No need

No need to change the colours
in the glorious splash of sunset.
No need to move the clouds
to achieve a more aesthetic view.
No need to adjust the chromatic
range of autumn leaves.
No need to water the garden
in the rain.
No need to dwell on details
and forget the big view.
No need to be impatient with today
when tomorrow it will be over.
No need to worry over
what may never come.
Every need to notice
what is already here.
© 10 Nov 14

I see you

Wanting to get the words ‘right’
better to be silent than get it ‘wrong’.
I see you
thought bubble
I see your arising
I see your force
seemingly real, seemingly true.
I see your influence
tripping the words
tying up the tongue.
I see you
accompanied by a legion of ideas
shame, desire, need.
I see you
as a blanket of darkness
seeking to cover the light.
It will not work
the light will not be hid.
Better to hear
a thousand stumbling, searching words
and find a grain of truth
than to say nothing
and believe in you.
I see you
thought bubble
I see you as you are
insubstantial. ethereal,
already dying.
You have no power here
the light will not be hid.

© 29 Oct 14

Being with

Being with the cosmos
in whatever shape it takes.

Being with the storm that rages
patiently watching
waiting for it to blow over.

Being with the tears that fall
watching the emotion
that gives them birth.

Being with the tantrum of the ego
like a petulant child
demanding to be heard.

Being with the impatience
that wants the storm to be gone
to snatch at peace and
cling to it as a life raft.

Being with the voice of the unbeliever
loud, persistent
wanting to have its say.

Being with the seed of gentleness
quietly making its way
through the overbearing weeds.

Being with the voice of truth
sounding from heartspace to heartspace
leading into silence.

© 29 Oct 14

Mindfulness is ...

Mindfulness is not
a calm sea
stretching endlessly into the distance
a straight path
with no stones to trip or cunning bends
an empty mind
filled only with clarity and light
an even temperament
untouched by meanness or generosity
a quiet sunny day
meeting only quiet sunny people.

Mindfulness is
a journey
an adventure
a navigation through
the pitfalls and ecstasies of everyday life
a spotlight
noticing every blemish, every joy
a sunbeam
reducing shadows to a realistic size
a kindness
allowing for mistakes to be a learning process
a space between
what is and my response to it
a tumbling, energetic maelstrom
out of which we emerge
tousled, feathers ruffled,
stronger, wiser and
more willing to laugh at ourselves.
© 16 Oct 14

Leaf crunching time

Now it is leaf crunching time
dancing leaf
turning leaf
colourful time
dazzling sunset
starry night
cold nose time
warm days
cool days
fire lighting time
harvesting
foraging
joyful time
summertime?
autumn-time?
nearly Christmas-time
slowing down
laying down
hibernation time
mushroom growth
house spiders
indoor mice time.
Now are the days of leaf crunching time.

© 22 Sep 14

A trilogy of mornings

I. Morning slides in
like a mist
silently stealing
across the hillside
catching us unawares
dousing the fields
with a rich golden light
bathing the green grass
with a vibrancy in
individual jewelled droplets
lighting each leaf
each blade of grass
with its own ray of sunshine.

Morning steals in
with the birdsong
calling us out of slumber
awakening the senses
a new dawn
a new day
a new moment
a new breath
as morning slides in.


II. Morning creeps in
sluggardly slow
as if hung-over
from a heavy night
coughing deeply
the after-effect of
too many cigarettes.

Morning creeps in
reluctantly
heavily
dragging a dull sun behind
as if unready to admit
a new dawn
a new day
a new moment
a new breath
has begun.


III. Morning dances in
with a smile
bringing laughter and birdsong
scattering seeds of happiness
in her wake
throwing long shadows
away from a full sun.

Morning dances in
with a shout of proclamation
‘I am here,
be awake, awake, awake’.

Morning dances in
with a paintbrush
rendering everything
beautiful
with a glow of serenity.

Morning dances in
with a cry of joyfulness,
today is a new dawn
a new day
a new moment
a new breath.

© 10-12 Oct 14

Sowing seeds of love

I sit

taking up my own true stature

being present

to passing thoughts, feelings, emotions

watching them rise and fall

waves on a distant ocean

I am untouched by them.

Sitting here

doing nothing

sowing seeds of love

scattered into the ether

carried on the winds

to distant, unknown places

where they may find fertile soil

to rest and be nurtured.

Holding seeds of love

in my two hands

I let the winds take them

disperse them at will

sending them out into the world

without minding where they will land

or who they touch.

I have many more to sow

my supply is endless.

© 5 Oct 14