Before The War

Sometimes, Nikita's poetry guts me.

And this one did just that.

Filling my heart with goodness, 

means weaving sorrow into the tapestry 

nestled in close with glory and gratitude.

I wish it wasn't so, yet, there's no escaping it

no matter how diligently I avoid it.

I continue to carry it as it carries me.

Learning to let it flow through me,

to recognize and absorb the painful,

to feel it strong and release it 

as it moves into the river of time is the lesson.

Overcoming the temptation to turn away

without wallowing in despair is the challenge.

I'm grateful you are here.

Together we can navigate 

the wretched and wonderful

paradoxes of our lives.

 

The Book

". . .to be beautiful is also to be brief and simple, 

is to rise up and be glorious, and then vanish."

This is true in the big picture of our universe, isn't it?

It's what we, as humans are meant to be.

How I wish we could all be beautiful before we vanish...

or at least treat each other from that perspective.

"the usual daily foolishness that comes to so little

so far as the real things matter: eternity, the unseen,

the unrecognized, the filling of the heart with goodness..."

A recipe for where to focus our attention, perhaps?

My personal objective is to fill my heart with goodness.

We humans can write the story of our lives...lilies and lichen

and countless splendid entities on earth, cannot.

What if we could at least attempt to write their story for them?

Write the biography of a honey bee, a dandelion, American Columbo,

or any more-than-human being who draws us in...

the Milky Way, Venus, Pluto...

 

Chop Wood, Carry Water

I adore the simplicity of this.

Any tiny task qualifies...

"Every living being devotes their time

to the task of survival."

We are beyond fortunate...for many of us,

survival does not have to be front and center 

on our to-do list.

I deeply appreciate it doesn't have to be.

I want that privilege to belong to everyone.

"From inbreath to exhale,

 from first light to last,

prepare what keeps the fire,

gather what quenches our thirst."

What keeps your fire?

What quenches your thirst?

 

Please Tell Me A Story

Isn't this a treat?

I love the turning of everything inside out and opposite.

"Tell me a story where slivers of mental landscape 

puncture the periphery of deceit and 

shifts in the wind help to balance the 

heavy of unsettled."

Yes, we can puncture the  periphery of deceit!

Let's turn this world around.

"Tell me a story where new only translates 

what the soul knows of ancient."

I'm coming to believe ancient is not the same as old.

Ancient is the invisible and mighty power. . .

the unseen forces working for the good.

It always was and always will be.

The infinite land of soul where magic and 

enchantment become commonplace.

"where grass is fluent in sentient knowledge

and trees are a mandala of prayer."

 

There Are Mornings

"Some mornings in summer, I step outside

and the sky opens and pours itself into me..."

Isn't it interesting?  

Even if its raining, the sky is pouring itself into me...

"But the plot calls for me to live, be ordinary, 

This resonates like a quiet gong with me.

It's everything to "live and be ordinary."

"...say nothing to anyone."

Hmmm...how can one manage this?

It seems ironic to hear a poet recommend saying nothing.

Plus, don't we all speak whether we say anything or not?

Doesn't our body, our presence, speak constantly?

The energy we carry may be silent, 

yet isn't it still telling its own story?

This makes me want to listen more carefully.

Why are the "mirrors burning"?

 

Hope

"in the spaciousness of uncertainty is room to act."

The question for each of us is: what is mine to do?

"you may be able to influence the outcome --

you alone or in concert with a few dozen or

several million others."

Every Friday, when my daughter calls me

on her way home from work in MO,

she toots her horn at the No Kings folks

who are rallying along her route.

This comes to mind as I read these words.

I am so grateful and inspired to know this 

is happening miles and miles away and 

in so many places across our country.

In big ways and small, people are resisting tyranny.

"It's the belief that what we do matters

even though how and when it may matter,

who and what it may impact, are not things

we can know beforehand.

So don't judge or compare your mattering!

Go about your particular business knowing

you are making an impact for the good.

 

The First Great Thing

"deliverance will not come from

the rushing noisy centers of civilization."

I had some questions around the word deliverance

when I considered sharing this quote.

It brought up some unsavory thoughts in my mind.

However, when I saw Miriam Webster's 

first definition was "liberation", I proceeded.

There are other associations I'm going to dismiss.

"It will come from the lonely places."

It's hard to admit I have lonely places.

Not solitude as in happily engaged with

my own adventures; which is where I'm drawn to,

but lonely as in forlorn, missing out, blue.

Is that where liberation comes from?

I know my appreciation for the medicine

I receive from going outside 

when feeling lonely, blue, confused, 

undecided and/or overwhelmed 

grows as the years stack up.

I’m thinking Mother Earth 

could be the best path to deliverance.