portal 4 - THE THEATER

the gift of the unfathomable

 

"bathed in marvel”

not only at night
are we surrounded by stars

moons above and below
galaxies to the left and right at all times

we find ourselves in a cosmic theater
too vast to comprehend

a beauty in twinkles
and precise orbits

reaching deep into the soul
shaking us loose from the humdrum

with the gift of the unfathomable
drunk on marveling

we tell each other
beautiful stories

 

She, who keeps the rhythms

 

“of constancy and change”

on solstice morning my bare feet touch 
the sacred ground of Mother Earth

She, Who Keeps the Rhythms 
of our Wheel of Life

 in faithful
regularity

spinning through space, never
in the same place twice

in harmony with Father Sun,
Moon Child and the Galaxies

what a wondrous paradox to behold seasons
of constancy and change

 

abandon myself

 

“now”

wisdom tells me that life is a stream
of slow eddies and fast currents

that the weather within is
always on the move

yet how i observe the show
how i witness, frame and reframe

and tell the story to myself
that can be refined and honed

life can be viewed through many lenses
and i notice how i am still too scared

to fully embrace life in all its messy glory
to hold the sorrows and the joys

the world’s pains and generations of sweet laugher
and surrender to the Great Mystery

if i could travel back in time, i would tell myself
to abandon myself to love

to be still enough, to be open enough, to be vast enough
to hold the note of perpetual surrender

i would tell myself to remember now
and in the now that arrives just now

 

two little birds

 

“open the window wide”

woke with the sound of sparrows
mating outside my open window

in time, soft and playful the young will arrive
and voyage through the web of life

we enter and exit the stage of life the same
after birth - death is guaranteed

sparrow and girl
can’t change the course of the Wheel

so natural 
yet fear makes such a fuss

all part of the game 
the known, unknown, and unfathomable 

so what’s a girl to do?
fill the sails with trust

open the window wide
be with the songs of life

 

the grand parade

 

“endlessly entertaining”

amazing, how within a heartbeat
awareness can shift from the external worlds
to my internal wonderland

how i can sense the body’s state of wellbeing,
then observe the swell of emotional tides

now point my focus to the realm of thoughts
witnessing them as they move about on this fine morning

some light and bright, a few scary-sharp,
while others are filled with the hot air of self-importance

oh, what a marvel they are, as they strut before before me
endlessly entertaining, bewildering,
easy to get lost in . . . for a whole life time.

what then, i ponder, should my relationship be
to this grand parade of thoughts?

 

the language of emotions

 

“messengers”


draw nearer to yourself
and listen

to the messengers
that arrive, one by one

the emissaries and high counselors
that come to you, speaking

in the language of emotions
about the state of your heart

hoping to catch your attention
in this crowded, vexing world

they whisper and shout
about joy and sadness

and hundreds of flavors,
asking to be heard

all carrying the messages
of needs

so, draw nearer to yourself
be still and
listen

 

in the garden of the heart

 

“flaring briefly, brightly”

imagine, each emotion as a flower
in the garden of the heart

budding, blooming 
fading away

each a seven-second life
of its very own

flaring briefly,
brightly

in all imaginable shapes
and shades of white and pink, 

fiery reds, yellows, deep purples 
and the palest of blues . . .

how many lived and flourished
in your heart just today?

do you know them by name?
welcome them all the same?

 

this body of mine

 

“this body of mine”

i love this body of mine
just look at what it can do
even the gray hairs sprouting from my chin
how can i not be in wondrous amazement, in awe

this body can
walk, listen and see
heal itself and breathe for me
it is a most marvelous machine
my home and temple while here on Earth

observation and reason tells me
that this journey of living
within condensed stardust will end
that this sweet body of mine 
will wear out and dissolve

and when that time comes
may my heart be grateful and full of thanks
to this steadfast friend of mine

all the adventures we have had,
of growing together through love and pain,
wisdom and persisting folly

- now, to all the purveyors of views
that tell me: my body is too short, too fat, too old,
too this, too that  - i smile,
and without wishing ill to anyone,
twirl and continue to love this body dearly

“when the time comes”

 

innumerable

 

“messages”


on blue wings the peanut eaters arrive
we have a date, each early morning
on the front step of our home
where we exchange tokens of food for messages
in their language, which i am still trying to puzzle out

friendships come in innumerable flavors
growing with each meeting and greeting
as our worlds entwine

“morning meetings”

 

a thing of beauty

 

“almost forgotten”

on my shelf there sits a book
called “encyclopedia of the gods”
and in it alphabetized, like a phonebook, 
are listed the gods
from A-Z, thousand of them
some celebrities in my culture and time
some almost forgotten

. . . and i imagine how they have been
living in our human hearts and minds and actions

. . . which leads me to ponder the power of mind
that can attach value, ridicule, or hold sacred anything,
not just the gods

. . . so it would seem,
that i can choose my views and values, even my gods
and i am in awe of this gift
choice
- free from my conformity and laziness
it is a thing of beauty

so i counsel myself to use this gift
for more than the choosing of favorite flavors of ice-cream and sitcoms
to get to know it, buoyantly,
and in the process maybe even surprise the gods of old habits

“the gods of old habits”

 

stay tuned

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