greatest treasures

I have just three things to teach:

simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in actions and in thoughts,

you return to the source of being.

Patience with both friends and enemies,

you accord with the way things are.

Compassionate toward yourself,

you reconcile all beings in the world.

- Lao-Tzu

white thoughts

This day, then, 

belongs to the woods
That secret solace. 

Trees bending

in symphony, 
cool white thoughts.

Land

LAND
Wind on the lake, stirring
those island trees. 
Frustrated fruits, pine combs, 

with nowhere to land.

Nobody will stop you from creating.

“Nobody will stop you from creating. Do it tonight. Do it tomorrow. That is the way to make your soul grow - whether there is a market for it or not! The kick of creation is the act of creating, not anything that happens afterward. I would tell all of you watching this screen: Before you go to bed, write a four line poem. Make it as good as you can. Don’t show it to anybody. Put it where nobody will find it. And you will discover that you have your reward.”

Kurt Vonnegut 

Seeing Past

Ok again,

gotten into the super speed mode

smokin' trail behind

ignoring all stop signs,

forgetting the how to get,

there!

To see the difference

between life and

created life.

Where are the people,

there?

Everyday moments are special,

too special to see in a burr.

Get it? Again?

Do you see how it/things/stuff,

doesn't really matter?

Just Everyday has the best to offer.

Right There!

Again! Again! Say it Again!

Be right there,

right, there!

Sometimes, You have to do the thing you shouldn't,

to allow the thing out that has to come out.

 To acknowledge something,

 to miss an event that is important,

 to let another, happen,

that needs to happen.

THREE TIMES

THREE TIMES MY LIFE HAS OPENED

Three times my life has opened.

Once, into darkness and rain.

Once, into what the body carries at all times within it and starts

to remember each time it enters the act of love.

Once, to the fire that holds all.

These three were not different.

You will recognize what I am saying or you will not.

But outside my window all day a maple has stepped from her leaves

like a woman in love with winter, dropping the colored silks.

Neither are we different in what we know.

There is a door. It opens. Then it is closed. But a slip of light 

stays, like a scrap of unreadable paper left on the floor,

or the one red leaf the snow releases in March.

Photo from http://www.nevacoloma.blogspot.com

from THE LIVES OF THE HEART by

JANE HIRSHFIELD

remenbering by rainer maria rilke

silence before the dawn

“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn? Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause of a room full of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful if you listen carefully” - Norton Juster

I love to have those quiet times before everyone wakes up and the world starts to spin again. Those are the times I can dip into my soul and remember what is important.

Happy yet?

Stuff your eyes with wonder; live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream." (Ray Bradbury)

Why

Colors swirl behind

my eyelids and

I seek to meld my thoughts

on canvas.

To print the photographs

I see in my mind.

 to imagine.

Art Propelled

 One of my transparent collages, Brainwave, is featured on one of my favorite blogs.

Art Propelled

and included another beautiful poem by Mary Oliver- ending with...

The blades of every crisis point the way. 
I would it were not so, but it is. 
Who ever made music of a mild day?" - Mary Oliver 

Look here

Keeping it Straight

When I am Among Trees

When I am Among Trees

Mary Oliver (Thirst)

When I am among the trees,

Especially the willows and the honey locust,

Equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

They give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

In which I have goodness, and discernment,

And never hurry through the world,

            but walk slowly and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

And call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“and you too have come

Into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

With light, and to shine.”

Out My Window

When I look out my window

every season brings new

vistas for my eyes

I travel on time seeing

fresh and wonderful things

Warm Moments

I chanced to look out the window, then,

letting the smell of my warm tea 

cause me to pause.

Sipping thoughtfully, out of focus, 

I chanced to see the bright yellow school bus

climbing up the hill, quickly running away from my view.

Flashes

of remembered moments,

of children coming up the lane.

Watching it all, my children returning home,

leaving behind the world.

Watching it all again, in my mind's eye,

sipping tea, children grown, nostalgia.

How lucky I am, how grateful for those memories that 

take you back.

circa 1990

Back to warm moments.

Time

Time, we hold so precious that we try to squeeze too much in and make it go by that much faster. 

Relax, let it go. 

Just enjoy this moment, this moment, this moment.

wen

Reconnecting

Unburdened for a day

that stretches out before me,

like some red carpet gauntlet.

Choosing my desires carefully,

weighting pro’s and con’s.

Outside beckons,

I walk out the door

with just my coffee.

Does it Matter?

Does it Matter?

Does it Matter to you,

that the wind blows,

gently?

At night, when the owls come out,

do you hear their call?

The slow movement of heron wings

sound like a million butterflies.

Can you see the sparkle of the sun

on morning waters,

reflecting,

waking you

from the inside out.