Sound and Fury

Sounds of Silence

Fury of Hate

Seeking music like love

Unmasked and true

The sirens tempted sailors

Lured them with song

Bird women or mermaids

Seductive temptresses, all

Friends of the underworld

Rising up to scale down terror

The furies, goddesses of vengeance

But who drew first blood?

People at war within

Striking out at the “others”

They damn to hell

Calling themselves Patriots, Christians

Women and men, corrupt

Not wild and untamed but

Frozen into a certain sculpture, purgatory

Playing out their days unconscious

The Children display the culture’s themes

Obsessing about and compulsive about

The rituals they believe will protect them

From outside harm

Destroying themselves all the while

Myths of perfection and honesty

Cloaking themselves in sheep’s clothing

The wolf seeks the taste of flesh

Hauntings, memories, musings

Suicides peak while the rich

Paint their toenails with blood

Capturing enemy energy

Attacks, lies, horror abound

Whatever the people will believe

In fear so the powerful will flourish

Can we stop this pattern of torture?

Bitter, cruel, disgraced and scorned

Torments, floods, wildfires, each

Slicing away the skin of the land

Its beasts, all life, green growth 

Screams and howls, dissonant

Tones, new birth springs out of

The swollen, burning earth

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

Particles of life rising up into the air

In alien form and so wise

After this cleansing, or did this 

New world learn nothing at all?

Wise enough to change the

Statues, the banal beliefs that held

The terror, the mythological fantasies

That allowed this hell to happen?

Praying so

Breathe

Breathe consciously 

Not only when times are tough

But, when thank you spills out of

Every pore of our bodies

Smile often

Even when sad

Giving in to and up to sadness

Feeling it deeply

Go slowly

Ah, my lesson

No need to rush and 

Miss all of life flashing by

Enter into the earth

Travel deeply within

Moving through liquids and gases

That flow all around your heart

Dive into the sea

Where creatures and other beings

Float and swim, live and die

Just like we do

Skip, Jump, Play

With pets, people

Children and old people

Play with great seriousness

Speak loudly and often

Listen to the great Silence

Encompassing us all

Even those of us who love words

Listen to the smells of earth

Taste noises and outcries

Feel the texture of the wind

Tickling our noses with pollen

Fly like the bee or butterfly

Crow, hawk, or hummingbird

Delight in flight

Soaring all over the planet

When the day is done

Breathe consciously once more

Letting yourself rest deeply and

Decisively, letting go of all fear

May it be so

The Price we pay for Love

Gazing at her photo, I fell in love

So adorable, such a tragic story

She came into my life online

And, then I met her

I am such a good mother

Such a good lover

Such a caretaker and a

Responsible one

Little did I know how

This 9 lb wonder would

Change my life in an instant

For a long while

I questioned my decision

Cleaning up poop and pee

So frequently, is this how 

Motherhood was to be?

Surely she will grow up

And be responsible herself

One day, after she learns

How to use the potty correctly

Meanwhile, the carpet is

Stained, the Woolite smell

Is overwhelming and yet

She looks up longingly and I realize

She doesn’t know manners

No one has taught her how to be

In a life with human beings

How would she know?

Then at night when the lights

Are off and our old dog is in our bed

She joins us and snuggles next

To my head to sleep

Ah, the price we pay for love

If we were only logical

Cognitive beings we would not 

Give our hearts away so fast

Thank goodness

We do

How we continue to love

Matters

What If?

What if our goodbyes are hellos

Even when we are not free?

What if we find transformation

That conversion from grief and despair

To love and peace?

What if we can wipe our eyes

To see clearly amidst the dust and muck

That cloud all of our senses

Taste, smell, touch?

What if lies become viewed

As different than purposeful 

False truths, intending to harm?

What if chaos breeds the springtime

Full of new knowing

New Grace

New Hope?

Answers are cheap

The process is deep

Diving into our guts

We get out of our ruts

A little rhyme here and there

Brings wisdom and playfulness

Everywhere

We can create our lives

One moment at a time

One step, one hug, one gift

As we smile, we touch each other

Virtually and viscerally bonding

Close together, so close 

I can smell your intentions

I can taste your words

Your values

Your truths

When we listen carefully and openly

We shed our armor

Allowing one small piece of you

To thrust into our hearts

And break them all over again

And then we see tiny green sprouts

Nudging open the heart space

Pushing up and out into the world

To grow sturdy, strong and safe

Those sprouts rooted within and between us

Awaken and lift us up

Into the magic and the stars

Torn and Transformed

Torn, we come to tend*

Gathering together, overcoming

So many illusions and myths

About our lives and those of others

Together we can heal

We can pray and speak

We can cry and sing

We can dance our ways 

Through the chaos all around us

Following a mystical exploration

Designed to weave sacred freedom

Leaving content and words aside

For more creative moments

Without words, with silence

Fueled by sacred spirits

All around us

We learn to pause and breathe

Instead of react

We learn to reflect before we act

We see the beauty of this experiment

In Change

The alchemical mixtures of our being

Both divine and human

We grace each other with our listening

We allow ourselves to be tended to

We share our energies, both pain and delight

With all beings in our world

As they share in the process of

All transformational journeys

Embracing all parts of ourselves first

Practicing radical acceptance

For what is

Within us

And outside of us

Finding peace and new comfort

For all

*Borrowing Amanda Gorman's spoken words (2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVfyaRLVvpY

Grief

 It pops out of no where

Just

Like

That

A photograph

A smell

A memory

A tiny piece of love

That once happened

Now gone

or so it seems

Yes, we carry them with us always

But we can’t see or 

Touch them anymore

Except in the dark of night

In our dreams and in

Our most private spaces

There, we can laugh and cry

Wrestle and hug

Talk and scream with delight

If not for the birds, the fish

All of our dogs and cats

The trees, flowers and plants

The oceans, seas and sun

If not for the sweet earth

And the red hot fires

We too would disappear

From this reality

Just a name

Can burst the dam inside me

That I protected so well

With levees and sand

Just a face

A shape

In a dress

Long hair

And sweet skin

I crumble

I fall apart

I don’t want to

Put myself back

Together again

With all that armor on

Let me soak in these tears

Help me love again

Without caution or fear about change

Let me know that all is correct

Just as it should be

And

I still miss the young child

And 

I love this young adult

Just like I recently lost

My favorite photograph of me

As a 2 or 3 year old

But, I didn't lose her

I have realized how much

That little girl me

Had to perform so well

Felt so pressured by energies

All around her

Although I mourn her loss

I feel so sad for her that 

She was so young and impressionable

Hooked by our culture’s tasty bait

And became the person

She thought she should be

(With a few major flaws

And many strengths)

Only now can I see

I don’t have to keep on 

Entertaining

I can rest now and let go of all

That pressure, worry and concern

Of the past

What matters is today

And, how we treat each other

Now