You

Let's think long and hard on this beautiful reality.

Whenever we feel "less than" or "off" in any way,

keep this at our fingertips as a reminder.

Let it sink down deep into our bones and sinew.

Every cell in our body needs to carry this molecule.

I cherish the idea of "that star-bright web of you".

I carry you with me.

We're in this together.

Namaste'

 

No One Owns The Water

I always wonder how humans managed to cause so much

pain and destruction in our world. 

I wanted to ask, what would our world be like if the indigenous 

way of life would have become the dominant one across society?

I realized that required some investigation.  Here is the result:

"Indigenous peoples were not universally nonviolent —  but many had highly advanced systems of peacemaking, conflict resolution, and ethical restraints on violence that often exceeded those of colonial societies."  

The problem, as I see it, stems back to the fact that:

"Large-scale, destructive war became far more common only after: the introduction of European weapons,

massive population disruptions, resource displacement, forced removals, and colonial pressure that destabilized traditional systems."

So I come back to my original question. Which has long haunted me.

And my question is this:  Is there any way we can 

heal the vast mistakes of the past and return our societies

to ones with "highly advanced systems of peacemaking,

conflict resolution, and ethical restraints on violence?"

Isn't that worth looking into?

Isn't that the ultimate intention of democracy? 

Isn't that what true equality is all about?

Cooperation rather than domination?

I'd say we're working on it.  Yes, we still have a long, long way to go,

but many, many of us are working on it.

We're in this together and we can make it happen.

Namaste'

A Butterfly

"Come hell or high water, I am flying today."

We all have this tenacity whether we recognize it or not.

It's helpful to pay attention to when we're feeling it 

and what we're feeling it about.

What is it that gives us this strength?

In some cases, its simply survival, isn't it?

Although survival is seldom simple, if you ask me.

"Strength does not grow from easy living."

Our strength is certaingly growing stronger these days as we bear witness

to what is happening to our brothers and sisters across the globe,

and responding in the best way we each know how to stop the needless suffering.

"...it's not the absence of fragility,

but rather the ability to prepare yourself for the journey."

Can anyone adequately prepare themself for the journey?

Perhaps that means coaching ourself to take whatever comes, 

relying on the grace and resilience of the universe to see us through?

And, to find every shred of joy, happiness and love we can along the way?

May it be so.

Namaste'

 

 

They Say The Heart Is

Of course, we all know this. 

We are using it now.

Loving ourselves more.

Loving each other more.

Loving our country and our universe more.

It's why we must keep on...

no matter the cost, no matter the heartache.

We must continue to open our hearts ever wider.

It's "the most powerful thing we will ever do."

Namaste'

 

All Yours

"What if it is enough, this voice that is all yours."

I want to say, what if we are enough?

"no add ons needed, nothing to take away."

Exactly as we are?

I've spent pretty much my entire life

trying to be better...more...improved.

I'm asking myself why and

how would things be different if

I focused on simply being myself

without any judgment, criticism or apology?

Well, I can think of some instances

where people living out of that mindset

are doing grave harm to humans and our planet.

Decency, dignity and equality 

do not come automatically, do they?

Or do they?

Don't they say that when you learn to 

honor and respect yourself,

you will do the same for others?

What would our world be like then?

What a dream.  

We're in this together...

may we be ourselves in kindness

and may it infect the world causing

a pandemic of goodness 

for which there is no cure.

Namaste'

 

Lick Your Wounds

"I know you feel like sunsets are your story, 

but you still have your heart like morning."

We are gifted with mornings and chances

to begin anew...today is one.

"Leave the dead thing to rot in the dirt."

This does not pertain to loved ones...

they are carried with us forever,

but what is no longer useful for casting love

into the world, needs to be left.

"You still have your heart like water."

Water is our heart.

It pulses and flows and carries.

It stills and disappears underground 

and casts out debris.

"your heart, like a seed, 

split and growing green in the sun."

I love the vision of my heart like a seed...

filled with potential for bountiful goodness

growing forward, now and into the future.

I raise a glass to your heart.

Namaste'

 

You Can Walk Around Pretending

Love, love, love this ode to poetry and the definition

of what it means to be alive, unique and amazing.

Isn't it so true we are all

"holding both a storm and a calm sea inside..."?

and

"thinking of ourselves as more mess than miracle"?

Let's always remember

"we are a living, breathing piece of poetry written to defy all cosmic odds."

Most particularly when everything around us seems

to be determined to drown that out."

Namaste'

 

One Day You Will Understand

I don't know about you, but the world I grew up in

was full of voices telling me where to go

and how to be...good, in particular.

Nice...always.

As I recall, no one was coaching me on being myself.

No one was there to encourage me to feel what I was feeling

even if it was too loud, unpleasant, uncomfortable or 

god forbid, unacceptable to "society".

Not. One. Person.

Murderous rage was strictly forbidden; 

crying uncontrollably frowned upon,

screaming was punished, 

and anything related to sexuality 

was never uttered except to warn against it.

I was well into my ripening 

before that message was delivered.

