Tuesday, October 30, 2012


Perspectives

Each of us
views the world
with colored glasses..
the colors come
from a creative
splitting..
or some prefer
a filtering of
light..
When our colors
are matched
outside
we find our kin
when not
the other..
a gorgeous system
from a lighter
perspective...

Monday, October 29, 2012


Layers of Darkness

a perfect
superstorm
it is called..
rare hurricane
tides and arctic cold..
converging
constrictions to life..
anger  and blame
coloring
bitter divisions of 
political discourse..
meeting 2012 expectations
some say..
environmental neglect
say others..
are these dark layers
superficial
life on edge
masking new birth...?


Saturday, October 27, 2012



Logwood

returning
to the place..
to remembered beds
and nourishing breakfasts..
home of
 our growing years..
this one nestled
in imponderable
Animas mountains..
these reflections 
of an autumn retreat
 now daily receding
into November bleak..

a white bench
vantage by streamside
afforded absorption of
the stream's flickering lights..
and later reflected
by a ridgeline full moon
decorating the dining..
life friends together
celebration and renewal
of many good years..

a white bench
also gathered reflections
from distant heights
where nighttime chills
painted evergreen and aspen
setting lanterns aglow..
the glow casting shadows
on the valley's red cliffs
those red markers of our
formative days..

a white bench
now gathered the sounds..
an old train's
whistled announcements
evening and morning..
a reminder of time
enclosed in this
valley of stillness
which we were favored
 knowing once more..

a white bench
gathered the guests
from distances afar..
their life glows
and shadows
in conversations revealed..
overlaying past
with present..
 end and beginning..
Logwood
we returned...



Friday, October 26, 2012



Destinations

Much in doing..
all the trip planning
detailed itineraries
of course, maps
without which
we are surely lost..
distances and times
contingency insurance..

What of all this
preparation..?
much effort dedicated
to here and there..
if we could
locate ourselves
on the roads between..
there we find
no places and times..
freedom arrives
ourselves the
destinations...

the strange
pick the strange
the absurd
investigate that
we are advised..

this advice
applied to questions
both of science
and of spirit..
advice for life..?

the strange
seems illusive..
commonplace often
on a returning glance
now most strange..     

the strange
we then assume
must be another
name of creation..
our health and fire
renewed with each
new glance...
A quote by physicist, John Archibald Wheeler:  "In any field, find
the strangest thing and then explore it."


Sunday, October 21, 2012



halloween

this day
ending October..
 fun for all
most of all children..
before the day passes
we might take 
a new look at
that adventurous phrase:
trick or treat..
first the treat
says joy and light
but what of the 
trick..?
an opposition of sorts
perhaps the treat's
inseparable shadow..
so even in this
celebration for youth
evening and morning
make their debut...


Friday, October 19, 2012


slumber

a question 
of our time
it seems..
are we in slumber..?
Is this
a failure of 
distinction..
gray boring blends..?
Or..
does our slumber
rest on
stark distinctions
organic explosions
expressed flesh and blood..?
What if..
this frame and wheels
assembled and with
waking motion--
a strong push
this wagon given..
along a path
toward the light...?

Thursday, October 18, 2012



a photo of
October..
suggests colors of
Our breathing..
an exhalation
as creation seen..
the rainbow
prismatic surprises of
metaphor and promise..
and now
Especially now
in October
colors glow
in dying...


Wednesday, October 17, 2012



A retelling of
A story
which is often retold..
in young romance
It happens
but not only there..
an infatuation
A leap
sudden Enlightenment
new birth..
a departure from
the ordinary..
Then a discovery
life is larger..
the ordinary seems
Ruling
seems dreary and stark..
even though
there is great love
Holding the dark...
Inspired by a Theodore Dreiser story with the same title...


Tuesday, October 16, 2012


Naming
Might we avoid
naming
For a brief moment..
Perceiving without naming..
then
when the name comes
as it always does
Might it be found
in our perceptive light..?
A new whole-ness
to begin our day..?


