World Dance

"Everything dies, sooner or later.

Winning or losing, everything dies."

Truth, no matter my attempts to ignore,

deny, avoid this fact.

"The game of pain plays and stays and repeats 

that everything dies sooner or later. 

But the sky behind the sky tells you its secret 

close in your ear and warm against your lips: 

everything lives."

The sky behind the sky...

how I love this way of putting it...

what we can not see or wrap our head around

yet somehow we know it exists.

Everything lives... defies my small mind to understand.

In some cases I can accept this as fact.

We all die little deaths and bigger deaths 

over and over and over.

But there are areas from this vantage point,

where dead is dead as in gone.

Mom's physical hands to hold,  dad's physical hugs...

alive in my memory, yes, but generations to come

will not have that physical memory to recall.  

Perhaps when I myself am dead, 

I will be able to see a truth in this?

"The world is to big to lose."

Is it?

 

All The Night Stars

"The stars shine forever, even when dead.

So do we."

I confirmed that some stars do continue to shine after death.

The idea that we will too, is delightful. 

Whether real or metaphorical,

I'll take it.

"Ignore the background noise of wars. . .

Fear is a sheer nighty on a skeleton."

I adore the image of fear as a nighty on a skeleton.

It reduces it to comical in a grim kind of way.

"Sorrow is wild flowers in a graveyard

over our tomorrows.

Another "haunting" image which does 

 not reduce to comical but defines

in a bittersweet way that matches a sad reality.

"Always remember to shine."

 

Mountains On The Inside

If words could be volcanos, this is close...metaphorically speaking.

I confess, I prefer softer language, steely eyed spider webs

and water smoothing rock simply by flowing. 

That being said, it's exhilarating to consider this 

amount of power inside of our skin and bones...

the magnificence of mountains... 

the vastness of oceans...

the crowd of people awaiting our directions...

"Open your mouth the way the volcano opens its mouth.

There's an ocean inside you, the ocean that covered the earth once.

Call out the mountains inside you and let everything begin."

May all that is not serving goodness be turned to cinders.

Let the volcanos roar.

 

Homeless Is The Wrong Word

"Don't define people by what they don't have

as if the home that isn't there was realer

 than the person who isn't in it."

Isn't this a splendid way of thinking?

It humbles me.

"People don't talk to places: not imaginary places,

not controversial places,...People talk to other people

who have mouths and who can talk back."

I'm not proud of my immediate response

upon encountering someone we could consider 

"homeless" (unhoused?).

Mother Teresa I am decidedly NOT.

I do not see an individual person, I see someone I 

feel sorry for which fills me with guilt and shame; 

immediately followed by the strong urge 

to depart, and avoid the entire situation. 

I fear engaging with them as I assume 

it leads to expectations 

I am unwilling and unable to fulfill.  

  

Why I Write Poetry by Julia Vinograd

"Because I can't trust God to look after the world and my friends."

I unearthed this poet due to Poetic Outlaws.

 I am chagrined I didn't know about her.

She blew bubbles at the police 

while participating in a demonstration

in 1969.  Some police even joined in!

"It may be God's will but its my won't!"

A tiny piece of me rears up shocked at this "blasphemy";

while a giant piece of me applauds the honesty.

It is a brave statement (for someone with my upbringing) 

and the epitome of what it means to be human.

She had me at "it's my won't".

"I can't change anything but I am a poet

and if I can't trust God, I must speak

for the world and my friends."

And that she does with fervor and truth.

 

Mindful

"Every day I see or hear something that more or less

kills me with delight."

I went back to read it again to make sure "kill" wasn't a typo.

The juxtaposition of kill with delight sits a bit off center

but I take her point and salute her word skill.

"It is what I was born for--to look, to listen, to lose myself

within this soft world--to instruct myself over and over

in joy and acclamation."

I'd like to say we're all born for this very same thing...

"instructing ourselves over and over in joy and acclamation."

What if this began in kindergarten?  What if there were

age appropriate textbooks written for such a course of practice?

Would this world be a different place to live in? I'd like to believe so.

. . ."the ordinary, the common, the very drab, the daily presentations."

This is my favorite line...we get so caught up in the rare, the unusual,

 the  scary, the outrageous, the out of the ordinary--

rushing past the "daily presentation"... 

taking them for granted, forgetting 

the wonder of their dependability.

"how can you not help but grow wise with such teachings as these?"

This reminds me of the first time I saw an 

Orange Fringed Orchid (Platanthera ciliaris)

blooming in the grass at the side of the road. 

 I was enchanted!

Someone remarked, "it's common."

