Wisdom leeches out of melting snow banks and
Star light travels from the ground up as
moonlight seeps though the pores of the earth and floods the sky with peace.
Come, sit by my side in the forest at midnight and
Feel the earth’s truth in her being.
Be still and let your soul be free.
Then hold me tightly as it is a beautiful but bumpy ride!
Moonshine floods the forest floor.
Illuminated snow hides behind the trees.
New life stirs beneath a blanket of leaves and
Peace is born once more.
Light and dark,
The contrast is shocking.
Shockingly beautiful and
Undeniably alive!
Stars swirl in a midnight sky as
The forest tiptoes through darkness,
Aware only of itself.
The owls have returned.
Their voices in chorus give life to the darkness.
A fox barks back to them in welcome,
His winter loneliness forgotten.
(4/7/16)
Snow flattened grass
Reawakens in the spring sun.
Snow banks dwindle and melt
Like arctic glaciers.
Crocuses brave the still icy winds to prove their faith in spring.
Still leafless branches sway and clack together in spring’s winds
While sap flows up from their feet and warms them from within.
Objects left outside since late October emerge from the snow, preserved as if having been in an altered state of timelessness.
Time stood still under the snow while the world and sky above
Flowed seamlessly from one season to the next, one viscous winter storm passing silently on to another.
Lawn chairs I last used in November have returned, appearing as if just back from vacation.
The chairs stand in a circle around an old, rusted fire pit with welcoming extended arms and empty seats. So I join them once again as a new season of light and promise begins, today,
Easter Sunday.
Easter is a day of great joy and hope to millions all around the world.
A day to celebrate the defeat of death and the promise of eternal life but
I see evidence of His promise every day, in early spring tree buds, in the yellowing of willows at the end of winter, in the greening of the meadow grasses and the songs of the returning summer birds.
Spring springs eternal in Gods promise to all beings, not just the human ones and not only through stories in a nice book written so very long ago …
So take a moment each day to stop and look outside and see that
Easter’s promise is everywhere, not just today but every day, in every being and
Every season.
| Evening shadows shift
Through broken windows.
Chimney bricks slide down the roof Puddleing under the lilac bush.
Weeds spread into the driveway Reclaiming it for themselves.
When was this house built? Was it ever new?
The yard and doorframes bear witness To the families who grew here.
Long forgotten toys and broken swings Hide beneath the matted field grass.
A broken clothesline flaps in the gray autumn breeze and Sprung clothespins mold and rot into the ground beneath the broken posts.
Feral cats are now the only life that calls this old farm home, But birdsong still fills the rafters of the barn.
The barn that once held livestock Sits shifted on its foundation,
Listing and leaning to the south, Away from winter’s fierce winds.
The stately oak gracing the front yard is rotten and broken, Its fingers through the house roof.
Where did they go, the people Who called this place home?
When the last one left, Why didn’t they clean out the house?
Why not take the toys? Close the windows? Lock the doors?
Did they not know they were Never coming back?
The windmill out back has long ago Crashed into the apple orchard,
Breaking in to pieces as it fell and crushing the trees it had stood watch over all these years.
But in man’s absence The apple trees continue to produce.
The lilac bushes flower every spring in spite of Not being “cared for” in over 40 years.
The forest is slowing creeping back in to fill the void Left when the field was abandoned.
All that remains of the people who once called this spot of land home Is the family graveyard,
Where stones are carved with love and care, Preserving for all time the names and dates of those whose lives began and ended here.
But the lilacs don’t care about being preserved, The Oak is beyond pride and the buildings are slowly returning to the soil,
Just like the bodies beneath the stones. Another 40 years and the stones will be all that remains.
They will be all that is left to tell the story Of a time gone by.
The story of a house built to last a lifetime, a barn crafted with pride, The story of generations of a family who lived, worked and died on this land.
A story only the stones will remember. |
When I take the time to look inside, instead of outside,
I find miraculous things. Things I never have seen before,
Feelings I never have noticed and rules I never have followed.
Oftentimes they are the feelings and rules I have imposed on others but never followed myself.
