Truth

This much I know is true:

Aspirations, hopes, dreams and magic

Grief, sadness, sorrow, synchronicity

What else I know is true:

Bees landing lightly on flowers

Butterflies amongst the petals

Babies, fat and silly, hungry and longing

Love of a friend, a partner, a child

What I hope is true:

The wings of my own heart soaring

Like the hawk I witnessed today

Imagination floating out like clouds

Swimming across the deep blue sky

What I am afraid is true:

Madness and violence, aggression and hate

Roaming around with devilish certainty

All over Mother Earth

Guns blazing, voices shaking

Screaming so loudly I can taste it

Not like butter but hard lard

Tough, old, moldy, smelly

What I also know is true:

Your heart, your body, our corporate bodies

Capable of free will and free won't

No god or goddess directing us

We humans acting out of our own

Traumas, suffering, despair, and pain

What I believe is true:

We are One

Being One, when I hurt you

I hurt me

When we hurt our planet

We hurt bodies, minds and breath

Calamities continue

Distress increases

And we cannot fly above 

Seeking to live above the fray

We are pulled down from our

Lofty thrones and disappear into the 

Ashes of wild fires,  into the bowels of floods

And we can rise again

Only by Grace alone

Beloved

When we turn our eyes inward

We see

Past the memories, the fantasies

The traumas and the supposed facts

When we listen to our souls

We hear

Differently than before, tuned

In to a channel with a higher vibration

When we touch our feet upon the ground

The sturdy earth that doesn’t give way

We are supported strong and safe

No matter how the winds blow

When we smell the core of Mother Earth

We smell death

Then we smell life and all that happens

In between

Once we taste the Truth 

We know

That all other truths were false

Cloaked and disguised perfectly

It is here in this Truth

Where we grow and touch

Upon the Grace that gives us

Hope and Compassion

It is now that we can truly 

Love without barriers or uncertainty

The love that passeth all understanding

We have always been Beloved

Winter Solstice 2021

Dark anticipation

Early evening shadows

Foreshadowing misty cold 

New birth, new life

Baking of bread

Wondrous smells

Butter melting slowly

Mouths rejoice

Lookin forward not backward

Singing, “Ho, to the life of a Bear!”
Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, too

Only Eeyore is still struggling

Charlie Brown’s Christmas

Hanukah’s bright candles

Omicron’s attendance 

Intervening in our plans

What shall we do?

How shall we act?

Let’s huddle in the basement

Until the wondrous winds die down

When we come out

Seeing a fresh blanket of new snow

Slightly dazed in the glare

Shiny sparkles releasing

I’ll meet you there

Where the sun beams with joy

On the snow, on the children

Birds singing loudly

When we get too cold

We retreat to the dark to sleep

Cuddled together, dreaming

Magically, divining our life’s work

Meaning and purpose

Good hearted cheer

The days getting longer 

Such happiness here!

Then, all of the sudden

The moon shines her face

On all of us creatures

Awe struck and witnessing

Creating, Rebirthing ourselves

Joining all of our hands together

Delighting in the warmth

Of community and heart

All blessings flow

Change

How to embrace all parts of ourselves

Even those wicked, treacherous parts

That bring others (and ourselves) misery?

How to make friends with the darkness

Inside us, acknowledge these inner demons

Without agreeing or abiding?

We must explore as much as we can

About ourselves, or so says the therapist

But some people find the journey itself

Too awful, the changes too painful

No wonder some of us believe in magic

In miracles, in prayer. We need to 

Believe in something outside of ourselves, our minds

Accepting responsibility for who we are and

How we act but not for how we think and feel

Tricky territory, it seems

What is the task?

Peeling layer upon layer 

Ripping open the wounds

Or only carefully touching them gently

As if with healing hands and hearts?

No nakedness needed here, we still

Must protect ourselves and each other

Hoping, dreaming about a time and space

Full of only love

Light without darkness

Good without evil

Sounds like hell 

Boring, too much light

Without the grit of nightmares

Too much harmony without the dissonance

That entertains and exposes the chaos

Balance. Does that work?

Balancing between two opposites

Walking the high wire between tall buildings

Tiptoeing across the narrow log 

Between the cavernous cliffs

And the crashing waters below?

Creating our own lives as best we can

Breathing in and out into the lives

Of all others, beasts, humans

Plants, rocks, all of life

Consorting with and mingling 

With all types of breath and names

Values and lifestyles, we call us One

Paradise

The Promised Land

Looks like milk flowing from a breast

The Muse conjuring up a deep breath before

She speaks about freedom and our uncivil war

Gathering rainclouds

Sucking up the air, showering us

Cleansing us

Quenching our thirst

Our words and actions sometimes startle

Sometimes confuse

We beat our heads against

Too many walls without knowing

We can walk through them in Spirit forms

While we dance across the dry desert

Through the lush forest, the deep blue sea

We imagine, dream, feel the magic of being

Fully alive in this moment, and the next

But uncertain about the future

We grieve, we cry, we wail and rail against

The demons we project onto “those others”

Those different from us, 

Those we think of as strange

Who are the strangers, but ourselves?

