Little Bent Twig

By Dawn Marie Peterson

Join us on a journey towards redemption as we explore the depths of our emotions and the lessons they can teach us. Through moments of tragedy and joy, we invite you to look within and discover the hidden beauty within yourself. Along the way, we’ll find moments of levity and introspection that will leave you feeling inspired and ready for self-discovery. Discover how old tragedies and ghosts can sometimes be the most beautiful blessings in disguise! So come along for the ride and get ready to be transformed by the power of introspection and self-reflection.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9781685624354

Dawn Marie Peterson

Growing up during an era when mental illness was still a taboo subject, Dawn Marie Peterson, now 55, writes about the issues that have plagued those like her who have spent a lifetime battling the diseases/syndromes/conditions and social stigmas that go with it. Though her faith was tested at an early age, she found a way to reconnect and now adds it to her take on what it all means. The humor Dawn uses attempts to break down the biblical undertones that are so controversial these days while using some old fashion common sense to pull it all together. Mental illness isn’t a tragedy in the end but a journey of self-love.

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About the Author

Growing up during an era when mental illness was still a taboo subject, Dawn Marie Peterson, now 55, writes about the issues that have plagued those like her who have spent a lifetime battling the diseases/syndromes/conditions and social stigmas that go with it.

Though her faith was tested at an early age, she found a way to reconnect and now adds it to her take on what it all means. The humor Dawn uses attempts to break down the biblical undertones that are so controversial these days while using some old fashion common sense to pull it all together. Mental illness isn’t a tragedy in the end but a journey of self-love.

Dedication

To Om, my beloved and my divine sword. May my heart be reflected in the words of wisdom I have drawn from your divine source. May my passions be fierce enough to weather any storm and may my path be in harmony with both.

To those, whose voices haven’t found purchase, I hope I do you justice.

Copyright Information ©

Dawn Marie Peterson 2023

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Peterson, Dawn Marie

Little Bent Twig

ISBN 9781685624347 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781685624354 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023900887

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[e-mail]

[phone]

Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge and thank Neale Donald Walsh for, again, reminding me all I had to do was listen and for blazing the trail I’m on now. His books were a God-send.

I would like to thank the psychiatric community of professionals who wrote the self-help books that served when real counselors were unavailable – those books do work.

I want to acknowledge the vast network of self-help contributors and spiritual gurus and organizations who work diligently to provide people with as much help as they can. There are a dizzying array of free self-improvement videos and programs to choose from as never before, and it gives people hope. And hope matters.

Contributors

Dawn Marie Peterson

Before I set out to write this book, I initially started writing these poems to exorcise some demons and some pain. I had used it as a tool before, but with age and wisdom, I found a whole new world to explore and fell in love with writing again! I have chronic (drug resistant) depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and traditional therapies just couldn’t cut it. So, I gave it another go, and as it came pouring out, I saw where it was leading. I wrote many of them in the 1980’s and 1990’s during another period of profound change in society. Some are dark and broody and others lighthearted. That’s life and having mental illness is just a part of it.

A Prelude to the Road Ahead

As we begin our encounter, gentle reader

I invite you to sit at peace while I share my take on things.

I have traveled many of the same roads you have

Sought many of the same havens along the way, even found some!

Some might recognize the seeker in me.

The detective, the healer, and the injured child

As someone too close to your heart, it is my heart too.

It’s a tale of rocky roads and rapids.

Of the rivers of life that nourish the flower despite ourselves

The squalls and twists in the roads along the way.

The vessel matters to some, but a dinghy will get the job done

And a couple of extra paddles just in case.

There are avenues we’ll travel along

That won’t make any rhyme or reason.

But Chaos often precedes beauty

And it helps to remember we’re on the same page, the whole way.

The Kaleidoscope I often view life through.

Can be a trip in itself.

So, if you need a breather

I’ll be here when you turn the pages.

It’s going to be a different take on things that truly matter

Might stir up old tragedies and beautiful blessings in disguises

And moments of intense pain, tomfoolery, and deep introspection

But the collateral beauty shines through in the moments of healing.

It’s a take on searching for answers, awareness and belonging

From deep within and the depth of the cosmos’ loving embrace

Of reconnecting with divinity and personal power

And becoming whole again even with Mental Illness.

So come sit with me a while

Let me show you how it all fits together.

