A Moment

Take a moment 

just one

not a long one 

just a short one

and look 

at where you are

at what you are 

doing

Can you feel 

the rising and 

falling of 

your chest

Are thoughts

troubling you?

Are thoughts 

exciting you?

Take a moment to 

feel the softness

of your clothes

to smell the air

to hear stillness

to taste sweetness

to find yourself

rooted in now

Eternal and fleeting

Always here

Always now

Mid-November

afternoons fade sooner

than I would like 

pastels smear

across clouds

this is worth 

the change

When The Path Is Gone

When I get lost I keep going

until at last the path is gone

I pause and breath

Is there light

Is darkness nearing

I take it in

I must trust myself

I must trust this life

I will find my way

I will find my way 

back to you

Early October

Is it Fall on this October Morning

Or is Summer extending her stay?

I don't complain. I let the sun in

to my heart, onto my skin.

Is it warm where you are as well?

I wish it to be so for you.

Let us sit and wonder 

I'd rather dwell in uncertainty

Mid-September

It is the middle of September

Mornings are cooler when I wake 

The days are still warm 

Soon enough even the warmth will wane

For now I still gaze out my window

and see the ducks in the pond

Feeding and swimming

How much longer will we carry on?

Us? The ducks? 

Neither can ever know.

Find now. 

Only now. 

Changing

September morning

Brisk Cool

Summer begins to retreat

Pushing onward

So much to do

before we are reborn

Between Summer and Fall

Cooler mornings

Grey shroud on the Sun

Caught in transition

between Now and Then 

Familiar but New

This place

familiar but new

Am I what is familiar

even as I change

break and heal

Is this world

being reborn

each day

Is this world

being changed 

each day

What are we doing

with this time

as the river

rushes to the sea

it is in the searching

where we truly live 

At Last

Listen to the birds

outside the door

speaking in song

I ask myself

Am I truly listening 

or am I merely waiting

to speak?

We must often do the impossible

and reconcile the world 

with our own heart.

I grow older but I do not grow 

more numb to the world.

I grow older and I feel myself

a greater part of humanity.

My joy and disappointment 

are mirror images.

I grow older and realize 

I must be gentle with 

the fractured and broken.

All of us are so.

I grow older and cannot 

consume blindly and 

without thought.

I must have restraint.

Does the deer dream?

Does it dream of the forest?

Of fresh water?

A quiet valley?

A land without fear?

Some mornings

I sit and must remind myself

that no feeling is final

that I must breath

that this is all there is

this eternal present

this perpetual gift

All these words

All these thoughts

like leaves on a tree

sharing a branch

sharing a body

living

changing

returning home

at last

I have to breath slowly, mindfully

My body is demanding rest

To slow down the pace

Just for now

I am listening

Crest and trough 

it's all the same wave

carrying us along 

Surviving

Old friend

I am thinking of you even now

Even through the years

Knowing there is struggle 

in your heart

Struggle in your life

You said

when you are able

you will reach out again

Here I wait 

wondering when

that might be

wondering if you are 

surviving yourself

and these days

I want to write a haiku

Too lazy to count syllables

This is close enough 

Every

Every day

Every morning

Every afternoon

Every evening

Every night

Every dream

Every nightmare

Every thought

Every action

Choice

Circumstance

Consequence

is ours

What will 

you make 

of it?

Lifetimes

Through how many lifetimes

Have we remained faithful

All of them

And so in this one 

we too remain

dedicated to this

self-given task

Open yourself

Unclench the fist

Let the blood circulate

through veins 

and capillaries

Find the words again

and again

as you always have

Guidance

I listen to the wind

She places her hand on my back

I don't ask where

I simply listen 

Let myself be guided along 

median

Mornings filled with birdsongs

Finding feeders on which to perch

Sunny or overcast or rainy or foggy

they live in the same way each day

We struggle with ourselves

our world

our routine

We bristle against boredom

and yet crave stability 

Where is the median?

