Finish Each Day

Oh the joy in being able to sweep away

all bothersome items swirling in my mind.

(I started to use the word "brain"

until making a fascinating side trip into

 the definition of mind.)

 I have found that, within reason,

those bothersome items can sometimes

lead to new growth and hints of maturity.

If I follow Emerson's advice,

I will chuck those old notebooks/(nonsense?)

I keep promising myself to go through

to glean potential material

for current writing projects.

That being said, 

I appreciate the

spirit of his words.

kastilwell

 

So Many Ways

I tucked this away 5 years ago.

I find much richness in Solnit's words.

Language matters.

How you use it matters.

Your subject matters.

Her words reach out with an invitation

as time here spirals toward completion.

How will I describe this one life?

It matters as "a kind of self respect",

even if I'm the sole member of the audience.

Do I have the courage to accept the invitation?

To speak to the joy and the heartache?

To describe it all with 

"precision, accuracy, and clarity"?

There's another aspect I might add...

to describe it with an air 

of generosity and grace.

This is where I have a revelation.

Thoughts do matter.

kastilwell

We Are Showered Every Day

Paying attention is critical here.

First to recognize and acknowledge

the gifts I so often take for granted.

Then its about paying attention to

and attending what it is

I'm putting out into the universe.

That's where it gets sticky.

That's where self mercy is required.

I'm realizing the importance

and the frequency of the need for forgiveness...

beginning with myself to myself

and spiraling outward to others.

That's where I come to a major realization.

May Earth forgive us our multitude of trespasses.

I fervently hope she continues 

to have the power to do so.

kastilwell

 

Poetry Can

"Open locked chambers of possibility,

restore numbed zones to feeling..."

I can attest to the truth of this.

It is the magic of words

woven together in thoughtful patterns

providing new/old perspectives

to common themes and objects.

Turning words into music...

a dirge, a ditty, a documentary.

Displaying humanity's endless diversity,

as well as expressing our vast range 

of emotional and intellectual 

possibility and power.

kastilwell

 

The Beauty of Darkness

"How it lets you see",

and how it sharpens our hearing;

and how it intensifies our 

power of "skin awareness".

Darkness shifts my perceptions

in fascinating ways even

as I rebel against the awkward discomfort

of beautiful inky blackness.

kastilwell

 

We Must Use What We Have

It's always been about 

finding what I desire,

I never considered inventing it.

What a concept!

And the thought of using

what I already have to do so?

Genius!  

So much of my life has been about

striving for more, more, more.

Now I train my focus on 

the riches I already have access to

and all that is still possible.

I still wish to grow,

to sow seeds which will 

bear fruit one day,

to tend to what is coming alive now,

and open my heart

to be surprised by the plenty

of the harvest.

kastilwell

 

We Need To Imagine

"thinking itself will be transformed."

With people like Sharon Blackie, Robin Kimmerer,

and many, many others, we are moving

ever closer and closer to this 

"new relationship to the universe."

We must keep on imagining and creating

the life we know in our bones is possible

and necessary.  

Though despair looms large. 

We will never give up.

kastilwell