Show you the puzzle I’ve been building

And it begins with lucid meditations in Delta Waves.

Dawn Marie Peterson

Chapter and Verse – Stanza One

The Kaleidoscope I often view through

Can be a trip in itself

It bottlenecked into a light at the end of the tunnel

Along the lonely road of bitter pills

Through the eyes of others

A moment of fleeting fear

Pain and more of the same

How terrible a lie I’d told myself, unbeknownst to me

The unspoken message was my pain was a turnoff

I was never at fault for the things I couldn’t govern

Almost, now fully grown

Cloud and storms obscure my view

There you are a young lady now

My heart used to wait for signs

No one talks to her anymore, just about her

Secretly for years unwilling to burden anyone

One of the cracks in societies’ façade

There are so many things I’d like to say

Whisper it to the wind. Whisper it to the wind

Just memories, they never move on

Slaves to a past already gone

Echo the distant promises broken

And I would again know the person I was meant to be

A sacred messenger in the dark night spoke of a shift in the wind

No one here understands reality

There will come a day

The baggage you have so carelessly toted along

Has meaning.

Dawn Marie Peterson

Delta Waves

Somewhere amongst the Delta waves

I came upon a cavern of great breadth and girth.

It bottlenecked into a light at the end of a tunnel

And I could hear the water’s rapid breathing.

Yet the pool of the clearest water I have ever seen

Lay still before me, and from the judge of things

Deep beyond what my vision could fathom.

This was no ordinary Paradise Lost I measured.

So, I dipped my toe into the temple, the one I erected

For the communion with my creator, myself, and ghosts of the past

To heal the broken fragments of my mind body and soul parts

Endured in the Alpha jungle I lived and loved in.

A mental construct, of a Zen space of transcendence

And realized I got more than I bargained for.

Night after night I went there

Swam in its majestic waters

Dove as deep as my mind would allow.

I would glide along on my back and look at the cave’s ceiling

Watch it twinkle like the midnight sky

Then one night, I heard someone speaking.

An exclamation of awe, How’d you really like to see the stars?

I cast my eyes around swiftly at the unexpected astonishment

And what did I see?

I was sure my eyes were waterlogged and deceiving me.

So many people’s savior stood in a boat before me

I knew this wasn’t the first time I’d seen a vision of J.C.

He’d stood before me once, shrouded in darkness, years back.

I could feel that shroud now like a tropical storm.

I saw this man, this Ascended Master; reached out his hand to me

Though the pain was a torrent upon him.

I wept for the pain I felt around him, and I lovingly stayed his hand.

My burdens had others to guide me through the storms and squalls.

Only he could shoulder the burden of the masses’ heartbreaks.

He knew and I knew I could not

And in his touch, I feared it would become my burden too.

He smiled, his love finally pushing through the darkness.

He told me it was OK, he was healing and so were they.

Let me know he was just there as a sign-post

The real show was behind and in front of me

As he pointed me to the adventure I’d been seeking.

A window had opened and I saw a whole cosmos, it was a beauty

And behold there was a good sturdy ledge to sit on to enjoy the view

And a figure I recognized purely by heart sat upon it.

My guide, my soul’s anchor in the Alpha jungle’s waking dream.

Don’t just tread there gawking, come on, I’ve waited long enough!

So, after months of purposeful diving into the deep end

Riding the rapids a few times down the rabbit hole,

Of drinking in the sacred waters, to reach my version of Nirvana.

Only to realize, he’d been ready the moment I dipped my toe in.

In my elation, the platypus and the chicken’s plight of egg and road

Were the first of many pressing questions, which came to mind.

He shook his head, let out a fit of laughter that echoed nowhere.

Clearly my pressing fancies were to remain a primordial secret

And I could see why as I swam closer to my view’s destiny.

Whoa! The chicken is a chicken even in the egg no matter the road

And perhaps, the platypus went and snuck a little of the divine stew.

I could see my tour guide beaming

It’s always nice when someone appreciates talent in action.

And he said he forgives me for my chiding later down the road

SHOW OFF indeed! I think, he rolled his all-seeing-eye, at me.

I pulled my hovelled and meek mass upon the shelf

And he applauded my inner queen of drama

While he placed a towel of love around my shoulders

Drying up the sorrows I’d been swimming in.

And I finally got the joke, and I heard his laughter.

I felt