June First

You wake up to the same view

but the light is brighter

the air is warmer

and you wonder 

just how long it has been

since you've basked

in the warm embrace 

of the sun

What is the morning saying

Are you listening to her

Can you hear the words

flowing through the leaves

The birds are singing 

Listen 

the days

the days the days the days

all the things which make our lives

the days the days the days

our hands full of wind 

What Must Be Remembered

The heart of the child you were resides in you

You have always been this person

as you have grown and changed

You have forgotten this from time to time

Here you are so many years separate

from the first embrace with your mother

You question yourself

Yourself is I

Yourself is Me

We are One

This voice is You

Did you see the part in the clouds

No but you saw the sun 

shining all around 

Memory

What is remembered

What is forgotten

in time everything

in time everything

Don't let yourself worry

What is waking 

but a forgetting

What is living

but remembering

Cardinals

I wait for the birds

Yesterday a pair of cardinals

stayed at the feeder

They sat upon the perch

The male fed his bride

There they sat 

as though nothing else

in the world existed

Nothing else did

Como

How do you empty a mind of its thoughts

How do you you empty a mind of its worries

How do you find peace in modernity's noise

How do you still the waves of the storm

You seek answers from the world

Have you considered the answers

to be residing within

In stillness is peace

These early hours sing for you

Let them 

Shut Up. Listen.

I am not sure what I should write so I start writing because

writing for it's own sake is enough. These days are coming,

these days are going, you watch it as you live it. Your thoughts

move and shift like clouds. What does this new shape mean?

Must it mean anything? There is so much in my life I have

forgotten. There is so much in my life I have yet to live.

There is an infinite number of ways to still change. What 

will I do with this information? Is it possible to embrace

the impossibilities of what I wish to accomplish with this time?

Why must husbands and wives disagree? Would agreeing 

all the time be preferable? Are these both the same problem

in different guises? You wish to know peace. Where are you

looking? Are you looking in the outer world? Are you looking

to conquer outer space? Have you considered an inner gaze?

Do not fret at making everything cohesive. Not everything

is meant to be held forever. Not everything is meant to make

sense. Embrace duality. Embrace contradiction. There is space

enough within. Do not dwell too deeply on past mistakes. Let

them be. Know that was you then. It does not have to be who

you are now. You are growth and change. The pains of growing

into new skin are never easy. You will feel relief soon. Listen.

Just shut up and listen. Sometimes that is the most important

thing you or anyone else can do. Shut up. Listen. 

A Good Man

Speak well of a dead man

Speak well of a dead man 

who was a good man

Are we lesser for having 

lost him

Are we more for having

had him

Yes, child. Yes.

Early Summer

What they say is true

You have to die a few times

before you really start living

I have lived long enough 

to start seeing the patterns

in my thoughts and actions

almost as clearly as strata

in a canyon

I am not as unique as 

I once thought

I am as human as you

I am as human as 

everyone that has come before

Memories

Old pictures

Music from another time

These things at once part 

of me and yet separate from 

who I have become

How much younger we were

How much older we are now

Everything as it should be

Everything as we chose

Divination

Have you wondered about your dreams?

Have you wondered why they disappear

into the mists of morning?

Why do dreams not linger longer than

mere minutes?

Is it necessary for us to dream?

What are we seeing?

What are we living in this state?

It is much too pervasive

to be nothing more than nothing.

There is something.

There is some reason.

We cannot explain away 

everything in this world 

through reason alone.

My mind wonders.

My mind wanders.

What could it be?

I could tell you what I think

but you'd be right to disregard me.

Perhaps I should let you wonder.

This dreaming will not leave us.

It will move with us through 

states of life, showing us 

what must be shown.

Divine meaning from images.

Read the lines in your palms.

Read the leaves in your tea.

You will be closer

than you have ever been. 

