Barbara Whitfield's Poetry

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Barbara Harris Whitfield

The Higher Realms

We don't have to
"do" anything,
Anymore.

All we have to "do"
Is
Show up!

Meeting the Now
Head On.

And, watch the creations
We manifest
From a Higher order
Than we can understand?

But from a perception
That recognizes the flow of
God in Action.

BW
August 5, 2006

Listen easy while you're reading my poetry

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God's Voice

How can we hear God's voice?
How can we stop the chatter long enough?
Maybe we can't.
Maybe we just need to change the station?
Be more selective in what we choose to hear in our inner life.
Anything written, sung or surmised
About Love
Could be God's Voice
Why not?
Love is the action of God.
As soon as I think of God's voice being Love
A different mood comes over me.
I don't think in words
I see/feel the faces of the people I love
And, I get closer to understanding more of the mystery.

Barbara Whitfield
August 19, 2005

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Healing Projection

When ____ does or says something

That brings up painful feelings in me...
My impulse is to tell them--
And hope that they will change.

(We all know how well that works!)

Behind this impulse,
That is
Begging for relief/release--
Quietly waiting.
Is a softer voice.
A Voice of wisdom
Asking me to hold my pain.
Giving me a willingness
To Accept compassion for my pain.

Sitting with it.
Holding it.
It speaks to me
And I am the one who changes
By learning more about my pain
And more about compassion.

Barbara Harris Whitfield
(c)2004

The Beginning

I sit patiently, now
In my solitude.
Awaiting the dawn
Of my release…
Knowing a death has
Occurred.
Two cautious still
To announce my rebirth.
But starting to sense my need
For lessons in crawling, then walking.
So I may eventually Skip
And Dance
And Live
To my Heart's Own Content.

Barbara Harris, August 1984. Published in FULL CIRCLE: THE NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE AND BEYOND (Pocket, Simon and Schuster New York 1990.)

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Timeless Zone

I'm walking around in this reality
Somewhat confused!
I have resided in more than one
And physical reality puzzles me more
Than the "altered states" I have played in.

Confusions arise here
As beliefs drop away.
All the dichotomies come crashing down
And opposites dance on the same continuum.

Sometimes, not to be recommended—
While going through pain.
But probably the quickest way to go.

To Exist is not to live—
But just "to exist."
To live, really LIVE—
You have to dive in
And swim around in IT!

When the Doors of perception—
Finally clear,
The awareness of living in the NOW.
Timeless NOW.

So this is what they call "Cosmic Consciousness."
First it comes in flashes—
Then interludes.
Finally, an understanding of
GRACE.

And what GOD is—
Where I wind up at the end of all my words.

BHW

FULL CIRCLE: THE NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE AND BEYOND

Spiritual Awakenings

God has a dream
and the dream comes true
each time one of us awakens

Published in her book:
Spiritual Awakenings:Insights of the near-death experience and other doorways to our soul.

God's Will

When all five billion of us
Live life sharing
Unconditional Love,
We may become the
Synergy of God.

We take our conflicting currents and
Turn them into harmony.
We transcend right and wrong,
Yin and Yang, and
Unite our opposites.

We heal the split and
Embrace something new, something
Born from balance.

This is what the mystery of God may be.
It is not an easy task,
But ultimately it is the one we may have been given.
God's will is our highest human potential.
Shared.

Published in her book:
Spiritual Awakenings: Insights of the near-death experience and other doorways to our soul

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Good Grief

Stop the World
I need to get off.
Feeling a squeeze
Somewhere in my being.

Stop the world!
And my monkey brain
Chatter!
For all that was
And never will be.

Stop my head
And this thing called
"Logic."

Get to the right
And "Braille"
This whole thing.

Give up some smiles
And the stress behind
Them.

Alleviate Grief
By jumping in
And being it.

Published in her book Spiritual Awakenings

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Beliefs

What to believe?
What not to believe?
So many ways to go!
So many moments of conflict.
Moments can be lifetimes, too.

I used to turn my back on faith
And cling to beliefs,
For security's sake.

There was no conflict then,
Only clinging.

Existing to cling
And clinging to exist.

And then I remembered
What love feels like.
And faith whispered
Gently and tenderly
In my dulled ears.

I tried to hear
Over the roar
Of my noisy mind.

