Donna Brooks, LCSW

21/08/2025

A poem that speaks to the many parts within us. Bringing together my love of poetry, the natural world, and parts work. YOU are the keeper of the zoo.
Self Energy. ❤️

WILDERNESS
by Carl Sandburg

There is a wolf in me … fangs pointed for tearing gashes … a red tongue for raw meat … and the hot lapping of blood—I keep this wolf because the wilderness gave it to me and the wilderness will not let it go.

There is a fox in me … a silver-gray fox … I sniff and guess … I pick things out of the wind and air … I nose in the dark night and take sleepers and eat them and hide the feathers … I circle and loop and double-cross.

There is a hog in me … a snout and a belly … a machinery for eating and grunting … a machinery for sleeping satisfied in the sun—I got this too from the wilderness and the wilderness will not let it go.

There is a fish in me … I know I came from saltblue water-gates … I scurried with shoals of herring … I blew waterspouts with porpoises … before land was … before the water went down … before Noah … before the first chapter of Genesis.

There is a baboon in me … clambering-clawed … dog-faced … yawping a galoot’s hunger … hairy under the armpits … here are the hawk-eyed hankering men … here are the blond and blue-eyed women … here they hide curled asleep waiting … ready to snarl and kill … ready to sing and give milk … waiting—I keep the baboon because the wilderness says so.

There is an eagle in me and a mockingbird … and the eagle flies among the Rocky Mountains of my dreams and fights among the Sierra crags of what I want … and the mockingbird warbles in the early forenoon before the dew is gone, warbles in the underbrush of my Chattanoogas of hope, gushes over the blue Ozark foothills of my wishes—And I got the eagle and the mockingbird from the wilderness.

O, I got a zoo, I got a menagerie, inside my ribs, under my bony head, under my red-valve heart—and I got something else: it is a man-child heart, a woman-child heart: it is a father and mother and lover: it came from God-Knows-Where: it is going to God-Knows-Where—For I am the keeper of the zoo: I say yes and no: I sing and kill and work: I am a pal of the world: I came from the wilderness.

19/08/2025

Do what you value. Receive what you value. Not aligned? You don't have to receive it.

31/07/2025

Upcoming events September – December!

17/07/2025

May I never be done growing.

15/07/2025

EQUANIMITY.

14/07/2025

I have leaned on the words of this poet often. What an inspiration. Even in their death.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16umQLi4GN/?mibextid=wwXIfr

“Whenever I leave this world, whether it’s sixty years from now, I wouldn’t want anyone to say I lost some battle. I’ll be a winner that day.” – Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson was a winner today. On July 14th, at 4:16AM, Andrea Gibson died in their home surrounded by their wife, Meg, four ex-girlfriends, their mother and father, dozens of friends, and their three beloved dogs.

Poet Laureate of Colorado, world-touring spoken word artist, author of seven books, Calais Maine High School State Basketball Champion, and subject of the award-winning documentary, “Come See Me in the Good Light”, and so much more — Andrea Gibson accomplished much on their 49 years on this planet. Though Andrea desperately wished to have lived a longer life, they could not have possibly lived a fuller one.

Since learning they had cancer in 2021, Andrea has been a champion of finding beauty in unlikely places and gratitude in the hardest hours. Over the last four years, they danced with their diagnosis, and continually aimed their internal compass toward joy. One of the last things Andrea said on this plane was, “I fu***ng loved my life.”

Not long ago, Andrea wrote a poem titled “Love Letter From the Afterlife.” In it, they offered this line: “I am more here than I ever was before. I am more with you than I ever could have imagined.” Today, and all days forward, we hope you feel Andrea’s enormous spirit and immense presence beside you.

Meg and Heather, the authors of this post, have absolutely no idea how to encapsulate the magnitude and magnificence of a life like Andrea Gibson’s, so they intend to keep writing, to keep telling Andrea’s story, to keep Andrea alive in every way they can.

Andrea would want you to know that they got their wish. In the end, their heart was covered in stretch marks.

Andrea Gibson 8/13/75 - 7/14/25

10/07/2025

Soft front. Hard back.
Open heart. Strong spine.
Do no harm. Take no s**t.
Find that sweet balance for healthy boundaries...not too soft - not too brittle.

24/06/2025

Here is a simple present moment exercise that is mindfulness you can easily incorporate into your day...

The 3-Breath Practice...

Whatever you are doing, switch your attention to the physical sensation of three in-breaths and three out-breaths. Your body is always in the present moment, so give yourself relief from all the mental chatter and focus on the breath. Ahhhh... It is also a wonderful way to "practice the pause" before doing something impulsive or reactive that you might regret later. Use the mindful focus on breath to give yourself time and space to reflect before speaking or acting.

08/06/2025

Good dogs know that diversity, equity, and inclusion is what America is all about! Crystal Street Space is a safe place for everyone!
❤️is🧡is💛is💚is💙is💜!!!!

27/04/2025

Perfection can be the enemy of the good. It gets in the way of trying and making good, doing good, being good.

I am so good with things being good enough!

20/04/2025

Happy Easter.
May LOVE prevail.
May we know love.
May we know peace.
May we live it.

30/03/2025

Grateful for our new moon Spirit Circle Drumming this evening. A warm fire, playful spirits, and engaged community. Thanks, Karen Tlusty!