Bird Song
Birds return to the valley crossing the sky, filling the trees. The winter storm has passed and though the rain continues something has changed. The slowly swelling branches of the plum trees stretch out, drinking in the cool air as the earth awakens to bird song. […]
Living in the City
Hard cobblestone streets and sidewalks with blood in the cracks. Old buildings with the cries of mothers and children, the laughter of immigrants. It was the only world we knew and though rivers ran below the palisades, the earth had forgotten us, and we were left to fight it out beneath the streetlights. Somewhere above […]
Only This Life
I’ve shaped wood into the soft curve of tapered molding and myself into a rough hewn beam to support the weight of generations. Resting on the columns of all who went before I hold up the roof for those coming. Look into the well of life, the mirror of your heart. There is only this […]
When You Find Me
Blessings come slowly like soft light in early morning or the dimming skies of nightfall. Prayers are heard and answers given though they rise in their own time like the crocuses in spring. I wait in the earth, the long winter dark my old friend. Extend your faith to the deepest roots and when you […]
Between Dreams
Let it be dark, this cave of contemplation. No light need enter, no warmth, as winds howl with the distant noise of breaking ice and cold shot trees. Having given up the sun and taken to the cavern, I say what stone says, the weight I’ve carried laid down in darkness. I breathe slowly between […]
Not Crazy Enough
(for William Stafford) Birds below the winter sky, their wings etched in black against the thick gray blanket. In leafless months they’re visible in rooks and nesting branches as they come and go in the wet morning. Their patterns marked above the crowded street, where cars move in straight lines, the birds cover and cross […]
Wearing the Darkness
In the last days of December low clouds move slowly through shades of grey, the soft beauty of a northwest morning after days of rain. Earth wet and breathing, evergreens stretch their roots as birds circle in the cold air. I’m glad to sit by the fire, wearing the darkness like an old hooded sweatshirt, […]
Hollow Reeds
Clear night with dry cold and east wind, change coming in quiet steps as last leaves fall, bare branches stir. Fullness passed we may empty with the earth, hollow reeds for winter music.
Christmas Eve
Moon nestled in Egyptian blue, Orion chasing Pleiades with Sirius close behind. The ancients on winter track as we follow in the snow, our memories softened by the night of forgiveness come upon the earth, the poverty of the stable reminder of the great love that holds us to the stars. […]
Peace of Kings
The roar of motors fills the streets, compressors pound the roof tops maintaining the illusion. Quietly I lift the veil, the sanctuary of old intact despite the fury. The peace of kings rises from the darkness and in the grey solstice dawn one bright banner unfurls. […]
Sound of Breathing
There are days when the sky breaks, the blue that rushes in a deep river of faith, then days when fog holds tight to the river and the smell of corruption lies down on the world. Today is one of those days as I drop below to the peace beneath the city, under the basements, […]
Who Will Find Me
Who will find me hidden away in the warmth of this dark winter cave? Dreams to be dreamt, visions to be honored, the slow eating of fat and the quiet heartbeat. When the first salmon toil over rock bedded streams, when snow falls from the full laden branches of evergreen, when sun finds its way […]
You May Let Go
The bright light of autumn shines on the yellowing trees, a steady breeze stirring the leaves with awakening. We’ve come round on the season so many times before yet each time it’s new, as if we’ve never seen this flutter of gold. There’s freedom in the air to rise or fall as you might choose, […]
Hidden by the Dawn
Somewhere in the night you’re waking, feeling the press of the world while in the arc above you shines the morning star. The sky brightens pale blue as you stir in the long transit back from the dreamtime. You assemble the pieces careworn and fragile of the person you’ve become to navigate this life. Cup […]
Thread of the Eternal
Who can take your crown said the sun rising in the south? The earth is your lover, the deep sea and morning star your friends. Why give yourself to desolation? As if awakening from a dream, one filled with sorrow and despair, I let the great power enter once more, the golden thread of the […]