Breath & Shadow
Fall 2008 - Vol. 5, Issue 4
"In The Night"
written 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.