“…inside us there is a word we cannot pronounce, and that is who we are.”
-Anthony Marra, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
May9
Mar13
Desert Wishes
for Casey
May your spirit find space
to stretch far and wide
under that big, open sky.
May your soul recognize its truth,
its wild and radiant essence,
reflected in the fierce sun.
May you feel your strength,
solid and humble, in the rocks
surrounding and holding you.
May your heart expand with wonder
as each grain of sand reminds you
of your own abundance.
May you notice your own brilliance,
your incredible light,
in the glow of each moon.
May you discover more questions
than answers under the stars, trusting them
to lead you into infinite possibilities.
May your spirit join the wind,
soaring and delighting
in currents of freedom.
May you enjoy peace in the stillness,
and sweet sleep, rich with dreams
of what lies beyond knowing.
May your soul see the depth,
the many layers of its beauty
displayed in every sunset.
May you hear animal voices
aligning you with the purity of instinct,
all that is true and alive within you.
May your heart speak freely,
filling the canyons with wise words
about loving and being loved.
May you find what you need
in this landscape, raw and real,
as you sit, explore, and listen.
Jan11
The Poet Wishes She Was a Poem
“I believed that I wanted to be a poet,
but deep down I just wanted to be a poem.”
–Jaime Gil de Bieda
And isn’t that the truth,
that those of us trying
to use words as nets
for capturing all that is real
and raw and true
are really yearning to be the nets,
that we might actually feel
the delicate wings
and slippery bodies
of purity, honesty,
wonder, and anguish
fluttering and flopping
within us
Dec9
Never Stop Exploring
Every question
is a little adventure
in trust, and to
discover truth,
set the search
for answers aside
and allow wonder
to push
you beyond
the next bend
and then the next,
then the one after that,
until exploration
leads you deep
into a canyon
upon whose walls
are etched
more questions.
Dec5
Overture
Wind carries the hum
of curiosity, and as I stop,
turn around, and listen,
it expands
into a symphony
of possibility.
Nov27
Invocation For Today
Bombarded by blessings,
bountiful beauty,
be, be, be.
Nov26
Say it Hot
“…when genuine passion moves you,
say what you’ve got to say, and say it hot.”
–D.H. Lawrence
If you allow
sparks of truth
and beauty to ignite
what is tender
and alive within you,
there will come a time
when you can no longer
contain the fire,
when you must spit
that flaming ball of yes
into the world
and risk burning
the whole place down.
Nov18
Not Yet
As you nestle into my pillow,
I smell the lotion
that one of the technicians
must have had on her hands
when she held you down
for x-rays this morning. I reach
to pet you, feel the knobs
of your spine, feel shoulderblades
jutting from you like scree, feel
the vet’s prognosis splintering
me, recalling the conversation
I tried to reason my way through
with all the right lines
about your quality of life
being more important
than invasive treatments,
about dying
being part of life, my voice
beginning to tremble
when emotion snuck up
and pushed reason out
of the way. And tonight
my hand shakes its way
across your brittle coat
while I revisit our agreement
that you will let me know
when it’s “time,” but tonight
you just nestle in further,
purring, stretching,
letting me know
it’s not yet.
Nov15
At Least I’d Like to Believe That’s How It Happens
Drooping limbs,
burdened under
the weight of winter,
will free themselves
and spring back
toward the sky
when they dance
under tonight’s moon,
shaking off those
snowy shackles.
Nov2