What Joins Us

"I will. . . walk to the shore with my satchel of questions, 

the ones that writhe and twist in me, 

the ones that make me tremble."

What a blazingly accurate description of the

questions I tend to skirt around without

making eye contact in order to avoid the scrutiny.

The ones I cannot bear to ask out of fear of the answer.

The ones that frighten me to my bones for what they'll require from me.

Why do I expect the answers to always be difficult? 

What kind of inner masochism is this? It's humiliating...ha!  No irony intended.

What if, the most terrifying questions lead to the most awe inspiring answers?

What if there is no test to fail, only a harvest of bounty to explore?

What if the things I fear most, given to the silence,

 boomerang back softly with a gentle nudge.?

Or I'm gifted a key to unlock space I didn't know existed?

I recently learned that atoms are 99% empty space.

Is that where silence operates? 

"No matter where we stand, we can listen to the silence

that crosses all boundaries, listen, together, 

and wade into the current beneath all listening."

I wonder if this "current beneath all listening" is where the unknown resides?

The more I ripen, the more I realize how vast and amazing that is.

This encourages me to keep asking those questions

that "make me tremble". . .to gingerly crack open the window of my heart

to the far side of fear and rage and all I find loathsome believing

that beyond the debris is immeasurably magnificent.

 

Imagine

As long as we're imagining...

"Pretend,  just for a moment that we all so loved our 

threatened earth that we . . .worked on cherishing the places

where we already are."

Think of all the goodness we can imagine into being?

Actual equity among peoples, and truth and radical justice...

for all.

"We have the revelation that everyone needs health care, sick leave, steady work."

Health care workers are paid fairly while patients receive care they need

in a timely and affordable fashion.

"health care workers are heroes. Also teachers.

Not to mention the artists of all kinds who teach us resilience and joy."

Child and elderly care workers are paid appropriately providing

expert performance for those they care for. 

Everyone has access to the education they need to fulfill their heart's purpose.

No occupation is considered above or below another.

This imagining makes for some pleasant diversion from reality doesn it?

What if it actually was possible to bring our imagining to fruition?

It's a great way to spend your leisure and who knows?

Maybe one day, our imaginings will create reality... 

 like a fairy tale come true?

Thank you for being here.

You matter.

A Great Shining

What if, in this moment, every person on earth thinks of 

someone who makes us feel cherished, known, safe?

Doesn't this sound preposterous?

So much so, I hesitated to share it.

Is this what it would take to change our world?

Everyone swimming in energy free from anything hateful?

I'm thinking of the nasties I harbor within,

 no matter how much I don't want to, 

and it makes me wonder.

Can marinating in tenderness make cruelty disappear?

They say you need to feel your feelings, don't they?

Perhaps imagining the uglies being accepted 

and rearranged into something useful?

How about something

 thick and rich and chocolaty delicious?

Just kidding ... sort of.

How about transforming it into rich, arable soil

for growing nourishing food?

Let's keep imagining, no matter how preposterous.

What do we have to lose but what is hurting us?

Namaste

 , 

River

"The river itself is nothing but movement, 

flowing like time in the only direction it can go."

And that direction is onward. 

I would add that movement is not nothing, nor is river.

"It moves without volition, without resistance..."

Gravity, Earth topography and fluid mechanics

 move the river, which means to me, river

moves in relationship to place, to Earth...

in what I'll call a communion with

the living world she touches.

"Take your pick, Your options are to stay

safe and dry on the shore or slip into the current

and be carried away."

I've come to think of River as alive

especially after reading MacFarlane's treatise on the matter.

S/he is a vital part of the ecosystem with

an essential influence on our environment and our planet.

We are wise to attend carefully to every aspect of her presence.

In the interest of "being like River", I stumble on 

"without volition and without resistance."

What if, in some as yet unknown dimension,

rivers do move with volition and resistance?

How many times have humans attempted to

control rivers and failed?

Doesn't that indicate resistance?

Doesn't it imply a volition to be what river is meant to be

without the imposition of someone else's will? 

Tyrants cannot contain rivers!

I'm grateful you are here.

 

Spinning

When this poem came by for a visit, I wanted to share it with you.

"You do not need to spin in ever increasing circles

in fear you might miss something."

How many of us grow up afraid we might miss something,

and do something wrong?  I know this fear well.

It stalks me like a jealous, jilted paramour. 

I'm getting over it.  

". . .you decide on the cargo. So lighten, lighten the load

with shrugs, not sighs."

I'm practicing the shrug; I've got sighs honed to perfection.

"You are free to love and forgive yourself for love

that hits the mark left of centre."

A clever way to say "I muddled that up nicely."

"Those who need you may never be able

to acknowledge the gift you bring..."

Something to remember when feeling unappreciated.  

It helps in continuing to put your

best broken foot forward, anyway.

There's a good possibility I'm the one

who doesn't acknowledge and appreciate

the gift of love someone brings.

It's why I love Rosemerry W. Trommer's invitation

to translate everything someone says or does, 

no matter how inept, into a gesture of love and caring.

PS: This does not include acts of violence.   She's referring to the 

insensitive things people say and do  when

 someone has experienced a profound loss."

Thank you for being you and for being here.

We're in this together.

 

Questions For Winter

This entire poem is a poignant song of longing 

for becoming who I want to be.

How timely its directed to winter. 

"Burrowing into the den of my heart" and meeting

the "feral creatures of rage, grief and shame 

with reverence for their wildness"? 

That is a journey asking for more courage than I can muster

 however, I long for the capability to 

become intimately acquainted with them without

turning away, silencing them or acting out in violence.

I'm not adept at allowing growling and howling...

(I'm afraid they'll hurt someone and its my job to prevent that)

yet, I trust I can learn to feed them with compassion.

We are sorely in need of compassion these days. 

"Can you show me how to bear the frost of my fear

with grace, how to let my misgivings melt?"

Fear is like a terrified toddler at the mercy of

big people looming over them, needing to learn

it has power of its own and how to use it wisely.

I must not let it paralyze me.

"Can you show me how to bear the heaviness of all the lonely years

on my body like patient soil beneath firm feet of snow?

She moves from one potent topic to another

 with remarkable precision, doesn't she?

"Would you reveal how to be present to my body

with the gentleness of bird wings

fluttering open to yet another dawn?

A deep, deep sigh, with a fervent yes.

"Will you show me how to be open to love

the way the clouded sky is open 

to thousands of tender snowflakes

falling through it?

I bow in humble gratitude to Elyza-Breath Blooming/E.B.B. 

for giving us these word images in honor of winter.

 

In Broad Daylight

"I take my rage to the river."

I am grateful to have Cartoogecheye Creek 

to carry my rage to. It is faithful and loyal

in its presence, acceptance, and comfort.

". . .not to rid myself of rage

but to become a clearer channel 

to meet the chest-scouring,

scab-clawing, cell-screaming,

throat-burning fury of rage

and remind my heart I can

know all this rage, can be

feral with rage and still

keep on loving the world."

I'm slowly coming to know the truth of this.

To know I can be feral with rage and

still love this gorgeous mess of a world.

May you find your place for channeling

the rage that comes from loving this world.

Namaste