Thursday, August 30, 2012

  

gifts of war

horrendous
though embedded
through immemorial life..
unexpected
this singular testimony..
one's discovery
of essential being
there in plummeting depths
of darkest time..

the discovery
not confided..
of terrible truth
in secrecy guarded
with rarity spoken..
but when
always with tears..

the discovery
a flame within
a newfound dimension
found with horror..
then awe overshelming
joined with surprise
of inexpressible joy..
this more real
than earlier notions
of what's out there
and in here..

the discovery
a radiant thread
the connector
of life with death..
inestimable worth
transformed awareness
new birth
still..too frightening
too wondrous
to mention..
gifts of war...

(this is for my
dear friend, Paul,
and his gift work
to elevate the
consciousness
of us all...)



Monday, August 27, 2012



Topic:  "How do we separate truth from lies?"

Philosophical Cafe, August 28th, 2012

QUESTIONS...

1.  Well...how do you do it?

2.  Can you define truth?

3.  Is science a search for truth?

4.  What is a half-truth?

5. How does the internet relate to this topic?

6.  How about the political campaign underway?

7.  How do metaphor and mythology relate to truth?


A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
Winston Churchill

A lie cannot live.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

For every good reason there is to lie, there is a better reason to tell the truth.
Bo Bennett

If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.
Adolf Hitler

Music doesn't lie. If there is something to be changed in this world, then it can only happen through music.
Jimi Hendrix

Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
Vladimir Lenin

No one can lie, no one can hide anything, when he looks directly into someone's eyes.
Paulo Coelho

The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie, deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.
John F. Kennedy

Economy does not lie in sparing money, but in spending it wisely.
Thomas Huxley

An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded.
Pope John Paul II

Half a truth is often a great lie.
Benjamin Franklin



pawn stars

cajun family
personalities
dealing with
alchemical transmutation
transactions
changing of values
history for money..

wildly popular show..
biting humor wraps
sly bidding and exchange
greed rises and falls..
initial bid and response
a scaling gap
startled unbelief..

increments then decide
decisions' sharp edge
money or heritage..
convenience argues
bad choices faced
painful needs are voiced
a values paradox..
 microcosm of life now...?
snapshots of our mirror...?

Sunday, August 26, 2012




The Pillar Institute announces:

SECOND  ANNUAL  MARY  OLIVER  FESTIVAL!!
for Friends, Poets, and Poetry Lovers!

Where?  PILLAR Institute for Lifelong Learning, 202 E. Cheyenne Mtn. Blvd, Suite I
When?  Saturday, Sept. 22nd, 2012
9:30 am to 12:30 pm
(Please call Pillar to register:  719-633-4991)
$25 for Members: $30 for Non-Members
(scholarships available)

You are encouraged to share a poem or other writings by Mary Oliver.
How have her words inspired or transformed you?
Please bring about 25 copies of any work you plan to share.  

A morning of poetry, pleasure, and inspired sharing!! 

Robin Izer, Facilitator (phone 719-634-1441)


Thursday, August 23, 2012



docking station

we each have
our place to stand
a place always present
an aligned awareness
and sacred connection 
joining dark to light..

discovery comes first
then remembering..
forgetting is easy
each place is hidden
alignment broken..

sensing ones place
intent brings focus
a movement we notice
shapes in motion..
surfaces rising
then returning to
rise again..
a torus in motion..

watch the jellyfsh
its pulsing survival..
the web also instructs
animations in
splendid variety
this sacred movement..
become the motion
discover your own..

experience then
a gentle rocking 
inhale
centered and upward
to brilliant light..
exhale
light now filtered
shadow and pain
breathing
unending..

a docking station
now introduced..
awaits remembering
intention for use..
check the circuits
the cellular lights..
a new identity
now fully alive
ready connected and 
now to fly...














docking station images...see poem above...

Tuesday, August 21, 2012



crepuscular rays

from these rays
brilliant at sunrise
and sunset 
from holes in low clouds
below the horizon emerging
we learn
they are really parallel..
only our perspective
makes them diverge..
what of our lives
many divergences we see
separations and frags..
might we change 
our perspective..?
might we wish to
do that..?


Sunday, August 19, 2012


 solitude

a time to find
momentary awareness..
those sensations and thoughts
arising
encapsulate these
in absorbing light..
mitigation
transformation
 two become one
then again two..
then new sensations
new thoughts
a neverending story
producing a
glow...


Wednesday, August 15, 2012



big data

news this morning
the next big thing..
intuition and experience
reported as smothered
a tidal wave 
sheer numbers and weight
left finally defeats right..
data's new patterns
never before seen
a computing triumph
without much doubt..
but taking a moment
reading between headlines
something's unseen
intuition a bird
soaring much higher 
finding new branches
a perch beyond
discovering bold patterns..
patterns
among patterns...




Sunday, August 12, 2012


healthcare

a national
dilemma
fears abound
losses loom darkly
i lose mine
if we are covered..
i versus we..

awakening
from this dream
a new lucid vision..
there is no i
nor a we..
a bewildering surprise
the linkage
our real constitution..
the real
patient...

Tuesday, August 7, 2012


beads and strings

our lives
a parable each one..
looking back
stringing new beads today
evoked memories in
their sequence
a sequence 
never before seen..
then pondering that the
beads in my string
might be strung
in so many ways..
but for today
the string I strung
seems quite enough
for new energy
new joy I found..
then pondering again
a question arising
what are those strings...?


Wednesday, August 1, 2012




palmer park thunderstorm

by charles coon
a timely arrival..
welcome refuge
a gathering storm..
sheltered somewhat
from the arriving flash
and pelting
downpour..

rain rivulets
quickly formed
on a miniature scale
tiny rivers and streams
branchings and splittings..
the storm's rapid creation
all at once seemed whole..

lightening and thunder
light and sound
their separate reports..
all creation is splitting..
the thunderstorm's gift
instant reminder of
separation in
interwoven whole..

with the storm's passing
a bright light in the west
painted a rainbow on
a now darkened east..
a sourcing of
bowed colors out east..
though very soon
curved colors
took flight
fading fast in
their birthing light...