This photo of my beautiful friend, Shauna (aka Redfeathergirl Alchemy Magic) was taken by me on the streets of Oaxaca, MX in March 2021, near Zipolite Beach.

# Barton Springs Walk in Austin, TX

Jade green water weaved 

With moss green gold

As I think of my friend

Who passed too soon

How I had talked to her

Only recently in California 

She in Georgia

On my way to visit

Another friend on Sacramento St. 

In California

Our friendship 

Connected by the mycelium 

Of hope and enthogenic healing

A wish for a new paradigm 

Love in all its forms

The base, yet in the heat of

The moment, so easy to forget 

What is integration, really?

Is it just the braiding of all you’ve

Ever known, absorbed

Limiting beliefs, conditioning,

Stories we’ve woven into 

Our minds, our bodies

And yet the rewiring, retraining 

Of our brain, our hearts

With positive, hopeful beliefs

Remembering, repairing

Growth, to live to our

Full potential 

Grab those strands and braid

Them together

Confusion, analysis, paralysis 

Into new grooves to get out

Of this rut

This feeling of stuck

So many ways to look at a knot

One person sees a beautiful mess

Another sees a destructive nest

Whose POV?

Depends on who’s writing

The characterizations, the plot

Who’s structure, system?

How to light that fire under 

Another? Yourself? And based on

Which system? Who’s structure?

How to weave a fabric

Of love, leave behind

Memories that inspire

Versus trauma-bond?

The braiding continues 

Pools of jade and gold

Joining the wider Lady Bird

Lake filled with orange

Kayaks, blue stand up paddle boards, 

golden green turtles 

perched on logs

Edged by soaring cedars

With trunks like jurassic elephants

Will we re-member?

Will we re-pair?

Has my friend forgotten 

Now that she’s left this

Planet, once my Earth Sister

Now zipping and zooming

Like a red-feathered bird?


Lily Chien-Davis

I am a writer curious about all the ways we feed bliss into our minds and bodies. With the short time we all have on this earth, how might we be our best selves with ourselves and each other? I enjoy sharing what I am still learning to be a better human.

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