there is a time for words
explanations of perceptions of things
the way it feels to suffer the wooden weight
of certain knowledge yes there is plenty
in my world my mind wishes to deny
that we die for example just as love becomes
a heartfelt living presence flowing among us
my god let me grieve long and fully enough
that i recognize the preciousness of this
just let me rest here a moment in silence
i understand nothing, in all innocence, please
we were traveling back to a non-existent world after care-taking for months we were fully present with her during her final hours and afterwards packed up the house made arrangements for things no longer needed we did all we could to honor her sacred beautiful life
and now we were traveling back the first time we really had to truly feel the pain of loss the inevitable crash after years of affirming her wholeness the perfect unfolding of her path yes still true for she had gained serenity and a heart filled with love and gratitude not once did she protest or give up on life she was more alive than most when she departed
as the highway continues to reel out the world begins to recede there is a need to simply be alone to rest to grieve we are traveling back to where normalcy unrest disease unease continue to unwind before us
inside the house all of the screens stream by with fear-filled news emboldened kkk in charlottesville leave behind the injured and deceased and here it is August 2017 such sadness and suffering information can bring
a step or two from beneath the sheltering roof is the entire infinite sky and a delicious lingering touch of sweet cool air this bright summer morning in independence honey locust, towering catalpa, black locust and kentucky coffee bean hang heavy aided by recent unusual rains laden with full brown seed pods
my brothers and sisters the perfect place to fall in love is already offering its bounty
the fragrance of life wafts from the ground with a scent of harvest time the dead made fertile in the luscious earth i tell you plainly there is only birth to be seen in any direction i look
there comes a time when we too must stand in the way and when we do we look to the strong ancestral trees for our example patiently reverent in the black ground and surging sky
matter transformed to light cascades to us through the quivering leaves and back again within receiving eyes
wind that has swept back and forth over oceans of water and grass slows and sighs along our limbs eddies at our fingertips
wind chimes beneath our porch bump lovingly against one another a low mellow ringing contralto
earlier on the lake trail some pressed by gaze averted absorbed in the screen they come and they go voiceless and lost in the depths of the endless scroll
do not fear my dear for we will remain rooted here forever and a day as long as it takes knowing the fear carried in those furtive eyes of separation and despair
yet wherever we are together we invoke an invitation to be within and with each other
in this field life still flows unimpeded it rises straight from the center of earth wind and water
nothing is the matter and the ground of all being is in every locale accepting all that is without label or illusion
it rises
voluminously
as the sun is setting
over Independence
a harvest moon
closely draped
in a silvery shroud
the question seems to be
what pure thing
have we grown this season?
what thing
most beautifully wrought
have we to offer?
and what of this view
from the surface of the moon
a dark globe
slowly rolling its oceans
through a vast star strewn expanse
a dusting of tiny lights
clumped around bits of land?
let this single voice be lost
among the broken places of me
that have worn me to my knees
may by grace i simply be
here please listen
to the stillness with me
this utter peace is born
here where thought is lain
gently for an instant to rest
come be with me where love’s flame
incinerates our masks and opens our hearts
this gate once open can never be shut
this timeless promise will never be broken
only declared again and again
by those willing to fall within
come be with us beyond your fear
come be seen as you truly are
we will join to celebrate your life and
the sacred within you will rush to greet us
come embrace your limitless possibilities
and release your tortured labored breath
yes you will die but only seemingly
and you will know once the walls
have crumbled sufficiently
that your heart can open
on a shimmering doorway to infinity
it rises