Saturday, October 13, 2012


Mirrors

Some believe..
others seem to know..
there is..very close
another dimension
we are enclosed
within..
if so
does a mirror
this new identity
show..?

A simple mirror
glass with black back..
but other combinations
may be preferred..
light and darkness
our sky and our earth
 these such oppositions..
and one more:
Does our mirror
both project and reflect..?

That we are
such a mirror
there's a special effect..
without our dark side
transparent we are..
shattering our glass
a black hole
of a sudden appears
absorbing not reflecting
our hidden light..

Might we now realize
each of us owns
our special share
of the dark..?
that our glass 
is un-shattered
is liquid and still..?
connecting all in
the light it projects
and we with joy
from our darkness
reflect...


Wednesday, October 10, 2012


The Old Halltree

much life observed..
its mirror
has reflected
over a century of faces..
a covered wagon
climbing Allegheny gaps.. 
arriving now
in its present station
decorated each season..
 now dressed awaiting
costumed children
with their bags 
of treats..

it has not always
reflected
joy and celebration
undoubtedly many sorrows
its mirror was shown..
taken for granted
many stored muddy boots
hats soaked with sweat..
a chair holding
warm garments
during cold winters past..

a mirror
must have a
dark back side
for its job of reflecting..
this mirror's darkness
composed of 
wet mud and dry dust
the wood encrusted with
 deposits of earth..
sorrow and pain
these layers are there..
darkness and glass
formed the mirror
we see..
reflecting 
the sun of mornings
as wagon wheels turned..
and quite soon
the laughter of children
on this Halloween..



Monday, October 8, 2012


Raindrops on a Windshield

she asked:
are there words
hiding in raindrops
waiting to be born..?

their life expectation
was really quite short
awaiting only
the swipe of
a windshield wiper..
Some special drops
her camera captured
in one of those
dissolving moments..

one small drop
glimmered with
a pure white light
others angled with
curved prism color..
white and colors
created
but soon destroyed
by those ever 
persistent and ruthless  
blades..

this play of light
we might reflect
paints our portrait
on a canvas of glass 
those colors with white
body and soul
together
life and death
so temporary
yet so significant..
because of awareness
our awareness makes
it so...

Sunday, October 7, 2012



Compassion

A light within
is dimmed
when compassion
looks elsewhere
for a home..

Our going forth 
is tethered
to a light
we have and own..

Remembering
Returning
Replenishing
is the splendid core
of compassion..

Then we are
fed and ready
for compassion
to find its way
away from home...

The Web
We are no doubt
each of us
entangled..
entangled in darkness
and in light..

Suffering arrives
with the illusion
that these are
separate entanglements
or that
they are not...


Friday, October 5, 2012


falling leaves

we know 
that falling leaves
speak of death
in a season..
then we wonder
are we falling 
as  the leaves..
falling also with
 autumn beauty..?

we see veins 
in each leaf
circulation channels..
 nourishment
no more flowing from
a nurturing tree..
a branch from its
root now cast away..
and we wonder
where is our
root as our 
nourishment fades..?

similarities abound
we and the leaves..
 fearful we are
with our hidden root..
yet we wonder
have we found
 vision and courage..
beholding anew
 creation's falling beauty
light's filtered colors...?


Monday, October 1, 2012



Timberlines

this is an autumn
treeline reflection..
stark edges
demarcations of
minerals and trees..
a reminder of
other dividing lines..
as when we hear
strange notes of the
coyote's scream..
Are there other
lines to be found..?
Where are our inner
shadows and lights
so precisely bound..?

below treeline
golden aspens glow
out-lined and brightened
by the forest's black..
other glistening lights
mark rippling streams..
Meanwhile--
the cowboy poet
renders joyful lines
of wholeness
embracing all such
lights..
and timberlines...