I was still enchanted nonetheless and I am to this day

when I catch a glimpse of one...even more so now that

I've befriended this poem.  

 

Sunday

"Not a day to argue about fleeting things

that are outside our peripheral vision."

I would not limit this sentiment to Sunday.

I recommend at least two or three days a week.

Happy Friday.

 

Every Living Thing

It pains me 

to share this quote.  

It caught me off guard and gave me a jolt.

Then I realized the seriousness of our situation.

I believe in the hand of grace...

I hold it close always...trusting it's power.

May it bring an end to hostilities wherever they reside.

May the seeds of discord that have taken root 

become deracinated...uprooted to be replaced

with seeds of goodness and harmony.

 

Poem To The Future

There is so much I love about this poem.

We all might benefit from a chat with the future, don't you think?

"I keep hoping we’ll get to celebrate you."

I'd offer the future a rich cup of coffee with lots of cream.

Granola with yogurt with plenty of cinnamon.

Along with something sweet and delicious from Bent Willow.

Darn, Bent Willow is gone with Past.

Wait.  What about a conversation with Now?

Now. Welcome! I have some questions.

First of all, please don't mind the mess.

I do apologize for all the trash in our oceans

and the wilderness that's gone missing along

with more creatures than I can name or count.

Can you make your way through the bodies?

Navigate the detention centers?

You're young and healthy aren't you?

Because man oh man, if you are sick

there might be a problem getting proper help.

Please sit down and tell me this can all be fixed?

That crews of helpers who are, this minute,

doing marvelous things to bring some order to the chaos?

It would be great if you'd make them a bit more visible.

Explain to me how you are sorting things out to

bring us back to balance and graciousness?

That the countless unsung and scarcely witnessed

humans and more than humans working

like mad to renew our trust and faith in each other

are not working in vain.

That the wood wide web is not destroyed

and is still able to send out waves of medicine to

help heal the ravaged places.

We need a detailed map.

Please?

 

The Earth Is Alive

"the world does not 

think of itself as a miracle."

The world does not think of itself at all?

Perhaps that is why animism  

is a stretch for so many of us...

We aren't practiced in an entity who 

isn't thinking of itself.

"The tides move in and out, speaking of loyalty. 

The trees keep reaching  toward the light, 

speaking of hope, and possibility. 

Like this it goes."

This is the wonder of it...the constancy...the dependability...

this is what helps keeps us sane, if we notice, in an often insane world.

We can trust this when trust seems to be evaporating.  

It seems vital to be able to trust something.

"...on in persistence and determination. 

Through the minutes and the seasons. 

Through the years and the decades, 

inscribed by a history of revolt and opinion. "

It keeps on doing what it does...

despite revolt, despite opinion.

Would that we could adopt these qualities

and keep our world and ourselves

honorable and respectful.

"And still, it remains created 

and positioned.

Still, it tilts and turns. 

Still our stories weave

on the great loom of now, and the earth, 

not thinking of itself as beautiful, 

nor sad, not marvelous, not joyful, lives."

May it continue...may it outlive

the current revolt and opinion.

May our Earth be resilient enough

to outlast our bungling...our mistakes, 

our mismanagement, our disregard.

We could have been better stewards...

I could have been a better parent...

yet, the earth and my children endure and continue.

Can you imagine not thinking of yourself as 

beautiful (or not), as sad/happy, as marvelous,

as joyful but simply alive...and relish that?

 

There Is A Place Beyond Ambition

Thankfully, we have all kinds of people...

those who attend to the busy town

and those who sit by the river and listen.

What's especially wonderful is when

those who sit by the river and listen

write poetry or songs 

to inspire those in the busy town

to do peaceful work.

 

Vocation

 

Cracked And Imperfect

"If it doesn't have to be pretty, or profound or perfect

maybe it can simply be true."

Do you feel the relief I do when I let go of

being pretty or profound?  I'm not going to say

perfect because that, we already are.  

Prestigious and prominent are two

more P words its a relief to release.

"And what is true?"

No need for deep thinking.

Although questions might be in order,

to scrape off the false conditioning

covering our authentic truth.

And then there's the choice

to be kind and considerate

rather than blunt and insulting.

That line where my truth

meets your dignity is significant.

Blunt could be necessary

in certain situations

with yourself and with others

but insulting needs to shift into silence.

And a word about perfect...

and imperfect for that matter...

I resist applying either to myself

and am learning not to apply it to others.

It's one of those judgement words

that implies one person's opinion

is more accurate than another's.

Who gets to decide?

That's not to say perfect isn't appropriate

for certain things like circles and right angles

and other mathematical, load bearing entities...

