You Are The Lucky One

“If I laugh just a little bit

Maybe I can recall the way that I used to be, before you

And sleep at night – and dream”

Cat Stevens

 

Will that time ever come to be or am I

Destined to spend forever wanting,

 

Dreaming and remembering

Your presence in my life.

 

Sometimes it seems like it was all just a dream but it can’t be because

I still feel your hands on my body in the night, I smell the scent of your skin in my bed and see your light in my soul.

 

In my dreams I hold you, I feel your arms surround me and

Taste your mouth on mine.

 

You hold me close and I listen to your words,

Words you whispered in my ear

 

As you made love to me as only you can do.

Your passion overwhelming, your hunger for me insatiable.

 

How does that end, how can a passion like that just stop?

Where did it go?

 

Does she make you feel like I did?

Does she make you forget me?

 

If so, than I guess you are the lucky one.

Lucky to go from one love to the next without taking a breath.

 

No nights lost in the pain of what was

Or of what could have been and the why of it all.

 

No time spent in a wanting so intense that it drags you to the bottom of a dark pit,

A pit with steep, slippery sides, with no end, no way out,

 

No footholds, no dreams, just darkness, only darkness.

It is not the soft, comforting darkness of our times in each other’s arms,

 

Those times in the dark of night when we were the only two awake in the world, two alone sharing nights of love and trust, sweetness and heat, but

 

It is a cold and lifeless darkness, the kind that smothers you in ink, sucks the breath from your lungs and crushes your skull with its heaviness.

A paralyzing, frightening darkness that turns your thoughts back in on themselves to deceive and choke you,

A darkness that disguises all the goodness in the world and soaks it in pain and anger.

This is such a terrible place to be … I can’t find my way out…

But I am glad that you have not been sucked into the pit as well,

Because the only thing worse then being here alone would be

Knowing you were here too but hiding from me in the darkness.

 

 

The Dance of Loneliness

Beware the wounded woman

Of the forest.

 

If you hear her cries, run or she will

Envelope you in her sorrow.

 

Her tears will burn holes in your soul,

And her sorrowful eyes will melt your heart and haunt your dreams.

 

The full moon brings her out, she is

Searching, always searching for the pieces of her broken heart.

 

She used to dance on the dirt paths in the moonlight but,

That was before she was betrayed and

 

Left alone in the moonlight to dance the silent

Dance of loneliness.

Coming Cold

Winter is not a time of loss,

Not just a time of cold.

It is a pause,

A break in the cycle of growth and light.

A time to rest, step back, step in,

And reflect.

The dark time brings us back to hearth and home,

Back to our roots and each other.

We share this quiet time within ourselves,

Deeply formed thoughts reflected in firelight.

Winter is a time of shared isolation.

We are all closed in, alone with each other.

The trees are quiet, too.   All

Sounds are muffled by the snow.

Burrows and dens surrounded by the white warmth

Shelter life until spring.

Crystal cold water runs beneath a

Covering of ice,

Sneaking away to the open sea,

Escaping the slowing by cold’s icy grip.

The cold penetrates all, it slides

Silently over the sills

And in through the cracks and settles

In pools around my feet.

Cold turns the air into crystals of ice,

That sparkle as diamonds in the sun.

But the sun holds little warmth in winter.

Her light for illumination only.

She has given the world over to the other side

A universe and life in balance, as it should be.

The light and warm time will come again, it always does

It is trustworthy.

So I am content to sit by the fire and marvel

At the wonder and beauty of winter.

I appreciate my place in the flow of the seasons

And my oneness with all creatures.

Join me, step back and observe, listen and be still

Hear the magic and grace that surrounds you.

Let the crystal blue sparkling sky fill your eyes and heart with the joy of the season

And be at peace in this time of waiting.

Haiku 4 poems

Uncommon fair time again

All natural and good

Wholesomeness is its hallmark

Break

I expect so little now

Is it still to much?

Let go, watch me fall apart

Break

The birds are very busy

They sense it is here

Frost on the field this morning

Break

The humming birds are now gone

No one saw them leave

They slipped away in the night

Noble Silence

This silence, a noble silence of

Candles and Buddha.

Three nights, three days

Hours of silence, hours of sitting.

Heaven in bowls of homemade soup and crusty breads.

Food to nourish our bodies as this place nourishes our souls.

The bells welcome morning and

Breakfast nourishes in silence.

A retreat from ordinary life,

No jobs to do, no one to take care of except ourselves.

A beautiful place surrounded by

Beautiful people, soul sisters and brothers.

We are like-minded, but are on our own journeys.

As Shawn so rightly said, “no one can do your path better than you”.

New friends with old ideas,

Each their own but each the same.

And so I sit, just sit and be

I try to keep my mind still.

Sometimes it is,

Sometimes not.

A sinking feeling, sinking into my soul

Into that space behind my eyes that truly sees

I see it in fleeting moments of bliss

Nothing to hold onto, nothing to catch.

Hours pass by in seconds, other times

Seconds are hours.

Bells signal the beginning and ending

Three to start, three to stop.

Sometimes the end comes too quickly,

Sometimes too slowly

A moment can last forever

Or disappear in a heartbeat.

It has left a lasting, life changing impression

Am I brave enough to take these steps?

Do I know which way to go? I think I do and

If I am honest with myself, I will.

I have to take this chance, nothing will change

Until I make the choice.

If I do, in six months I’ll be fine

If I don’t, in six months it will still be the same.

Seems so wrong to have to pay this price again,

So wrong to have already lost before I even started.

So I will sit, alone in my mind, alone in my heart

And ultimately alone in my soul.

I need to return to the place of Noble Silence

And let the stillness dry my tears and harden my heart.

It is the only way to survive,

The only way to be.

The Space Within

The space within, the space without.

Infinite space and darkness, the same.

A warm, soft darkness,

Full and empty, existing and not.

Silence and heart noise

Flow and flux as I sit and feel.

Stable and symmetrical are the

Shadows and light.

The energy I send rebounds from the depths and its

Vibrations shake my soul.

The cushion and candles, Buddha and Quan Yin all

Become one.

My soul and my heart are

Darkness and light together and

Soft winds and tides ebb and flow

As thunder shakes the sky within.

The space within and the space without are the same and blend together,

Only divided by the layer of skin that holds my face.