Others whom I say I know well and in my arrogance convince myself that I know how they think,
And feel but in reality, my assumptions are baseless and I realize
That it is only me who I can ever know…
But only from the inside out.
The avoidance of my issues give them power and such avoidance, rather than being a remedy, becomes self-defeating. The power is mine, not a power over anyone or anything else but over me, and mine alone.
The defeat of power frees me, frees my soul and heart, and lets in joy, love and peace. My feelings will fade with time and a lack of attention as my attention reverts back to an observation of what the human heart is capable of. I now can see the depths of self-deception to which the hearts quest for love will go. While loving is never a bad thing, fighting my feelings is keeping the ego’s power fresh and alive causing my suffering.
My fear is also going, but slowly, and is not being replaced by indifference but with another feeling, not sure what to call it, maybe curiosity. I must be careful to not give in to any “mind” games that give me permission to be involved with the impossible quest and “thoughts” that I, the ego I, may be able to “fix” this. That is not for me to do, there is no “fix”. Becoming self-aware is the best fix as it is not a fix for anything but me. With me is where my power lies. The power of the eternal I AM.
So here I am, sitting looking out my back windows where the silence is deafening. The space between the trees is the same as the space around my heart. It is filled to overflowing, light and joy in abundance but still, I have to remain aware, aware that not growing weary is the key. They will come, the weariness and weakness, and I must not fight back. I need to let them come, acknowledge them and thereby take their power away, over and over again, as often as necessary.
But in spite of my best intentions, I feel hope and joy fade as quickly as they came. I pray that each time doubt will go away more quickly but I must not rush it or over think it because that too will refuel its power.
I must be vigilant but not insistent!
To love another in this life is a bonus, not a guarantee. To love another, to share that sacred space, the heart space, mine, is such a joy when the love is right.
The anxiety I am feeling is fear, a fear that this freedom will leave me, will stop and never return. I must have faith in joy and peace, as it is only my ego driven thoughts that appear to take it away.
This ego has no power over the me that I Am….
But wait, the ego is strong and is fighting back, again…
I must not engage…
I am finally, totally, here and I will never leave you.
You don’t ever have to be lonely or afraid again.
I am here.
Through the years I have come and gone.
Sometimes stayed close, sometimes far away.
At times lost to you in this secular world,
Tied up by thoughts and indifference.
But now, a change has come, an awakening.
It has happened slowing, in subtle ways and small steps.
I am here.
I will hold you while you sleep.
I will witness your dreams and shoo away your nightmares.
I will hold your heart and put its broken pieces back together.
You will never be away from me again.
I am here.
It will be just you and me now, you and me forever.
There is duality but no separation as I have come home to the place I never left.
Back to the heart that has been the same
Throughout time.
I am here.
I will finally step into the job that was mine
All along.
I will be your protector, your biggest fan, your patient teacher
And, most of all, your greatest love.
I am here.
I am sorry you have suffered, have been abused,
Unloved and broken.
I am here.
You are defenseless against the world without me, but now,
I am here.
Here with clarity, purpose, vision, emptiness, power
And love. Never to leave you again.
To do so would be impossible because I now see that I am you, I am your heart and soul, your “I Am” with no beginning and no end, and
You are my vehicle for experiencing the world, for sensing and knowing the manifested from the un-manifested. You are my beating heart, my body friend and my charge to protect. You are my very own
human—being.
My mind has become my enemy,
One that shares this space inside of me but cares not for my well-being.
It turns night into day, lust into love, wants into envy,
Truth – my truth – into lies.
It whispers in my left ear, words
My right side, it knows, will reject.
In the beginning, my human beginning, my mind
Was my friend, my ally, my confidant, but no more.
So I spend my time sitting and focusing on my
Return to that initial, eternal being,
And when that process is complete,
My mind will return to its natural state as my life navigator and soul companion.
Its taunting will stop, its search for drama will cease,
Its creation of a hundred hurtful scenarios a day will end,
And once again, as it was in the beginning,
It will become my friend.
heartwordsforpoetry 