The Portal

The way out  
is always through —  
through the grief  
through the passion  
through the unending pain  
that has followed you  
all your life.  

Feel your longings  
feel your want of freedom from  
which leads to freedom to.  

Breathe in deeply  
I am here  
I am always here.  

Open like the eyes of an animal  
roaming in society  
built up around her.  

Open like the beast  
hunting for food  
keenly aware  
that any moment his life may end.  

Open knowing  
this is your home.  
Fill the ocean with your tears  
feel the earth supporting you.  
Rise again  
be born anew.  

Life can flow easily  
through you again.  
There is a way out  
there is love,  
hope and wild beauty  
there is peace
even contentment.  

There is a way for you  
to grow into who you already are.  

But you have to  
be willing to go through.


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Dear Mother Earth

This morning I awake  
and you fill me.  
Your bountiful glory  
sweeps through my veins.  
I am alive with my  
awareness of you.  

Taking you in all at once  
is almost too much to do —  
you overwhelm me.  
My heart beats for you  
my breath depends upon you.  
Your sounds caress my ears  
your chirps, waves  
secret calls  
entice me to listen deeper.  
Your colors fill my eyes.  
How many shades of green you are,  
tints of blue.  
And your color combinations —  
what magic!  

Your Jasmine greets me  
with the sweetest, softest scent  
your vine intermingling my mind  
with places I knew  
but here, now, you are dripping  
with fresh rains  
from the heavens.  
Clouds white with gray overtones —  
how do you do this?  

Your gentle undulating waves  
mesmerize me  
your abundant gardens  
fill me with life enhancing  
tastes and goodness.  
You are all.  
You carry the wisdom of the One.  
YOU are amazing.  

And I am here  
loving you  
and feeling your perennial  
love for me.  
There is nothing more  
I want or need.  
I am full.  
Full of love  
for you.

Heart Line

It starts with a crack. 
You know the kind — 
a rock hits your windshield  
and over the years  
the crack slowly wields its way  
across the entire glass of your car.  

Only this time  
it takes billions of years
The earth moves  
a rock shifts,
lifts and cracks.  

And on this crack  
thousands of years ago  
a soul, not unlike my own  
knows its intended work  
is for the heart  
to crack open.  

So the heart finds the line  
to rest on —  
knowing that as it cracks open  
again and again
life will continue to be lived  
on the edge.  

And the soul knows  
this is the work  
it's supposed to do  
no matter where it is  
or whose body it enters  
or how it is interpreted.  

The heart is meant  
to crack open  
over and over
until life is lived  
fully in passion  
fully in the mystery  
fully as a lover of the beloved.


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Raw Earth

What if I  
don't behave?  

What if I run  
in the streets and say 
look — you — 
are beautiful  

What if I sing  
at ocean's edge  
calling to the waves  
as they call to me  

What if I answer  
each bird's song  
with a song of my own  

What if I shout for joy
that I am alive  
experiencing earth  
here, now, fully  

What if I pick up  
a handful of soil  
and drop it  
on my head  
yes — you —  
the soil that springs up life  

What if all  
the ways of suppressing  
my joy are removed  

What if self-criticism  
perfectionism and fear  
dissolve  

What if I dance instead of walk  
laugh instead of smile  
sing instead of talk?

And what if  
I meet you there
how will you
misbehave?


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Dawn's Rose

 

I greeted you  
this morning  
at the pivotal part  
of day.  

Still gray out  
dew in the air  
I walked your path.  
Emerging from  
brown twigs  
and sleepy greens  
you secretly  
showed your face,  
unaccustomed  
to your own  
newness and beauty.  

And there
in the silence  
that only a
crow's caw sliced  

I know  
you greeted me.


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Morning Ocean

Wild water wanderer
As far as I can see
It's all you —
   on and on
   to the gentle
   curve of the earth.
And more beyond that.

The morning birds
   come to greet you
What have you brought
   from your travels?
Fish from far away shores
   ancestors to become
   part of the food chain.

Ducks take their morning bath
   otters their playful swim
I take my morning breath
   upon you —
Salt in the air
   moistness, breeze.

Life — I am part of you
   Beauty, you are part of me.
Old patterns of holding back
   break like waves
   on the rocks
Shattering
   into billions of drops
Like tears falling from my eyes.

How can we not be one?

Here

 

"Where are you going?"
the rabbit asks me
along the way.

To a new land
where there is safety
in the unknown
Where I can fly
without taking
my feet off the ground
Where my life
touches those
I have never met —
and theirs touch mine
Where I can feel
beyond the depths
laid out in front of me.

Where I can appreciate
the vastness of this
world and leave a
tear as a sign of
my devotion
Where the stars guide me
and my soul knows the way.

"Who will go with you?"
she calls out
as she hops past me.

Those with the insight
to pull me up
when I fall
Those with a heart
deeper than my own
Those who can look
in my eyes
and share their souls
And those who call out to me
to give a hand beyond their own
to help with their next step
which neither of us know.

Birthing

 

We are here  
not lightly.  
It is not all  
fun and games  
nor hardship and woe.  
We have an obligation  
to fulfill.  

We don't come here  
knowing what it is  
we learn it  
through trial and tale.  

Beholden to our life  
is our purpose —  
our real work.  
Often hidden  
because it is deep,  
the deeper we open  
the closer we come.  

How do we know  
what our obligation is?  
When we find it  
we can do nothing else.  
It occupies us  
obsesses us  
scares and excites us.  
We don't do it for money  
or for someone else's cause.  

When we discover it  
we know it is real  
and nothing can  
take its place.  
This is what  
we are here to do.  

All of our challenges  
and hardships  
lead us here.  
This is the  
home of our soul  
yet, oddly enough,  
we only know  
what it is  
once we have found it.

Then and Now

Once upon a time  
life was different,  
energies  
swept through the planet  
unhindered  
unknowing of the ways to come  
unfettered.  

Once upon a time  
life was raw  
unearthed  
fierce  
solid.  

Once upon a time  
great beasts  
roamed the planet  
fish walked  
amoebae grew.  

Once upon a time  
what mattered most  
mattered least 
what stood up tallest  
fell  
what eroded  
decayed  
grew  
created anew.  

Once upon a time  
a stage was set  
for life now.  

Once upon a time  
is not so distant  
as today will someday be  
Once upon a time, too.

Ode to the Veil

 

One doesn't know  
the veil is there  
before it is lifted,  
Until that aha moment  
when it dissolves 
opening to a new reality,  
a doorway into  
the continuing dream.  

How many veils  
are still up now?  
What hides the beauty  
that I don't see,  
what befalls me  
that I don't breathe in  
with reverence?  

What love  
do I not experience  
for some blind spot,  
what joy do I  
not languish in  
for some grid of perception  
that comes between it and me?  

What small miracle  
do I not wonder about  
and admire  
for its brilliance?  
What part of life  
am I missing?  

In my Ode to the Veil  
I am hereby ready  
to have it removed,  
lifted  
so I can fully enjoy  
with ecstasy  
the truth surrounding me.  

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