You, Darkness

"But the dark embraces everything:

shapes and shadows, creatures and me..."

Asleep is the only time I'm truly able to embrace everything.

In my dreams, I can even kiss my enemy 

who isn't really my enemy even though he's on the "other" side.

I guess that's what the dark does.

It blurs all the biased boundaries 

I carry within, and reveals how arbitrary they are.

Was the world created with the war between "good" and "evil"?

If you believe in a God, doesn't that mean "S/He created evil?

Or have we flawed humans made it so?

I'm thinking its the latter which means we're stuck with it.

Well, at least for now, we're stuck with it.

What if we could change that? 

Don't ask me how, I have no idea.

How I'd love to wave a magic wand and remove all cruelty.

Recently I heard a quote that said, 

"my hope is to shorten the distance between what if? and why not?

I'm focused on living that hope...

why not?

Namaste'

 

 

In The End

This one leveled me.

I don't feel like I stretch 

my heart much, if at all.

That's some unnerving activity, I'm thinking.

Yet, it's exactly what being alive and attentive

is all about, isn't it?

How do you stretch your heart?

I'm going to be giving this much consideration

from now on. 

The question for me now is:

how can I stretch my heart with my art?

I think its time to let "playing it safe"

have a vacation.

Namaste'

 

You Carry The Earth

Every line in this poem enchants me.

To think of myself "carrying the earth inside me";

that 60% of me is water "borrowed from a hurricane",

or the Little Tennesse River, or Cartoogecheye Creek;

that the oak tree planted 20 years ago on my birthday

and all the trees in the forest I walk through each day

are "made from the bones of the same star"?

It is the same for you and every one of us!

These are wonders to ponder deeply.

Keep them close as you move through your life.

Namaste'

 

Art Doesn't Have To Make Sense

"Art is like a birdsong:...inflections, shadings, shifts - 

all things that have emotional and perceptual impact."

  I am drawn to the idea that art doesn't have to make sense.  

I get a giant sigh of relief with that thought.

And, I love thinking of art as birdsong. 

"Every work is a culturescape of you, your memories...your hopes,

your energies, your neuroses, the times you live in, and your ambitions."

I would change this up a tiny bit.  First of all, I would not call it work.

For me, art is play.  Every "piece" is a culturescape.

Actually, now that I'm deeper into this, 

I'm reminded of this quote which seems more complete.

The two of them,  together are like left/right brain, aren't they?

 I could also say masculine/feminine energy?

They make a thoughtful combo on the topic of art, in my view.

". . .stop trying to make something new and start making something you."

THAT is art that makes sense, even if no one gets it...including the artist.

Namaste'

 

I Think We Make Gods

Having to sit with this for a minute or more.

Yes, we make our own version of god.

Which gets complicated quickly, doesn't it?

We have wanna be kings who believe they're a god.

And scores of humans who believe they are unworthy;

leading them to worship someone else.

Look at all the supposedly supreme beings

throwing their supposed weight around.

If there's one thing I do believe in, its that

human's create god...not the other way around.

Every single version of every single diety 

comes to us through humans.

The trusting part comes from the idea that

each and every one of us is divine.

Not to lord it over others,

but to be a sacred creator of goodness...

decency, fairness and stewardship of the

resources we've been given.

To treat each other and ourselves as if we are holy.

Think how different our world would be if all humans

could act like humble divine creators and treat each other

and our world accordingly.

Namaste'

 

Instead of Depression

Oh my goodness, isn't it tempting to want to hibernate right now?

Trouble is, we are needed awake.  Our country is being stolen right before our eyes.

All of us, together, are needed to stay aware and stand strong.

The only thing preventing a complete collapse of democracy

 is us...in massive numbers.

Maybe we could do some mini hibernations?

Take power naps instead of "sleeping through the alarm of the world"?

I so get where Andrea is coming from.  

I love, love, love the idea of it.

Perhaps metaphorically?  

Even in the midst of depression, we can change perspective...

by seeing this as a rough recalibration? 

Like reentry from outer space

with damage to our vessel? 

We each are necessary to get our team landed

and home in one piece.

We can do this.  

Namaste'

 

Sometimes You Look

Regardless of how I look, I can tell you,

I am familiar with feeling like 

"a human scribble a two year old has colored in" way outside the lines.

Until reading these words, 

I would never have considered that to be a masterpiece.

Recently, when I described the whirlwind

that was going on inside of me with all the things

I want to do spinning, feeling like a sort of madness,

someone said, "let the whirlwind whirl,

it's a resource not a to-do list."

And with that, it became something I 

wasn't required to control or manage.

What a relief!

I hope you can let yourself be the masterpiece you are!

Namaste'