The Image that Bursts from Your Heart

Amitayus Mandala., paint on wood, Tibetan, 19th C.  Click to expand.

sun shadow east

sun set set sun

moon shadow west

centering lost and lost centering

following words and words following

mandala writing writing mandala

Parhelion

Morning sundog

Dawn is your miracle to witness

your omen of prophecy

your enlightenment

your directive your comfort

and blessing enough.

—from the teaching of Deng Ming-Dao

Evening Song

Only here. Only this.

Only on the earth does life exist

as best we can tell in all the endless universe.

What a grand coincidence it is then

that we share the sunset

with language to turn thought into sound

i hear your mind in this hour of evening

standing in the sky with infinity inside. 

Click here for Philip Glass' Evening Song

Even in the Darkest Days

Snapped them off as i passed

reaching out the window of the truck

concerned about scratches to the door.

Filled with water from the well

an old bottle from the yard,

sat it on the sill above the sink,

and forgot about it, hey,

you never know what can happen

with even the least attention

and a little warmth undisturbed.

Such Things as Revealed by Winter

Function done

it seems but

showing only now

our core

in harsher weather

fiber stem and pore

our truest selves

freed to lean against

each other for

this is who we are

and so proclaim

the right to be

beautiful together.

Angle of View

Please click to see.

You who see what i see here

I know you feel what i feel too

so far to travel in this field

so much to share and days so few?

Early Winter Morning

When i heard at the close of day

how the totals were higher than expected

everyone was pleased but still

it was not a happy night for me that followed,

and else when my plans were accomplished,

still i was not happy,

but when i rose at dawn refreshed

and breathed the morning cool in my lungs,

when i saw the frost sparkling in the moss,

when i heard the crows celebrating light

and heard the rapping of a pileate

calling for a mate on a drumming tree,

when i felt the sun warm upon my face,

i thought of one who thought of me

and knew my friend was coming back,

that night I was happy.

—with a bow to the Good Gray Poet.

Continuum

Leaf florets of wild asters

Spring begins under the wreckage,

next year's promise formed and waiting

as it will be even under the deepest snows.

It's like we've often whispered to each other,

nature has the most to teach.