Lifted to the light

Even as we wait in darkness

We lift our faces to the light.

The grace of the unexpected

The problem with all this planning, with our regimented lives,

is there's not much opportunity for the grace of the unexpected.

There's so much more to life

than what we see when we're not watching...

Opening the map

It may be time to open your internal map again;

to broaden your imagined journey,

to reach beyond the safety of familiar paths,

beyond familiar folds, so creased and worn,

beyond the edge where you have always paused and turned away...

Invitation to silence

In the still of the morning,

an open invitation to silence...

Listen for the colors

Listen for the colors that float beneath the surface 

of the words you long to hear.

Within those tangled depths, will you find lies?

Or light that bubbles freely to the surface?

A momentary perfection

The cherry tree, who spends most of her year

bare, and only blossoms briefly in the spring,

reminds us to expect that perfection will be rare,

and when we're feeling barren, we're just storing up

the light we'll need for when we bloom again.

The cycle of possibility

Lift up your eyes, and know

whatever rises will inevitably fall

and what has fallen will most certainly rise again.

Cultivate listening

Each element in creation has a story to tell,

if only we have the patience to listen.

Deepening reflections

I like the image I see of myself

reflected in your eyes, 

but wish I could see past that

to the soul that lies beneath...

Your inner artist

What is your inner artist looking at today,

and how will it interpret what it sees?

Whatever you create will inevitably reflect

your own projections...

What lifts you?

What is calling you that you're not hearing?

What are the things you've always known,

and what have you learned that only pain could teach you?

Who are you, and what lifts you above the waves?

Rarely black and white

In nature things are rarely black and white:

it's we who choose to see them that way,

hoping to eliminate distracting contradictions

and clarify the path we're so determined to follow.

A prayer for Spring breezes

Come, warm breath of Spring, 

and bless our yards with flowers...

The shape of our grief

What shape our lives will take after a loss

may well define us: whether we bend and slump

or lift it to the light and let our growth be fed 

by what we've learned and how we've loved...

When bridges fail

What happens, when we can no longer trust our bridges --

or is it just we've forgotten how to build them,

how to reach across political divides, to span the distance

from me to you, from us to them, from isolation into hope?

Puzzling out the whole

 

Like puzzle pieces, loops and whorls,

it all fits together: sea and sand, rocks and clouds,

the mountains and the valleys all combine to remind us

that we are all a part of a single whole.

Welcoming the angles...

This one reminds me of a line from White Christmas:

"Everybody's got an angle."

Whatever our resistance to that thought,

the beauty's still that all those angles come together

to make a pleasing whole.

This long dark hibernation

Oh, cruel spring, to taunt us with the pansy

and then blanket us with snow again,

reminding us this long dark hibernation's

integral to building strength for what we will become.

Pansy delight

The weather warms, the dark earth opens

to receive new plants, and pansies press 

their furry paws to cheeks in innocent delight

at the beauty of the bird songs that surround them.

Imprinting

We go through life thinking some folks have it backwards,

when really we're the ones who've got things upside down...

The promise of the skies

When all else fails and things look dark,

I lift my eyes and draw new hope

from the promise of the skies.

A matter of perspective

If you feel everything you need is in this space, 

then it is not a prison; it is home, which means 

to step outside might always seem a threat...

it's all a matter of perspective.

The imminence of Spring

Sheltered by the stone,

the fragile crocuses take courage 

and proclaim the imminence of Spring.

Illumination

Illumination comes in many forms,

not all of them as obvious as these.

But when it does arrive you'll come to realize

how very dark your world had grown without it.

Outdated attachments

"Mine," your chains proclaim,

"all mine, and you can't have it," 

and still I wonder why you cling

to something that no longer serves its purpose...

Look with wonder

Just as the artist watches,

seeks to capture that which makes subjects unique,

look upon the world, not with a critical eye,

but with wonder, and with appreciation.

Failure to Communicate

I can fill the world with words and phrases
And still fail to communicate
How blessed I feel
To have been loved by you.

Bloom anyway

Even when the weather's dark and gray

The flowers somehow 

find their way to bloom...

Hidden Treasures

When will we learn to see the holes, 

the wounded empty places in our souls 

as invitations to explore, not just

As scars to cover up?

Take a seat

Relax, take a seat;

Let me do the work,

Trust me, and I will plow the waves;

Together we will paddle to the stars.

Cloud dappled sky

After the storm a new day dawns,

Perhaps not in the way or place

That you anticipated, but still --

Another opportunity to find your way to love.