There is joy

There is happiness

in all the small things

in our lives 

Rise early

Wait for the Sun

Greet it 

Ready yourself

for a new day

How much potential

is there in wait

What will you do

with this one

beautiful day

Watching / Writing

Watch your thoughts as they pass

Let them go

Release them

No feeling is final

You are water

There is always much to learn

and relearn over and over

Life is made of endless lessons

Even ones you have lived through

must be lived again

Learn new ways to see

Learn new ways to think

Find strength in hardship

We are brave

We are strong

to have come this far

There is goodness

There is kindness 

which lives in you

Reach into that 

Think of your Mother

Think of your Father

What they have sacrificed

What they have made

against all odds

What they have given

Such gifts give life

What do you desire

To find your place

To be of use

To help

To give a hand 

as you have been

Reach out to help

Reach out to receive

You are human

You are no island

Remember this

There is no shame

in asking for help

There is no shame in 

expressing emotions

You are human

Joy and despair

Hope most of all

beating within

These early mornings

Watching the darkness

turn away to light

So it must always be

Saturday Morning in Early Spring

After darkness comes morning

Smalls acts of our ordinary lives

A plate of breakfast

Branches aching to burst

Two Pieces

Is the view from here always so clear

How far can we see

Can we look into forever

Sun and breeze flowing 

This is the feel of life

Let it fill each breath

Do memories haunt or do they linger

Are they welcomed 

or are they interlopers

What is the lesson

What is the gift

they wish to bestow

Ask them

Expect no response

Figure it out yourself

The View

What matters most comes into view

When you see it you will know

It is what you have been searching for

When it is here you will make choices

you had long delayed 

When it is here the difficulty will fall

away into acceptance 

Then the work begins anew

Building

Can we build together?

What are we building?

A life. Everything.

Building with each passing day.

Building with words,

building with actions,

building with kind looks,

building with kisses,

building through hardship,

building through success,

building with every moment.

Let us create that which endures.

What do we wake from?

What do wake into?

What is the space between?

We are who we have

We will give everything

We are who we have

The music is coming through you

I can hear it in your voice

What will you do with your song

I will listen if you let me near

Soft notes filling air and ears

A song called into being

Snow is melting 

Your heart gladdens

Sun needn't be a memory

Winter Hour

Where are the deer at this hour in winter?

Where do they go for warmth?

Do they feel this cold as we do?

They have not all disappeared.

I wish to know but I must settle

for in complete knowledge

at least for know

We are not meant

to know all. 

For You and Danny

I sent you a message

You called me right away

I didn't expect

to hear your voice so soon

You asked if it was intuition

or if I had heard the news

I said intuition

You told me your brother

died last night in hospital

That all of you were 

by his side as he transitioned

Tears, disbelief, relief

all gave way to one another

and back again

You said he had been ill

He had been worsening

I could say nothing

He was only in his fifties

He was young

You are mourning

the loss of a future

You told your children

and they cried too

Your daughter said

it was a sad Friday

and you said yes it was

I'm writing this 

the morning after

our conversation

in the dark just before 

the sunrise 

A million more things

I could say 

But I told you

I love you

and you said it back

and 

Para Mi Esposa

Yes I love you

How long we have loved

and endured

What is a lifetime

Still the noise of this world 

Guide your heart to a place of rest

Let silence overtake you

Strings Singing

I hear the bowing of the cello

as strings sing 

Waves crest and trough 

through my heart

Does happiness take work

When I listen it comes

When I close my eyes

I see it before me

Are you breathing

Don't hold your breathe

Don't clench that jaw

Listen listen listen

over and over 

as much as needed

Listen listen listen

What is time and distance

with memory alive

to bridge the gaps 

between us

Hooves

It has been snowing overnight

I've woken late

The night yet lingers

Are there hoof prints in the snow?

Somewhere 

Somewhere

Cello

What dream is this

to wake to a cello

playing Bach 

in the forest

How strange

This is no dream

Fingers moving

over the neck

Bow angling

back and forth

What patience

What mastery

You have wished

to learn to master

What secret dream

There is yet time

A Friend

What has changed over these many years?

Many things, if not everything.

This desire, so stubborn, so bullheaded,

yet remains.

To sit here, to ponder, to wonder,

to watch the branches of the trees,

and dream of others places, 

other people, and other times. 

To find the words as they venture forth

and give them form and life.

Or is it the other way around?

Tea Leaf Fortune Teller

Steam is escaping the kettle.

The cup waits in anticipation.

The tea is indifferent.

Life is changing states.

What comes next

is entirely predictable.