I'm thinking nuclear reactors, parachutes, bridges, 

airplanes, high rises and such 

where life depends on no cracks.

Meanwhile, let's carry our 

cracked perfection with 

humble gratitude and dignity.

 

Human

I love this and I love the people she's describing.

They exist everywhere. What a treasure.

Even the messy, uncomfortable, inconvenient, confusing

happenings are most often due to us caring about and for each other.

We fall all over ourselves to help out when we can.

We must not let anyone steal our joy.

 

Love Everyone

Man, oh man, does this piece stir up strong friction in me. 

I get the message.  I agree with the message..

.I have for a long time in human time.  

The amount of animosity and dare I say pure naked rage is an experience I am new to… 

Even after 10 years, the levels continue to outperform their previous degrees.… 

I’m not proud of this. Not for one nanosecond. But there it is. So now what? 

I am allergic to language of winning and losing. 

Who gets to call those shots? Apologies for the violent language. 

However much I’d like to be the kind of person 

who takes all the factors into consideration and finds grace, 

understanding, mercy and forgiveness for someone whose behavior I loathe; 

I am still deep in the tunnel of the opposites. 

I’m not opposed to people clinging to their morals. I

’d prefer to call it self-respect, mutual regard and human values.  

It’s not about being better than...it’s about the insistence for decency, 

fairness, honesty and truthful justice for all. The last two words are pivotal.

When one person minus any morals that I can detect other than seeing to his own comfort, 

enrichment in worldly standards and doing so at grave cost to others and our planet? 

I think we have to be honest enough to confess and own something 

that does not fit under the definition of the word “love”. 

Perhaps Ram Dass can go into a little more depth … share the secret ingredients… 

reveal the method as to how an ordinary human being who has lived her life, 

dedicated to striving for equity and true justice for all can accomplish it? 

This entire situation has shaken the foundations of my life. 

It’s hard to even say those words much less feel the shaking in my bones… 

It’s not shaking from fear. It’s shuddering from the display on a public stage for the world to witness… 

for our children to witness...the exact opposite of everything I’ve spent a lifetime upholding. 

My insides reverberate and echo with a giant, heartfelt, grief-stricken NO. 

Now that I have said my deeply felt, unfiltered piece… 

I want to see if I can recalibrate and self regulate so that I am not consumed and 

overtaken by these wretched feelings. I will not relinquish my allegiance 

to decency in response to disgraceful behavior.  I must find ways to maintain 

the values I stake my life on in real, living, breathing, human terms.  

There is goodness...much, much goodness flowing strong and clear beneath the slimy surface.

I’m placing my macro lens focus there. I suggest that keeping myself sane is a realistic goal. 

It’s said that living into joy in the face of cruelty and disdain for decency is an act of rebellion.  I hoist that mantle.  

PS:  This poet had to flee his country in order to be true to himself.  Being from Lebanon, we can

only imagine what suffering he has endured for himself and his family.

I bow to his dedication to kindness and love.

 

How We Disappear

We are not disappearing...

Being quiet is not being absent.

Holding sorrow, grief and dignity

all at the same time matters...

matters a great deal.

We are gathering our power.

We are not disappearing.

 

Do Stones Feel?

Animism explained by Mary Oliver.

It has changed the way I view the world...

even as I often catch myself continuing to see 

plants, especially "weeds" as objects...

same goes for flies, mosquitoes and such.

It's a steep learning curve.

I find myself explaining to weeds why

I have to remove them and apologizing

when smacking a biting insect automatically.

It's also a daunting responsibility.

It's made me realize how much I've objectified

the world around me.

Let's hope there is generous forgiveness

toward us unaware humans 

for our obtuse behavior.

 

But I'm Not There

We are always here...never there.

May your here be rich, sweet and fertile.

 

 

I Am Made

Leave it to Virginia Woolf.

She states something simple and profound.

My wish and my desire is to be

made and remade into 

the human I am...

a simple, complex, multi layered

mix of ordinary and outrageous,

ho hum and hallelujah;

rookie stumbles and humble wisdom.

May the process continue.

 

What Stillness

"No human voices break the stillness. . .where

I come to forget the foolishness of homo sapiens."

How I treasure temporary forgetting of 

"the foolishness of homo sapiens."

Calling it foolishness is a kindness.

"What sunlight does to water, stillness does to us."

It doesn't require a hilltop pond...

it does ask for a quieting of our mind...

no small undertaking, yet possible...

more so with practice.

When you find yourself there, 

it may feel unsettling...

don't panic...settle anyway.

Consider it a chance to encounter

the panorama of amazing

living inside you 

just below the surface.

Tender or terrible...it's yours and it matters.