while standing as a witness to the arrival of a new day
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and the gifts of nature reflecting in Dixon Reservoir
while a full moon sets over the mountains behind me
and nature’s predawn colors shifting from pink to orange
… tears run down my cheek!
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A Wonderful Start
bicycled to coffee shop, indulged in a hot tea
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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 -
This morning…
tired after a night of wrestling for sleep
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I settled into silence, prayer, and meditation
ignoring the cold, I mounted my red steed for
an invigorating bicycle ride to the arboretum
then placed a latte made with love by Allie
on a tabernacle at an east facing window
with beams of sunlight enkindling blank pages
I sought words hidden within a favorite fountain pen -
Let me linger…
It may be a product of getting older
Steven Charleston, Spirit Wheel
But sometimes I want to stop time.
I want to make the sunsets last just a little longer.
I want the quiet mornings to go on and on
The laughter at the dinner table
To stretch out into a whole evening
The beauty of the clouds as they race
Across the valley to never end.
It is not that I want to freeze reality, just slow it down.
I want life to move as slowly as I do.
For I have learned that life moves far too fast as it is.
It is a joy that endures but briefly
Made of moments that pass as quickly as hummingbirds.
Let me linger in the love I feel.
Let me see the light for as long as I can.I stopped on my ride this evening because these daisies caught my eye. However, I was not the only one interested in the daisies as this bee busily flitted from flower to flower. So busy in fact, I never got a good infocus shot. Oh well. I watched and lingered and loved the moment.
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Keeping my eyes open
Each day offers moments enticing me to keep my eyes
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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. -
Living a Privileged Life
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Someone rummages through garbage for food
Someone hides in the closet in fear of another beating
Someone loses their child in senseless bombing
Someone faces another day of dialysis
Someone receives an wanted pathology report
Someone contemplates their suicide
Someone buries a loved one
While I enjoy my coffee life and mocha latte
While I live a privileged life -
Its self and its form are one…
The poet wants to drink from the well of origin; to write the poem that has not yet been written. In order to enter this level of originality, the poet must reach beyond the chorus of chattering voices that people the surface of a culture. Furthermore, the poet must reach deeper inward; go deeper than the private hoard of voices down to the root-voice. It is here that individuality has the taste of danger, vitality and vulnerability. Here the creative has the necessity of inevitability; this is the threshold where imagination engages raw, unformed experience. This is the sense you have when you read a true poem. You know it could not be other than it is. Its self and its form are one.
John O’DonohueI felt a bit restless and leaning on the discontent side of things Sunday afternoon. I would say it’s what O’Donohue calls “the private hoard of voices” that sometimes hang out in my head. My solution was some journaling time, a walk at Reservoir Ridge Natural Area and connecting to the poem of nature (I like that phrase). After journaling I decided I better get a walk in before it rained as the wind had picked up and darker clouds slowly moved in. Good timing as It began sprinkling by the time I walked back to the car but it never did rain. I have been fascinated by some wonderful clouds this spring and Sunday was another day for them. I accepted the gift nature offered me and now offer it to you!