I battled all the chatter
To get closer to the Sender.
Sometimes getting so close
It was hard to find my way
Back here.

Where I need to be.
But where?
To be?

The chatter is confusing.
The faith so soft and calm.
The chatter so explicit,
In fifty directions.
The faith so vague.

I will give up my beliefs
And strain to hear and feel
And see.

Be kind to the chatter
So it will settle down
And joyously, tenderly
Dance to a whispered

Melody of love and life.

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Get "Be Here Now"

Here – But Not

Here in the Now.
Present at all times.
Trying not to be tardy,
But noticing
A definite feeling
Of no longer
Fitting
In the same way!

Trying to adjust the focus
So each point
Could seem clear.

Tripping each time on the thrust.
Refusing to compare.
No judgments either.
Giving up on total understanding.
But always aware!

Looking in
From the outside
Through a window of connections.

And the saving Grace:
Seeing as a small child again.
The absence of good and bad
So the child can keep her freshness
To the Hear and Now.

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Let's Start Here...
("How do I write a poem")

How do you write a poem?

You step into the moment.

Clear!!

And grab the feeling
Especially a feeling
That Glows!
From within your depths.

Sometimes, a poem starts
By walking
For miles
Fast.

And all the time…
Experiencing
The freedom of Nature.
The rhythm of my body.
And occasionally, the rhythm of
Nature.

Sometimes,
In the shower after—
I linger—
To be with my Self
And close my eyes.
And occasionally—
Witness a vision—
Organizing—
Manifesting
Before me
Of a wonderful Golden Light
Beyond the opening of a Tunnel.
My Tunnel.
My Self!

Or sometimes,
I write a poem.
How do I write a poem?

I step into the moment,
Clear!
And grab the feeling—
Especially a feeling
That Glows!
From within my
Depths.
And then listen
To "Self."
It's there—
The Glow.
Or sometimes, the pain
Whatever.

The first word you hear
Or feel or sense—
Is a Key
That becomes a sentence
And another.

When the sentences stop coming—
Read what was said…
And more comes.
And somewhere
In the first five lines
Or so,
There is a "Click,"
As though an electron
Jumped an orbit
In ALL your atoms.
And you are in this moment
In a very special way.

Each moment is spent
In the Present Moment.
In slow motion.
In Active meditation.
In reverie.

When I feel like I'm stuck,
I realize that the poem
Is finished.

The hardest part
Is to give "It" a name
After.

I usually have No Purpose
Or plan laid out so—
I don't know what the poem
Will be
Until after when
I read it.

"Self" writes the poem.
"I" gives it a name.
(And sometimes negotiates.)
And all learn.

Then, a REAL feeling
Of Euphoria.
A high peak.
Intellectual… Emotional.
And Spiritual.
A rush of endorphins.
A celebration.
And then you land…
And smile a lot.

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About Barbara Harris Whitfield:

Barbara Harris Whitfield is the author of many published articles and three books, FULL CIRCLE: THE NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE AND BEYOND (Pocket Books), Spiritual Awakenings: Insights of the Near Death experience and Other Doorways to Our Soul (Health Communications, Inc.), and Final Passage: Sharing the Journey As This Life Ends (Health Communications, Inc.).

She is a thanatologist (thanatology is the study of death and dying), workshop presenter, near-death experiencer, and therapist in private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. She was on the faculty of Rutgers University's Summer School for Alcohol and Drug Studies for 12 years.

Barbara spent six years researching the aftereffects of the near-death experience (NDE) at the University of Connecticut Medical School. She was a member of the executive board of the Kundalini Research Network and has sat on the executive board of the International Association for Near-Death Studies. She is a consulting editor and contributor for the Journal of Near-Death Studies.

Barbara has been a guest on several major television talk shows including Larry King Live, The Today Show, Unsolved Mysteries, Good Morning America, Oprah, Joan Rivers, Phil Donahue, and CNN.

Barbara's site, www.barbarawhitfield.com, which she shares with her husband, best-selling author Dr. Charles L. Whitfield, provides timely and helpful information on recovery from abuse, trauma, and addiction. Her site is a member of the communities of several webrings dealing with recovery issues, abuse, trauma, PTSD, depressive illness and moving forward into a whole life.

You can contact Barbara directly via email at: bw11@mindspring.com. Please mention where you saw her article.