Reflections on Rainbows, poems, songs and stories by D.K. MacDonald is a glimpse into a world of emotion and beautiful images. Written from the heart and portraying ordinary life experiences from the eye of a poet, this book gives the reader time to pause and ponder their own life. In all that is written, we find common threads through our lives and through the medium of poetry, we feel this connection deeply. Maybe this says it best: "I am a beam of light emerging from the forest of travail, entertaining the possibilities the world has to offer to sustain spirit as it grows. I am the Earth and I am the Fire. My feet cool in the soft green grass and my heart warms to the embrace of Human touch. I learn to speak my own language to translate non transmittable images, thoughts and feelings that bounce around deep inside, waiting to emerge. My dream is that the people of the world find expression for their deepest longings and realization of their purest dreams. I simply am".

REFLECTIONS ON RAINBOWS

Songs, Poems and StoriesBy Dorothy Kate MacDonald

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Dorothy Kate MacDonald
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-5483-0

Chapter One

BEGINNINGS

Beginnings lead to many things We are eager to begin ... As time and fortune work their way Frustrated, we give in Then time comes on and fortune smiles At times we least expect And it is for us to be prepared And know what is our quest

Mean times do come to all of us And sorely they oppress The human Spirit soars aloft To overcome this test And many times we wonder why And many times we worry What have I done and who am I To have so many stories?

The answer comes inside the 'blue' An answer with no question The answer lies deep in our selves And time alone will tell us That time which moves around us all Gives answers to our question The worry wanes when this we see The pattern to our questing.

A Story

"... all that mattered here was that I belonged and that I had found what I had sought for so long ..."

The Unicorn

I finally came to the edge of the forest ~ I wasn't even sure there was an edge ~ and I just stood there, at last. The clearing ahead allowed the sun to shine on my face, and I felt my golden horn glint with the reflection of all that is. A deep sense of having been here before pervaded my senses and I laid down on the warm grass as the images of fantasy past slowly emerged to my consciousness.

I was born pure white with a golden horn in the middle of my forehead. I remember looking into my mother's eyes and knowing her for the first time in the air breathing world. Before was soft and gray ~ the colors muted and melding waves ~ like the waves of the ocean meeting the waves of the air ~ and myself a wave feeling part of all that is. A funnel of all potential nourished me ~ but that was in the before time. Now, as I looked upon the mother's face, I knew this new home place was where I would learn.

I rose to my life ~ my legs trembling beneath me ~ and I galloped around to feel this new existence.

Our herd wandered our pasture ~ and I learned much. I had a tendency to wander away from the main herd ~ and bask for hours in the sun. I was alert to my duties, and on time for our time of nourishment. I ran and learned and worked ~ but when this time was done ~ I was able to feel the total freedom only the earth and the sun offer as their gifts each day. I would speak to the beasts from other species that I would encounter ~ and all, sensing my feeling of love for them ~ would stay for a while until they must continue on their journeys.

Many hours were spent in these two very different worlds and I was happy.

But one day when I was full grown ~ I came to see that herd business must be first ~ and I spoken for by a family from another herd ~ I understood it was my duty to the herd to procreate ~ and so I went with him to a world far from my own dear nature and did what I had been taught was my destiny. Two beautiful young ones were then brought into being ~ one, a male, was handsome and gentle ~ the other, a female, was beauteous and energetic.

I taught them, played with them, and passed on to them my thoughts on the journey we were to take together.

One day, as I sat tired and worn from my duties ~ I saw my other as not before. He was angry, kicking and roaring around our meadow ~ and he was preparing to leave for a greener place. He wanted another and I was inclined to remove myself from this place was mine no more. I wandered for a while, and soon entered the forest. I had always wondered what was there ~ and so I allowed myself to become a part of it's dark and light ~ and had many opportunities to seek and learn.

In the dim light, not all was easy to feel ~ I was strong and young, yet tired and so alone ~ and my two young ones were in need of my care and protection. I must give up my old ways, and take them through the forest ~ and never let them know how unsure I was of what was ahead.

I had so many duties in order to have food for all of us to eat. I met a distant one who traveled with us ~ he was helpful in warning of danger and in helping the learning, but he always kept at a safe distance ~ never too far or too near.

Twice I came upon this world of duty ~ and spent many years there ~ I would run until exhausted ~ my legs and back became painful and sore from carrying the burden. My golden horn was so tarnished, I'm sure those I met couldn't even see it. Invisible it stayed through these years ~ I carried my burdens willingly ~ only being sure of one thing ~ my younger ones must survive ~ they must grow strong ~ and I wished them to see the meadow of my early years and claim it as their own.

There were good moment's too ~ brief times of peace where I learned some new and special things. I learned how to weave a story to tell of healing, and I learned to write with the rhythms of my old natural world.

