Across the Great Distance
Winds gust from the south pushing the flood tide into gravel reaches, soaking the stone feet of an ancient rock wall with images carved by all that’s gone before. Vigilant in what is yet to come and from this place between past runes and future dreams, I call to you, joining us across the great […]
Helen
(for my mother’s sister) What an old thorn you’ve been for me and I for you; once a young green tare pulled into our bodies by the weight of my mother’s death. Tearing the flesh of family belief, the images of common origin in the womb of your mother where all this began and those […]
We Look through Glass
(for Linda) I find you as I look past the clog of wires to the hummingbird in the plum tree, past the thrum of motor to children’s voices from the church. Where people have abundance there seems such deprivation yet also the sweetness of home. The beauty in your eyes and the way we look […]
Reflections
Apocalypse and judgment day may occur somewhere in Montana, but the real arbiter resides within where final choices are made on those who’ve done us wrong, and more painfully, on our own most grievous sins. We really can’t forgive without seeing the cold truth, then we are left with the choice: to love our enemies, […]
Her Invitation
I rediscover myself by the sea like an uncharted island or lost archipelago of feeling, of centeredness. The tides lay bare my rock then fill the hollow cove eroded by the expectations I continue to approve. The theater of our mutual lives demands respite, sanctuary for bones made sore by the unyielding surface we’ve agreed […]
What Will Draw Me
What will draw me from the unleavened mass, to rise beyond the rigid shape and rule of expectation to one breath of air, one glimpse of daylight and the knowledge so rare of freedom.
Calling Us Down
Before the wars and violence there was light upon the sea, and wind from the south, stirring. Before we sacralized our hunger, fish flowed like the tide, with otter and eagle brimming the shoreline. Before the internet and electricity we connected through the land, sending messages into the deep, with faith inspired by the rising […]
What Pours Through
I greet the day as I am, with all my faults and frailties. Opening myself to the flow of power I become a river, a tree, a lightning rod; what pours through is life.
Subtle Urge
Billowing clouds against blue, roses drooping under spring weight, the smell of new dirt and your hair tied back in the garden. A few words sent out against the tide of heartache; what supports the soul the subtle urge of thankfulness.
Heart of the World
Like the waterfalls of Guiana and the sweeping arc of the great Mississippi, the rhythm beats against our blue lined skin, reminding us of a source broader than the far horizon, yet alive in our bloodstream like a pulse at the heart of the world. […]
Small Offering
A small offering before the gray morning, for the gift of dream, the shelter of hope and the faith to continue.
Alive and Still Eager
Awake with first light, tiredness lifted from my body, the energy of sun and water finding its way into my heart. A gray wing junco sits for a fluttering instant on a bench near the point, and for a moment we trade places – the bench a perch for junco me, skittering over the warming […]
Deep Peace
As the body when strained the soul too must relax, breathe deeply, exhale and like the tide retreat, making room for what comes; like light upon the mountain discovering what the Earth would bring to an open heart.
Thread of Connection
(for Fukushima) I The earthquake jolts, urging me away from shore toward the wave. I want to cower, knowing I will soon dissolve in a future etched in water. Just a little boat and the tic tic of a diesel motor, sailing out to sea toward the wave, away from what will be no longer. […]
Settling
Near the sea everything settles, as if memories and people were affected by the tides, and slowly find their way to the bottom, resting along the dark crevasse beneath the flowing water. Finding a place to feed from the darkness that will not be undone, letting this day be what it is without the turbulence […]