• poetry

    To be nobody-but-yourself…

    March 31, 2025
    Sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area

    A poet is somebody who feels, and who expresses his feelings through words.

    This may sound easy. It isn’t.

    A lot of people think or believe or know they feel — but that’s thinking or believing or knowing; not feeling. And poetry is feeling — not knowing or believing or thinking.

    Almost anybody can learn to think or believe or know, but not a single human being can be taught to feel. Why? Because whenever you think or you believe or you know, you’re a lot of other people: but the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself.

    To be nobody-but-yourself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.

    E. E. Cummings
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  • landscape,  meadow,  natural areas,  nature,  poems,  poetry,  sunrises

    Only the meadow remains…

    March 4, 2025
    This morning’s sunrise at Pineridge Natural Area

    In the early morning hours
    I sit in silence with the meadow and
    allow her to embrace me.

    I share the dawn of this new day
    while listening to the owl’s cry
    echo through the meadow.

    This shared intimacy with the meadow
    has a way of giving birth to new life
    in the ground of my being.
    … I am, therefore, never the same!

    And, I hear in this sacred place
    an unspoken invitation to return again
    each time bringing an awareness that
    each short visit is but a passing moment.

    So, whenever and while I still can
    I will sit with the meadow
    until only the meadow remains.1This was inspired from a poem written by Li Po (Zazen on Ching-t’ing Mountain) in the book Poetry of Presence: An Anthology of Mindfulness Poems.

    mws
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  • landscape,  natural areas,  poetry,  quotes,  sunrises

    I believe…

    February 2, 2025
    Pineridge Natural Area – December 2020

    I have made it through some hard times in my life.
    I imagine you have too.

    Looking back, I can honestly say
    That in more than one of those times
    I was not sure I would make it.

    The presence of a living and conscious love
    Got me through.
    I can only call it Spirit.
    So my faith is not the product of an emotional need
    Or an intellectual imagining.

    I believe because I know. Because I have been there.
    Because of my experience.

    I cannot convince others of this truth.
    I can only share it and wait to see
    The light of memory in their eyes.

    Steven Charleston

    I believe in the presence of a living and conscious love
    because I, too, have been there and experienced it.

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  • natural areas,  Plants,  poems,  poetry

    Discovering Life

    November 2, 2024
    The seasons finale and still a work of art

    Sometimes on the spiritual path
    It is more fun to walk beside a seeker than a true believer.

    I have no quarrel with those who are certain they know
    Exactly where they are going on the path of faith
    But often their questions are few and their stories familiar.

    It is when you listen to the seeker’s vision
    That things can come alive.
    Questions and doubts, longings and hopes
    Experiences both difficult and transcendent:
    It sounds very honest to me.
    And very human.

    If you are a seeker, I will be proud to walk beside you
    Discovering life as we go.

    Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel

    It was such a beautiful day yesterday that I made a trip to Pineridge Natural Area for a bit of quiet and to soak up the sun. I wanted and needed both. This morning is just as lovely with blue skies and sunshine. The Canada Geese are filling the airwaves as they migrate to their winter spots. After my quiet time and a bowl of Irish Oats with blueberries and pecans, I met Eric for coffee and conversation. I saw one eagle and half a dozen hawks on my drive over there and back. Undoubtedly they were seeking a meal. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

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  • fall season,  poetry,  reflections

    A Wonderful Start

    October 13, 2024

    bicycled to coffee shop, indulged in a hot tea
    wonderful start to Sunday or any day

    now mid morning and sitting on my porch
    circled by an almost cloudless blue sky

    the seasons leaves of gold and yellow and red
    reflected in the azure blue sky of the pond

    yes, a wonderful start to Sunday or any day

    mws
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  • poems,  poetry,  shadows

    Keeping my eyes open

    September 5, 2024

    Each day offers moments enticing me to keep my eyes
    open and aware of the world around me.

    No matter how familiar the world may appear to my senses
    may these brief moments surprise me as never before.

    Oh, to see the sacredness, simplicity, and beauty
    of shadows spreading across on my bedroom wall.

    mws
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