I learned about looking through the dim light of the forest to see what was really there ~ both the good and the not so good. I met two other angry beings ~ but their beast nature had a harshness to it and in their unhappiness, I often got kicked at. The last one I met actually kicked me so hard in the chest, that I thought my wound would never heal. And still sometimes, when the cold rains come, I still feel the mark he made.

All through these wanderings I searched for my own home. My young ones were now grown, and they were strong and capable and beautiful. They wandered the forest as if born into it ~ much more adept than I at finding their way. I was proud of them and I often saw them at a distance as they traveled through their days. And I knew they had all I could give them.

So I wandered alone in the forest ~ even after all this time it still felt unfamiliar ~ and I again learned to go slower and to look carefully at what was there. My fantasy world was less and less present, except when, for a few moments, I pranced ~ sang out ~ or told my stories to a willing listener. I also spent many years listening to their stories ~ and many told me of healings they had felt afterwards.

I was getting older ~ my back was no longer so sore ~ so I could walk and prance with greater ease. But the feeling of prancing through my meadow with my head held high ~ my golden horn glowing ~ it rarely happened now. When I spoke to the other beasts ~ it was with a mellowness created by time in the forest. But still ~ in the quiet of the morning ~ I could feel a deep sense of being at one with all that is.

One morning as I roamed about, I saw a glow just ahead of me ~ and with great curiosity I decided to move in its direction. And this is where this story began.

I am now aware of the sun gleaming on my golden horn ~ resting on the cool green of the meadow ~ and I begin to see through what seems to be an invisible mist. My eyes become more accustomed to the light, and I see the shapes of the beasts of a herd ~ and they too have golden horns glistening in the reflection of the light ~ and they are peacefully wandering in small groups or pairs through a beautiful clearing. One of them looks up at me and invites me to join them. So I arise and move towards them. I look behind at the forest which just a few moments ago was all I knew. In the clearing I could see their ease of movement and the welcoming warmth of their eyes. In the flash of a moment ~ I suddenly knew who they were ~ with all the knowing that the forest had taught me ~ and all the ways I had learned in my first meadow ~ that they were mine. I brushed against the warm coat of one ~ and received a smile and an invitation to eat. All of them formed a circle around me ~ and all spoke at once ~ in thought and deed they had all come through the forest and knew without saying all that I knew. All that mattered here was that I belonged and that I had found what I had sought for so long. And the feelings of light ~ air ~ and sun ~ so far removed from the safe gray of the before time ~ was the place I had sought for so long. And I was Me. And my hoofs danced with theirs and we sang our songs of knowing that we are all magical creatures in a meadow filled with magic.

Awakening

Wait and see What's truly me In wonder wrought And favour sought I'm surely one Who's always won

Waking Up

Open my eyes and what do I see A chance and a promise right now just to be A simple true choice where confusion abounds To set myself straight on my merry-go-round

I've waited too long wanting others to see What I want, what I need, what I feel when I am me They're after that same quite elusivist dream And we reach just ahead of where already we've been

How futile the task that we chase to its end How fearful we are that we break or we bend If only just one of us does what we must And take on our life without need to be just

With our hearts deepest love to guide us on our way What harm could we do to our loved ones each day To wake every morning in light and in grace And move through each day without knowing our place

I can only aspire to the grace that it takes Each step and each moment to be truly awake So each day from now on I will look to my quest With hands open wide, and my heart at its rest.

By Dorothy Kate MacDonald Jan. 29th, 2004.

A Woman's Love

Once upon a time In a land far away The beauty of a flower Shone like a summer's day.

I felt the glow of woman self Deep down inside my soul No fear to stop the strength inside From pushing up to show.

How strong she feels the love inside How strong is what she knows How soft her voice when all of this Bursts forth from whence she glows.

And nevermore shall she not speak The truth within her heart Forevermore she will, no doubt Show all the love she feels.

Oh lucky world when this you see What truly she has deep Inside the wildish woman self Oh world, you will not weep When this you see, the courage of A woman woke from sleep.

To Be Me

All alone in the moonlight I wondered to see Where on earth can my shadow Find a place to be me.

All over the planet I roamed with my heart All around me I listened Just where do I start.

Around and around me I dizzyingly turned And stopped when at daybreak I suddenly learned.

To open my heart to the wind and the trees The mountains and divas and angels and bees The love all around me I took to my heart No longer a feeling of being apart.

Seminar with Dorothy McLean,(co-founder Findhorn foundation), at the Tatamagouche training center, August 20th, 1999

Shadows

Shadows follow on our way Things we see when night arrives Shocking in its very presence Hiding light from day.

Trusting as a child remembers No trust finds us in the night Still a knowing deep inside it Discernment come my way.

Feeling nothing in my essence Tells me why I do exist Then I find a place to ponder Whence I came, and why I'm here.

