In the spirit world

everything speaks,

every being carries

a message meant

exclusively for you.

To participate

in the lesson,

simply trust that

you can know

without having to

think, that you will

feel the wisdom

settle and spread

as you receive

answers to questions

you did not know

you were asking.

 

Ideas and dreams travel through us,

becoming words sparking between spirits,

desires twinkling from souls,

colliding and exploding into flames

of indistinguishable, inextinguishable

purpose and passion.

Surround your time
with feathers of wonder
until you have enough
to make a set of wings.

And then fly fast through those
illusions, clocks and mirrors,
until there is no separation
between you and anything else.

Upon your return, give voice
to that unity, letting its simple
song spill from the you
you are now.

Jibberish, jabberish,

walk, walk, walk.

Jibber, jabber,

step, step, step.

On a jabber walky

one must utter only

nonsense, only things

that nobody else

would understand,

scraps of imagination

thrown into a silk hat

and tossed together

until you end up with

buttons burping

gasoline and smelling

like peaches while

star-shaped robots laugh

about alien vegetable

romances, and so on,

and so on. One foot

in front of the other,

one thought tumbling

from one place to

another, transformed

by lightning-quick

strokes of madness

only accessed through

daily walking and total

fascination with the

world above, below,

around, and inside you.

Imagine yourself tiny,

floating on a speck

of light, your wonder

swelling as you

careen through the

galaxy, skimming

stars, dancing with

darkness, twisting

time into a million

knots until nothing

matters but now.

And when you get there

you will remember here,

maybe with fondness,

maybe with a shudder,

but the distance you travel

from here to Beyond

will teach you in ways

you never thought you

could be taught, will rip

the doors right off the

hinges of what you thought

you might know, who you

thought you might be.

Unbind these hands and

reach out, palms cupped

for catching sunshine.

 

Free your freedom,

letting it fly forward

while you chase it, laughing.

 

Let curiosity guide you

on the unmarked trail

through this canyon of adventure,

with wonder walking on your left

and gratitude on your right.

 

Sitting at the kitchen table

on a Sunday evening,

listening to Miles Davis,

eating homemade lasagna–

one square from the big, full

pan begging for company–

alone engulfs me,

and I realize how scary

it really is, how “kind of blue”

it can be, but also how nice,

how tranquil, despite the

overwhelming melancholy

of this moment.

 

Silence, stillness, and solitude,

those sisters who walked by my house

every day for years, long braids

swinging with their gentle laughter,

secrets sliding between them,

those sisters I pretended not to see,

making myself look too busy to chat

or ducking inside when I heard

their footsteps, those sisters have

started stopping by for daily visits.

Now, instead of hiding, I leave

the door open for them, set the table

for four, and smile when they stroll in

and stay longer than I ever could

have imagined I would let them.

Not back, but deeper,

although both require pain

in cracking and re-setting

crooked bones of assumption,

in the dusty discomfort

of sifting through shadows.

 

Not back, but deeper,

because forward is the only way through—

not standing still waiting for change,

not slipping backward into comfort.

 

Not back, but deeper,

requires digging until

you slump with exhaustion,

howl with frustration,

plead for respite.

 

Not back, but deeper,

even when you ache to resurface,

when truth’s rancid breath

makes you wretch.

 

Not back, but deeper,

until your heart shatters open

at the first speck of beauty,

at the faint, but pure, voice

harmonizing with the melody

you’ve stifled all these years.

 

Not back, but deeper,

as you approach the mirror

with a smile, finally able to look

without flinching, recognizing, at last,

that wise woman from your dreams