The sun is on the rise

Planning to write about the times 

When thoughts and hopes once lost in fog 

Can suddenly appear, 

I happened to look up and see the moon, 

Just there in front of me, despite the rain. 

I took a shot, and now I see 

It’s sunk back into clouds, as if to say 

“Keep watch, my friends, keep watch: 

Though the times are gray there is still hope. 

Keep watch, and know: 

Though the moon is setting, the sun is on the rise.

Grace in perseverance

I know. 

There are days when prayer and meditation 

Feel empty; like a mailbox that’s been waiting 

For a letter to arrive, but don’t give up; 

You wouldn’t take the mailbox down — 

Keep coming back, keep checking in: 

Don’t be afraid to sit or kneel, but trust — 

There is a blessing in the silence 

And a grace in perseverance.

Each gift has its shadow

When we come to accept that we are imperfect; 

That each of us has extraordinary gifts, 

And that each of those gifts comes

With its own unique shadow; 

Then and only then will we able 

To serve the world to the best of our capacity.

Time to go outside

May you find a way today 

To explore, appreciate, and be nourished by 

The silent divinity of wild spaces...

Thankfulness in a time of loss

It’s hard to feel awash in gratitude 

When the house is empty, table’s bare, 

And chairs that once held family and friends 

Sit empty, harsh reminders of the losses, 

Seen and unseen, of this year. 

Yet still we raise a song of thanks, 

And pray that in the year to come 

We will make wiser choices,

Break through the misperceptions that divide us, 

And find our way back home 

To shared compassion and respect.

Breathe in the light

The future stretching before us 

May be dark and full of clouds, 

But there, in the distance, will be light. 

Breathe that flame into your heart, 

And trust that it will serve 

As fuel for the journey that lies before us.

A quiet space within

We can create — or find — within ourselves 

A garden space where souls may visit often 

To restore our faith and courage for the journey.

Renewed hunger for connection

Perhaps what we might learn 

From this enforced isolation 

Is how much we need connection: 

Could our attempts to separate, 

To judge and exclude have led to this? 

If we continue to reject all that differs, 

Will we be left with no one but ourselves? 

Perhaps we’ll learn to reach across the divide; 

To collaborate, cooperate, and connect; 

To find an end to our divisions 

And build together a more unified society...

A promise of recovery

I’m grateful today for the occasional reminders 

That there is hope and possibility 

Still awaiting us: 

Beyond the ever present clouds, a promise, 

Like the pot of gold at the rainbow’s end, 

If we can just keep focused and moving forward.

The gift of variety

When will we finally come to realize 

That it takes both similarities and differences 

To create a healthy and sound society; 

That each of our unique 

Imperfections and perspectives 

Can add beauty and complexity to the whole?

Time to listen to your soul

Deep below the surface of our lives 

Churns a hunger for belonging, once assuaged 

By social contacts and commitments 

To groups, to causes and shared tasks 

Now much harder to achieve in isolation. 

But we can take this opportunity 

To listen to the voice of that hunger; 

To hear more clearly what it might now 

Be calling us to become, and find new ways 

To address and express the truth of being.

Awaiting change

And now we wait, 

Awash in fear and expectation, 

For whatever change must inevitably come.

We hold these truths

Grasp lightly what you hold to be the truth, 

And employ it, not as weapon, 

But a means of reaching out, 

An invitation to inclusion, not exclusion; 

A way to build a shared communion of belief 

Founded on understanding and acceptance 

Of a broader range of possibilities...

The challenge of aloneness

And now, after a brief respite from aloneness, 

We must step back into our solitude 

To save our lives and the lives of those we love, 

Reducing the celebration of gratitude 

To its simplest common denominator: 

To be grateful for continuing existence, 

When that existence can't be shared...

Prepared to be

When that day comes — 

The moment when I’m called upon 

To do what I was born to do — 

I pray that I’ll be ready, with my oars 

To move me forward, and a bucket 

To help bale me out 

 When seas get rough and I’m awash in fear...

Seeking peace

May all who’ve been forced to navigate 

The challenges of this pandemic 

Find moments of peace, calm, and comfort 

Somewhere in their days...

Wisdom in our scars

Yet another lesson from the trees: 

We can survive our wounds and still go on; 

Still bloom, still offer shade, solace, and shelter; 

Still find beauty in the scars 

And the wisdom we have learned in the struggle.