At that point, I realized, regardless of the past,

now, the "coach" is me.

It was like a volcano erupted.

The lava is still pouring down the slopes.

And I want it to continue until my ripening

turns to remains and then to enriched soil.

May we all continue to "look within for the maps

we were drawing before the world told us where to go."

Namaste'

 

When I Ask You

"Start making something you."

What do you think?  

What would that look like?

Feel like?

Sound like?

Taste like?

What aroma would it have?

It's waiting at the edge of your fingers

or the tip of your tongue.

"We need your art."

Namaste'

 

What To Love When

"If you can bear the stillness of not looking away,

if you step even closer, the contours will begin to lose

their meaning.  The noise of an old story will fade.

New shapes will emerge, like petals after a hard rain."

This seems like a worthwhile suggestion for learning

to look beneath and beyond my assumptions and judgments...

which is my automatic in a world that seems to be 

careening toward me with offerings and demands galore.

I wish I could set aside the thought 

 I might miss something important

if I don't remain highly vigilant at all times.

It's a good excuse for not pausing to really look...

especially at what I want to shield from photographs.

"...your breathing has softened, your heart a door you can open past the jambs."

I can feel my breath soften by reading that sentence.

This world could use more softening, don't you think?

Namaste'

 

The Naropa Bow

Goodness matters.

Decency matters.

Dignity for all who exist matters.

What you feel matters even when it cannot be seen

or measured or counted.

Trust in the river of goodness.

Trust in the goodness of each other.

We all belong...we all matter.

Namaste'

 

Vote For Dancing

From beginning to end, I'm in love with this poem.

"Some stretch of time we agree to inhabit with

complete silence, in solitude, in stillness."

Wouldn't that be something to behold?

..."kneeling in front of the same tree at dawn"...

or any tree anywhere, anytime.

"pardon immigrating geese "...

[and welcome immigrating people]

"tax credits for books purchased by local authors"

and tax credits for books of poetry!  

"For dancing. For rain. In just the way a bridge might vote for connection,

and the sun for a new day. And your hand on my shoulder for steady,

and the sky for welcome,  for air.

Isn't this marvelous?  

With deep thanks to: 

https://www.instagram.com/moudi.sbeity/

 

Buffalo Run Towards The Storm

This touched me so deeply, I was overwhelmed to tears.

"Something to remember when you, too, 

are faced by the coming darkness."

I've come to a place in life when darkness 

means the unknown and uncertainty...

not something to fear but something to explore.

"You might then gather in bodies, and bow your head."

This brought to mind 7 million bodies in the streets...

and many others at home in solidarity...

raising their voices and their hearts for goodness and decency.

"You might then feel, beyond all doubt,

that hooved soul of yours galloping towards

the faint horizon, and trust it, at last,

as the sturdiest muscle you know.

Somewhere I read that the fact we feel

so much rage and horror and upset

means they have not succeeded

in making us numb.

Billions of dollars have been spent

to do just that and it is failing.

We are not numb. 

Our hearts are breaking but we are not.

We are "galloping towards the faint horizon",

together...so, so many of us...

and we will prevail.

Namaste'

 

Gulf Of My Body

This explains why water is where I land 

whenever I think about what is most precious...

most vital...physically, emotionally, psychologically 

and spiritually.

We are water...May we (be)ar it with awe and reverence.

Namaste'

 

All Things Bloom

"Some things aren't ready to stand exposed

and naked in the light.

Some cannot bear the violence of knowing,

the insistence of change."

"the violence of knowing"...Wow to that bit of wisdom.

Until recently, I was not acquainted with this violence.

I am now.  I guess that's what some would call a privileged life.

Being this stage of golden and just discovering this.

I am familiar with the "insistence of change",

as I know you are...intimately familiar.

It's why we cherish the continuity of nature...

the sun and moon and galaxies...

the seasons that we can rely on.

"All you can do is shine on with indiscriminate hope

in trust that all things bloom,

with determined patience that they will."

May we discover two things:  indiscriminate hope and

determined patience.  My hope is that they lay

dormant inside me, ready to awaken and bloom.

Namaste'

PS:  Moudi is a new poet to me.  I'm grateful to cross his path.

When a poem reduces me to deep sobs, I pay attention.  

I'm including his response when I subscribed to his Substack

to demonstrate what draws me to his work.

A deep bow of gratitude from my heart to yours for subscribing to Habibi Means Beloved, a poetry publication exploring themes of belonging and liberation through a contemplative framework of compassion, forgiveness, and awe. My hope is that this work stands as an invitation to remember your unquestionable belonging, that you feel touched in that place in you that resides in wonder, and to then look at all of life through this lens of gratitude and tenderness. Perhaps our hearts may awaken against the backdrop of industrialization, profit, and war, which desecrate the dignity of each other, the land, and all beings. ​​We have been gifted a brief and mysterious life in the wide unknowable universe. So why not honor our place in it, and begin already with the business of grief alongside its joy, seeing each other as the miracles we already are. You can read more about me here, and about my forthcoming books here. With Love, Moudi