The Un-Journey

There have been hours and days when I have been in this place.

Excruciating at first-the things I cooked up to distract myself

from the discomfort of this "un-journey".

Over time, it has gotten more familiar and a bit easier.

What I'm coming to realize is that it's ok to be fallow,

necessary even.  To do nothing, like the empty garden

or the leafless tree, is not nothing.

What you don't see on the surface is mighty.

I've learned I can trust the workings of the universe

inside my inner orbit, 

even when I can't immediately detect it.

Patience and trust are the qualities 

I've come to value more and more

as time grows short. 

They don't come easy 

for someone programmed

to get. things. done.

They don't come easy for someone who

hears "do something" and feels it

in her fingers and toes...with exquisite throbbing.

Steady on, woman, patience and trust whisper.

 

Any Intelligent Fool

And there you go...a pretty accurate description 

of where we are in this moment of human history on Earth.

There's a sad amount of testimony to these words 

in scores of history books describing the past.  

I have yet to read one that doesn't

contain an overwhelming amount of violence.

If you know of any, please share.

(Rebecca Solnit is one exception who comes to mind,

thanks be to all that is good, for her work on the matter.)

 

"Intelligent fools" with capital wreaking havoc 

in the name of progress while those with a "touch of genius

and a lot of courage" operate valiantly in the wings.

It brings to mind the new book by Brent Martin,

William Bartram and the Nature that Could Have Been.

Has anyone written a textbook on those with this touch of genius 

who moved in the opposite direction?  

Many names come to mind as I write these words...I started

a list and had to stop...I'd run on and on and still leave some out.

I take a knee and bow my head in gratitude and reverence to their efforts.

Makes me wonder why we're in such a state with

so many voices calling us so eloquently from those wings?

Their words should be required reading for every person on the planet, 

taught in every curriculum!   Alas, just like the common plants

growing steady and quiet along the roadways, 

very few pay attention.

 

The Measured Thud of Walking Boots

 

Offering This Poem

https://www.instagram.com/abbielynnshanahan/

"Look upon the world and nourish

the places that cry out for joy."

It doesn't have to be loud...

this joy we bring.

It can be quiet and gentle,

even silent...a meeting of the eyes,

a look of understanding, a glance

that says, "I see you".

"consider the truth that we might begin

with that small act of rebellion."

Kindness and respect when both are absent.

It matters...you matter.

 

The Loved Ones

https://berrycenter.org/

These words give me pause...a long one.  

I read the words, again and again, thinking of  

loved ones who have died to this world.

Were they absent for a while?

My parents, two brothers, friends?

Have they come near me again?

I have not seen them in dreams,

( I seldom remember my dreams.)

I see them in my memories now and then.

Does that count?

And if I don't remember them there,

does it mean I didn't love them enough?

What a sad question, I say to myself.

I conjure them now as I consider this.

What about pets who have departed?

I have to ask.

I have not lost someone exquisitely close...

I cannot bear the thought...

and send it away immediately...

"They live now in the permanent world.

We are the absent ones."

This is comforting.

Still, it's easier to anticipate

returning to soil.

 

Solar

Thomas Centolella, Solar from Views From Along the Middle Way

I must be the sun.

I... must be the one

This is no small ask...it makes me realize

how much I want someone else 

to pick up that torch

and carry it for or with me.  

I don't want to be the only one 

to do the heavy lifting.

I must be the one to simmer

in the piquant juices of possibility,

though the ingredients are unknown.

For some reason I cannot explain

this feels slightly easier and more doable.

Not that it's without its downside...

it requires staying with possibility 

through thick and thin...not relinquishing it,

most especially when things seem grim and foreboding.

I must issue forth a warmth

without discrimination, and any guarantee

it will come back to me.

This may be a step too far...being the light

has to bring at least an infinitesimal measure

of satisfaction. No one else has to know.

The person glowing needs a tidbit or two or three

 in order to continue shining.

I have to be at the very least

one stray intact ray

of local energy, one small

but critical fraction

of illumination. 

Being our most authentic

messy and magnificent self,

in whatever setting we're in

IS being the light. 

We're already shining.

I have to shine as if

sorry life itself depended on it.

I wouldn't call life sorry...although,

reading history, I might be tempted to

call human life sorry...for the ways

we treat each other and our home.

Regardless of the drawbacks, 

I consider life, in all its grift and glory

a gift of amazing proportions.

 

We Don't Talk About War

It's hard to read words describing what

our sisters and brothers are living through.

The danger they are experiencing breaks my heart.

"We say we are fine, as if silence can keep us safe."

May it keep them safe...and may the silence

one day be made audible in a poem

so others can witness their troubles

and send empathy and compassion

to them over the invisible air waves

that join us all.

The sorrow is huge.

As is our caring and our hope

for an end to their suffering.