Breath & Shadow

In The Night by Louise Mathewson

In the dark of night

she heard

Soul speak

"You are a prophet."

Again, it spoke,

"You are a poet,

gold to the world.

Let your light shine."

She awoke,

tried it on

in a whisper,

"I am a poet."

A Road Not Chosen

A spider web

reaches

curves

arches

from one point

to different ends,

f o r m s

shapes - hearts, angles, triangles,

roads to the outside

I weave a life

from stories spun

of roads taken

in my life --

some not chosen --

traumatic brain injury

when I hit my head --

hard

in a car accident

knocked out

in a coma

no one knew

what would be left of me.

I spin inwards after TBI

till I hit the center mark,

golden goodness of my source.

When I get back out -

side

through poetry,

I will find my way back

to the web

of life on earth.

Louise Mathewson holds a Masters degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago. An author and poet, her work has appeared in numerous publications including Wordgathering: Journal of Disability Poetry, Cup of Comfort (Vol. 1), Mochila Review, Boulder County Kid and Sasee magazines and internationally in Borderlines '08, an anthology published by the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom. Louise has always loved to write about the sacred moments in everyday experiences, but today those experiences hold even deeper meaning. In January 2003 Louise emerged from a two-week coma following an auto-accident in which she suffered a traumatic brain injury. Though a struggle at first, Louise resumed writing as soon as she was able. Today she lives with her husband in Eden Prairie, Minnesota where she continues to write and recover.