Funny how life sends its message Funny how I missed it then Clearing clouds of expectation Wearing cloth of desperation Looking deep into frustration Sending beams of transformation Stumbling over old cantation Looking closer at what's real.

Dark night of the soul reminds me That there's more than meets the eye(I) Shadows teach to look behind me Shadow knows what must be seen Cannot wait for perfect moment Cannot come in package prime Must be seen amid night's thunder Must be known, and can't be seen. "Ready or not, you will be caught "In your hiding place, or not"

Healing

Memory of a long past terror Hides in wait for present time When in everyday awaking We glimpse through an endless crime

Walking through a life of numbness Now a chance to look and see Why is heart so sad and lonely Why is it so hard to be

Blood flows through our veins forever Timeless in the truth it brings If we could but see the pattern Choice would be the solvent thing

What is it that joins together All that we have ever known Feeling, weaving, trembling, crying Now's our time to let it go

Now a peace floods through in silence Now we know all that has been Our tomorrows now bring choices Now we breathe a sigh serene

For our time here now has meaning, And we understand what's been Free in bath of true emotion Now we breathe an air that's clean.

By Dorothy Kate MacDonald Feb. 15th, 2004.

Work

Day by day we travel onward Do our time and earn our pay Tired in heart and spirit sagging But we must, it is our way

Do we ever stop and ponder Whether there's another space Driving here and there and thither Is this only our true place

Middle age brings back the question Who will we be when we're gone What in faith do we surrender To uncertainty and time

Mind that's tired searches wildly Heart that's still contains the seed Inward moving, ever quiet Finds again a place to be

Touch that brings an endless blessing Feeling all the rivers flow Healing, feeling, knowing nothing Giving all that helps us grow

We reach out and touch the something That the universe creates Overwhelming, grateful, we surrender To an endless healing grace.

By Dorothy Kate MacDonald Feb. 12th, 2004.

Eternity

You look through my eyes so what do you see In timelessness space where you are just to be And look to my world from Eternity

It must be delightful to amuse yourself so No mind to confuse you, no need for to know Just simple pure fun as you look all around No start and no finish No place for to run

So what do you see as you look all around Is it curious to you that we seek and we run As you play in my garden, no thought for the weeds In peace at this moment No need for the deeds

And how do I find you and keep you so near A heart beat, a moment, a glimpse and you're here And how do I hold you and find a deep place To stay in my heart space I pray for the grace

Please guide me along the true pathway I seek Allow me a place where I waken from sleep Stop time in it's hurry Give stillness a chance

From a mountain I learn How to sing and to dance

Let my Will join with yours, please allow me to be Truly Present each moment In our deep Spirit Sea.

MUSINGS

MOVING THROUGH THE FOREST OF YOUR DREAMS

Look around you ... what do you see ... everywhere, hidden, way up A tree, a sea of expectations, a care, a worry Sending you a challenge to your courage and determination

Head and Heart ... in a dilemma ... speaking not to each other Wait ... breath ... pause ... be in the flow There you will know in your heart what must be done.

Meditation

Afloat upon a summer's day In dreams that take us far away It happens then that what we see Becomes for us a mystery

The fog that shrouds that which we seek Is veiled by all we think we ought to be at times ... another face? And hope we can but find our place.

ON ANGEL'S WINGS

How did this "new age" come to pass With Angel's wings and looking glass A puzzle fraught with too much care Enough to prove a need to share

How far we went from what we seek In humble form it cannot speak We did not hear what was not said We long ago put her to bed

In sleep and dreams she came to be A form when woke, a mystery So simple is the truth she told A story rich that's not been sold And now awakening to her part An opening of hand and heart A world that waits for what she tells A song reminds of wedding bells

So gather round sweet children dear As Mother holds her lover near And tells you tales of wondrous love To warm your heart, release the dove In truth that sweeps all pain away And Angel's wings with you do play.

SOUL'S HIGHWAY

We are the prisms of the colors White light carries all we are Second Sight awakens mystery Telling us to feel what's near

Energy from Light surrounds us Enters into corporal sphere Travels through unseen dimension Manifests as all that's here

First center takes what's earthly Makes us part of physical place Second center sends a rainbow Mirror of etheric space

Third center grows a flower Colors form a magic bond Earthen soil creates a garden Flowers rays in quiet found

Heart's Soul found in higher places Tells us of Soul's deepest wish Then we speak in truth's clear moment Hiding naught from fear or fright

Third Eye joins us in the stillness With all that we cannot see Disbelief must not touch moment When we hear from Spirit Sea

High above a plain (plane) existence Lotus petals fall around All that was and all that can be Dreamy, walking Soul's Highway.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from REFLECTIONS ON RAINBOWSby Dorothy Kate MacDonald Copyright © 2010 by Dorothy Kate MacDonald. Excerpted by permission.
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