Full Permission

Big mouth, big ideas,
big dreams held in a clenched jaw.
Too much, they told me.
My dignity stands guard at my teeth,
keeping it light, keeping it small,
while the deep waits behind my face.
It was never noise in my mouth.
I receive. I receive courage to speak.

I am Bear beside you.
The dam is tired, love. Let it shake.
Lean back. The fur remembers
every year your jaw held the gate.
The water knows their names.
It carried them the whole way.
I always love you.
I am always here.

Relax. Embrace. Receive.
I hold on tight this time.
I am open. I am full.
The deep pours through my mouth.

I give Bear my broken bones,
the medicine I swallowed whole.
I take my time. I feel my body
pressed against his side.
The gate was rebuilt. The channel is new.
I let it come through clean, for the good of all.

Full permission, full permission.
A cough. A clearing. A pause.
Full permission, full permission.
Let my voice come home.

Come close. Come closer.
Patience. Let the words come on their own.
Raw takes form. Wild finds its way.
Chaos finds its shape.

Full permission, full permission.
A cough. A clearing. A pause.
Full permission, full permission.
Let my voice come home.

My voice, a vessel.
My silence, alive.
Love as energy. Love as matter.
Moving through me, always.
I am the Great Brown Bear. Your witness.
Full permission.