this wound taken back
catalyzed by my primitive brain un-thwarted
sealed and seared into skin
my body reclaimed with needles and sweat and color and tears
an ink to pull out the poison
the kind eyes and clear soul of an artist that paints our capacity to transcend
and a pre-destined song assumes new meaning within this space,
the vastness of this pain, and the clearness of this purpose
a prayer mobilized through sensation,
now charging ahead with thick-thighed legs
draws the line between all that is possible
and all that I once feared
traces a form, that is at once bird and beast and the soul unbound
erases distance, cultivates the interconnection of the body
and the mind
and the infinite space inside.
Pegasus to Mark the Ending,
hooves leaving trampled memories
like ashes
returning to the Earth
triggers and sensations refer no longer
to my Breaking,
but rather
to my Becoming
conflicted identity formerly conflated with an indescribable sorrow,
held tenderly,
at last,
reveals beneath its own tension and pulling,
a flexibly firm knowing
full of the moment’s
unquenchable longing
burning, scabbing, healing
resting, attending and grieving,
some kind of wonderful will be revealed.
Pegasus to Mark the Beginning,
unfolding, liberating, mastery and breath
weighty and thunderous
and patiently quiet,
like beams of light traveling back from space
to whisper cosmic wisdom, and soften the path ahead
new wings and exponential speed
my momentum unleashed
counter-balanced by a dream to remember this slowly
impressions and images settle and digest
a cycle turning towards complete
the clear sensing eyes of an animal untamed
the clear seeing heart of an animal untamed
my return, marked forever by each breath I take
the ribcage of holding,
of self-protection,
patterned by this Story,
still so much unfolding, still so much untold,
necessarily, still moving
drawing in, expanding out,
soaring, galloping
and once again,
free.
About the Author:
Molly Boeder Harris
About The Breathe Network
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