Dark shadows inside us, sprouting 

Out of our skin, pouring all over the world

When we are unaware

We try hard

We make mistakes

We apologize and hopefully

Forgive others and ourselves

There is no Beauty or Love

Greater than sweetness and light

Honey and animals, beasts, bugs and reptiles

The plants, trees and all of life

Our paradise

For now

Two Bluebirds and a Slug

Two bluebirds flying and separating

One in a dogwood tree

Beautiful blue and orangish brown

Dainty ornament, perched 

Slug on a mailbox brick

Two antennae alert, present

Naked, no shell, no need

Fully open to the elements

Fragile creatures all

We play our parts

Using our skills and wits

To survive, thrive

One species fast and supple

One slow and determined

Bluebird illustrates flying with grace

Slug teaches flowing with ground

Bluebird sprints to safety

Gifts us with joyous energy

Softening the angelic message

Our spirit selves, part of nature

Slug highly sensitive to vibrations

The power of timing

Proceed or withdraw

Stop to rest or protect

All of us part of nature

Whether human, reptile,

Plant, animal, fish or rock

All nature

All learning

Some knowing

Some wise

Some seeming violent

How do we live together

More peacefully?

A prayer for our times

Help me see, visualize in the darkness

Let me see stars twinkling through the clouds

Bless me with hearing the fires lifting up lanterns to the sky

I hold a candle burning bright with love

Living in both darkness and light

Often preferring the dark

The brightness gleams still

Even in the darkness, 

Just protected, covered up temporarily

Meet me there where the fires flame

In that sweet moment of dazed trance

Enter the space together with me

As we dance during all phases of the moon

Greet me when your darkness invades you

I will hold your hand, hug you closely

Our broken hearts beating in unison with grief and hope

We bless each other with grace

When the day is done

Our tears having been shed

Enter the dreamworld

Full of light and oh so many textures and tones

Reflecting each of our flames

Mirroring a rainbow full of all colors

All Alone

All Alone

It can happen

In a split second

They are here

Then they are gone

Imagine what to do

When you are given

All Alone

Been there before

But not like this

Not after this

Long time

Of Love

Shock, startle

Numb, groan

Desolate

Despair

Crying, screaming, weeping

Moaning, wailing, keening

And after oh so long a time

Finally

Coming back to life

To breathe once again

Spirit Guides

Angel, who are you?

I am the fire that you breathe

I am the water that you swallow

I am the blood that runs through 

Your veins and pours out of your mouth

I am the breath and power of life

Tom, who are you?

(Not your old friend)

I am your sex witch

Your wicked, playful

Desirous self

Who longs for and wants

Ecstasy, engagement, connection

Michael, who are you?

(Not your brother)

I am the magnificent, vibrant

One who comes to you

When you are fearful

Holds onto you when 

You feel mangled

Who helps you die

And transform

The one who rebirths you

Who am I?

A wandering, mystical

Soul who explores her

Multiverse while planting seeds

By your help I am learning

How to live as a mortal and

Act more kindly and knowingly

Feeling all of the divine particles

Flowing through my body

And all around me

Great compassion and grace

Wandering

If I travel too far down into 

The places and spaces

That I want to explore

I fear not coming back

Why come back?

To this concrete reality 

Its chaos, ego and competition

The base where I usually live? 

I fear if I lose my mind

I may need caretaking, 

Like parents suffering a stroke

Or developing dementia

I see clearly the blockages

The clots of grief as I 

Dabble in the Dark Arts

Frightened but Famished

Maybe these Arts

Are not that dark at all 

Seductive, uncovering, revealing

Maybe they are Bright Arts

Illuminating expansion and freedom

Adventure and safety

All lusty items for those 

Who wander

Improvisation

Bright yellow beams within

Startling yet warm

Striking hot, sweet and salty

Moods drift between spicy and shocking

Shaken up a little

Redesigning a fantasy life

Improvising with piano notes 

Jazz saxophone, bassoon

Flute and piccolo

Wrapping brightness in a blanket

Dark and comfortable, covering 

Skin, dulling eyes and nerves

Soothing frantic feelings and frights

Instead of escaping or

Numbing completely, turning

Head toward husband and dog and

Grinning

Sounds erupt, tones like crying

Tears dripping with sadness and joy

Life's improvisation over time

Plays off the last chiming note recently heard

Mother Elephant

She“leadeth me beside the still waters, 

He [she] restoreth my soul.” 

~ Psalm 23:2 KJV, the Bible

Mother’s stroke

Elephants’s child

Fuzzy brain

Memory like no other

Loss of independence

Living on and on forever

Taking care of babies,

Elderly, children

Animals, all of the plants

Trees, bushes, and 

Beings on land, in the air

And at sea

Caring for the sick and infirm

Soothing those

With disease or fear

Showing them the light

Through the trunk of her soul

Spewing out water and dirt and all

Types of matter over every creature

Showering us all with healing

Energies of Light

When we scream and cry

She hears us

She soothes us with her

Arms or trunk, trumpeting

Her signals through the air

Calling for healing and love

To enter us through 

Osmosis

Just being close to her

And to any other beings

Just being close to Air 

Fire, Water, and Earth

We feel her 

Granular Graces

We touch her

Darkness as she leads

Us down and through

Tragedy and Hell

Holding us tenderly until

We arrive on the other side

Greeting her again and again

She is always there

For us