Shoveling Snow With Buddha 
 
In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok
you would never see him doing such a thing,
tossing the dry snow over a mountain
of his bare, round shoulder,
his hair tied in a knot,
a model of concentration.
Sitting is more his speed, if that is the word
for what he does, or does not […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry | 9 Comments »

Tim
You’ve only just arrived 
Now you’ve begun to go 
My God, how much I love you 
How my whole body aches with 
The glory that is you. 
 
Constantly changing, sometimes slowly, 
Sometimes in one heartbeat 
  Or the blink of an eye. 
Becoming, 
  always becoming, 
  your self. 
 
Already my hands rest open 
You sitting there in the palm 
  of my hand 
Stretching your wings 
Testing the wind 
Learning […]

Posted in Poetry, Art and Spirituality | 6 Comments »

Consent
There was the minute no one speaks of,
when she could still refuse.
A breath unbreathed,
Spirit,
suspended,
waiting.
She did not cry,”I cannot, I am not worthy,”
nor, “I have not the strength.”
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
raging,coerced.
Bravest of all humans,
consent illumined her.
The room filled with its light,
the lily glowed in it,
and the irridescent wings.
Consent,
courage unparreled,
opened her utterly.
-Denise Levertov
A friend […]

Posted in Poetry, Advent, Art and Spirituality | 4 Comments »

The Storm
Now through the white orchard my little dog
romps, breaking the new snow
with wild feet.
Running here running there, excited,
hardly able to stop, he leaps, he spins
until the white snow is written upon
in large, exuberant letters,
a long sentence, expressing
the pleasures of the body in this world.
Oh, I could not have said it better
myself.
-Mary Oliver

Yesterday afternoon it […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry | 8 Comments »

Listen
with the night falling we are saying thank you
we are stopping on the bridge to bow from the railings
we are running out of the glass rooms
with our mouths full of food to look at the sky
and say thank you
we are standing by the water looking out
in different directions
back from a series of hospitals back from […]

Posted in Poetry | 3 Comments »

I don’t want you to just sit down at the table.
I don’t want you to just eat and be content.
I want you to walk out into the fields
Where the water is shining and the rice has risen.
I want you to stand there far from this white tablecloth.
I want you to fill your hands with mud, […]

Posted in Poetry | 6 Comments »

Dear darkening ground,
you’ve endured so patiently the walls we’ve built,
perhaps you’ll give the cities one more hour
and grant the churches and cloisters two,
And those that labor—maybe you’ll let their work
grip them another five hours, or seven
before you become forest again, and
widening wilderness
in that hour of inconceivable terror
when you take back your name
from all things.
Just give […]

Posted in Poetry | 4 Comments »

The Road
Here is the road: the light
comes and goes then returns again.
Be gentle with your fellow travelers
as they move through the world of stone and stars
whirling with you yet every one alone.
The road waits.
Do not ask questions but when it invites you
to dance at daybreak, say yes.
Each step is the journey; a single note the […]

Posted in Poetry, Art Creativity Spirituality Retreat | 6 Comments »

***Make sure you go visit this week’s Poetry Party*** 

Get up from your bed,
go out from your house,
follow the path you know so well,
so well that you now see nothing
and hear nothing
unless something can cry loudly to you,
and for you it seems
even then
no cry is louder than yours
and in your own darkness
cries have gone unheard
as long […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry | 6 Comments »

Morning Poem
Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange
sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again
and fasten themselves to the high branches —
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands
of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails
for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries […]

Posted in Photos, Poetry | 11 Comments »