Respecting the Other

What if, though we stand on opposite sides, 

I honor the unquenchable radiance in you, 

And you honor the luminosity of spirit in me?

Cold seas ahead

Sailing into the season of cold and wet, 

We know what lies ahead will be a slog 

But yet push on, because we know 

To set our course for spring we must 

First navigate the icy shoals of winter.

Honoring our veterans

On this gray day in November 

We remember all whose lives 

Were lost or changed forever 

On the battlefields of war; 

Who lie below the ground 

Or walk above it and alone, 

Forever haunted by their memories; 

The images, scents and sounds of the past.

Taking comfort from the simple things

And in the end, the simple things: 

The buck beneath the holly tree, the rain, 

The sea and sky, the thistles tossing seeds 

To add more prickles to the lawn, 

The spiders in their webs, 

And the hummingbird whose ruby throat 

Still flashes at the feeder — 

The days come down to this, and so 

We learn to watch and wait for this 

Horrific year to pass, while taking comfort 

From the timelessness of that which seems 

Untouched by our catastrophes.

Look beyond your preconceptions

Take it today: one thing you think you know - 

One assumption you feel confident in making - 

And see if you can look beyond 

The structure it creates inside your thoughts, 

Through the window of your preconceptions 

To the possibilities that lie beneath; 

The potential for a new and broader 

Way of understanding.

Don't be afraid to turn things upside down.

A brighter future

Though still the rain is falling, 

The sky offers a promise 

Of brighter days to come.

A ray of light

Lost in contemplation of all the ways 

My world’s imperfect now, I chanced to look 

Outside my window, and this one 

Brief ray of light appeared (and left, 

Once I had set my camera down 

And started writing), as if to say 

Two things, or maybe three: 

That there is hope; this life, at heart, is good; 

And it’s my job, and yours as well, 

To see, and share, and be that ray of light; 

To glow with absolute conviction, and hope, 

That all this dark division and this waiting 

Will somehow bring us to a brighter place.

Hanging together

What will we do, now that we know 

We are two completely different kinds of fruit 

Hanging from the same tree; 

That, contrary to our expectations, 

It isn’t obvious to all 

That the path we’re on is completely wrong 

Or absolutely right? 

Despite our inclinations, we will need to find 

A way to hang together...

Prism as prison

Buddha’s last words may have been 

"Make of yourselves a light,” 

But it won’t be enough, now, to simply shine: 

We must at last be willing to shine Through 

The prism of our assumptions and prejudices, 

Giving welcome invitation to the rainbow 

Of possibility that lies waiting beyond the edge 

Of what we believe or think we know; 

To bring, not just light, but color and variety 

To the darkness that has haunted us 

For longer than we know.

Undecided

The sun is rising, the moon is setting, 

And still we have no way of knowing 

How our future will unfold — 

But do we ever? From one minute to the next 

All things might change, and so 

We go about our daily rounds: 

Feed the pets, water the plants, 

Stare unseeing at the cluttered closets, 

And wonder: how will it all end?

Love what is close

Rather than curse the fog, through which 

We cannot find a way, simply notice: 

Release your need for clarity and observe 

How the simplest, most familiar things 

Take on a precious beauty all their own, 

Ignited in response to the dying light. 

Pay attention: love and appreciate 

What is close, what is personal, what is now.

The banner of justice

Looking beyond the beauty of the moment;

Hoping to see the banner of justice wave...

Return to center

What we see will always be a reflection 

Of who we are, so today’s a good day 

To get centered, to sit quietly 

And let the feelings rise and float away, 

Revealing once again the trusting core; 

The ocean floor beneath the waves; 

The ground of being that sustains us 

Through the turbulence...

The end of daylight savings

It’s Sunday, and the sky is glowing pink again;
doesn't the sun realize it isn't time?
According to the automatic clock in my computer
(not the one in my kitchen, which apparently
got ahead of itself, somehow, in the night)
it's only 6 am. The moon knows -- she’s still hanging in the trees,
waiting for the branches to lower her to the sea
but they're confused: it's hard to pick her out
when the sky's so light, so early, and what if they forget
and leave her hanging there, resting in the eagle's nest,
vulnerable to his claws should he return and find her
cluttering his space -- oh, wait,
I see her slide into the sea all by herself,
all pink with effort to escape and yet still fading,
overpowered by the dawn...