Nurture the Garden

The clouded sun lights the sea, gulls cry out their morning welcome and the daily news arrives. The greater the disturbance the deeper I reach to nurture the garden. Watered with silence, fed with forgiveness, the harvest is spirit and upon this altar I am lifted.                   […]

Today is the Day

Today is the day the Morning Star rises, today the day of the moon and sun; today the wind and ebbing tide, the color green yet full in the earth. As mandalas are drawn in the temples of Bhutan each day the heavens are painted and the ground brings forth. All this I compress into […]

In that Emptiness

What will I sketch upon sea and sky? How can I add to the living pallet? I wake with the sun, go down with the moon. Looking out at the expanse I find myself where heaven and earth meet. Don’t mistrust this dawn, the stillness you might find; in that emptiness is your salvation.   […]

Upon the Sacred Earth

The fire of the sun ignites the moon to a golden lamp in the night sky. We too thrive on solar light, rising with the earth to father star. Don’t let pettiness fool you, we are made of the sun and children of a holy world. No longer taught the good road we must find […]

Loom of Time

The salt water is clear to the bottom but the sky is clouded with smoke. In Canada the forests are burning and with wind from the north we share the suffering. We’re all one earth, the sea and sky and patient ground. We eat from the same bowl, drink from the same cup and our […]

In the Quiet

I waited on the moon as dusk spread across the sea, the distant mountains growing dark. Then she rose over forested hills and cast a golden stream across the ebbing tide. A sight for the ages brothers and sisters, without the palaver of talking heads and dueling voices. Hours later the sun blazes in the […]

Summer Morn

Hummingbird wings trill in the warm sun as winter past fades in memory. The green world rises and on this summer morn like eagle with his early catch I breakfast with the gods.                   Reading of “Summer Morn” with music by Morten Lauridsen    

When Next We Meet

The day settles into a lazy umber glow as the tide rises to fill the cove. The distant mountains massive and snow capped, remind me how little I know. We humans are so small. Is this why we cling to power? Better to surrender vanity, join the deer in their evening browse or the teeming […]

Walking the Borderland

The borderland between this world and the other is a lonely place, fearful and unvisited by those who prefer daylight and the comfort of sleep. I walk beneath the tall trees, communing with the stars above the darkened forest, an outrider in the night where life force rises and the mystic becomes real. Like the […]

Precious Gift

The sun comes bright over the awakening city as we rise to daylight with memories of what was, hopes for what is yet to be. We walk alone but not apart, each of us cells in the larger body, moving together despite all distance; blood here, breath there, taking nourishment, releasing what’s unneeded. It may […]

Camas Waves

Camas spreads in lilac waves beside a slack tide sea; seals fish along the rocks, gulls plaint their echoing calls, songbirds sing from the thorny brush. Snow covered peaks rise in the distance, the sky pale blue with white clouds barely moving in a windless sky. Divining the peace in my heart most of me […]

Cup of Peace

I’m up early for the hour of quiet when the awakened earth softly steps into the garden of becoming. Sunlight touches the sea, trees drink deep in the forest and I sip on the cup of peace offered to each searching soul who rises with the dawn.                 […]

Carriage of Soul

Eagles sing in the tall firs as light bathes the island; songbirds call out, the air rich with music. I’m not as quiet as the trees though my roots sink and spread in the web of beauty. I tried cleansing the world but my work was here, scraping the rust off this carriage of soul […]

Hunger for Peace

Strong winds sway the trees while a full moon lies hidden behind layers of cloud. At dawn light rain showers the metal roof. From a far distance the hunger for peace crosses the sea. What can I do but receive the message and let my begging bowl of quiet be stirred by morning wind.   […]

Open to the Stars

High up the tall mountain a cap of glacial snow shines bright in the setting sun. The waters lie calm between the islands, warm air tinged with smoke from the fires north in Canada. Still as a hawk, I sit studying the sea, learning to breathe with the tide and gather in light like the […]