I have a suitcase

I have a suitcase
full of advice
to share with you
knowing it is as much for me.

Love deeply
live lightly
let go happily

Love each glorious sunset
as if it were the first and only one
you experience.

Live without being owned by your possessions
and if the thief comes
gladly hand them
one more item to take away.

Let go as freely as sleep comes
with a heart
always at ease.

Be a light that shines for others
no matter who chooses shades
to dim the light.

Be happy in the life you have chosen
choose each moment
choose love
choose kindness

Above all,
choose kindness
kindness to yourself and
everyone you meet.

What you practise in your heart
your eyes find in others.

Practise gratitude
for what already is.

Be bold
be fierce
be daring
be unpredictable
be spontaneous.

Forge your own path
which only becomes yours
in the making
of each step.

Take each step as it comes and
greet each morning with a smile.

Don’t save any part of yourself
back for ‘best’.
Don’t pay attention to negative talk,
yours or anyone else’s.
Don’t play small.
Don’t try to please others.

Don’t wait to be older and wiser
you may only get more experienced.

Be patient with idiots
they’re doing the best they can.
One day, the idiot will be you!

Notice the beauty in small things.
Laugh uncontrollably
cry wholeheartedly
Let the doors to your heart
be wide open
to feel it all.

Enjoy what is
smile at worries
trust everything is fine.

Above all
be kind.
Be the person you look for
in others.

I would not for one moment
unwish you to feel your experiences
the good, the bad and the ugly
as these are the stepping-stones
forging your path.

Love deeply
live lightly
let go happily

Make your suitcase a small one
not burdensome
to carry lightly through life.

© 25 Oct 18

The thread

Look not
to the pretty shiny beads
each sparkling their own truth
look to the thread
connecting
holding together
making familiar.

Each bead woven from the same weft
one essence
unlocated
ageless
timeless

The thread enlivens each bead
making the dull golden.

© 23 Oct 18

The fullness of a walk

I have not trod this path before.
P offers to lead and we follow
silently
choosing not to talk
just walk.

The senses reach out
sometimes greedy
wanting snapshots of every moment
sometimes sliding
slipping over fields and hills
the town.

I notice the trees
I am drawn to the trees
my symbol
another portrayal of me
touching earth, touching sky.

We are showered by
not petals but leaves
a celebration of?
I cannot tell, but welcome the leaves.
One dances into my outstretched arms
we dance along together
hand in hand.

Once golden
shining on the tree
now wrinkling
crunching
holding the beauty of wisdom and age.

The walk is leaf-shaped
a pinpoint setting out
on a fresh new path
bulging out into
a feast for the senses
new and familiar
knowing and unknowing

narrowing to our arrival point
a resting point
not an end destination
a momentary stop

a chance to reflect on
who we started out as
and who we have become.

© 21 Oct 18

A black cloud of energy

It’s not you it’s me
it’s not me it’s you

It’s the black cloud of energy between us
we no longer see each other clearly.

It’s fed by years of
misunderstandings
mis-expectations
historical emotions
I cannot name.

You walk away
I back away
it does not go away
it does not diminish or soften

time does not erase it
distance does not erase it.

I bravely approach
offering a soft hand
of reconciliation.
I pour white paint on
aiming to dilute the blackness
it does not alter.

We no longer know what feeds it
we no longer see each other clearly

a black cloud of energy
between us.

I want to create a spy hole
a way to see through
to you.

You are no longer there.

© 20 Oct 18

Who will I be?

Who will I be
when I no longer remember?
When memories
bidden and unbidden
no longer appear.

Black and white photos
slip away
on a river of yesterdays
out of reach
I cannot summon them back.

Who will I be
when I no longer remember?
Cloudy? Uncertain?
Confused? Free?

Black and white photos
slip away
on a river of yesterdays.

Do I let go of them
or they of me?

Who will I be
without them?

© 20 Oct 18

Eyes of understanding and love

Looking at myself

with eyes

of understanding and love.

Breathing out

relaxing

falling

in a

deep

well

of

wellness.

An endless outbreath

taking me out

of myself

into the now

tensions melt away

anxieties subside

floating in a coracle

rocking

soothing

a

deep

well

of

wellness

being me.

© 18 Oct 18

Fall or fly

I want to climb
to the topmost tip
of this tallest tree

to feel the breeze move its branches
and sway with my own weight.

As I climb
I feel the criticisms of self
I carry
my ‘I can’t’ list
dripping out of my fingertips
oozing out of my toenails.

I can climb freely.

In the bare branches
I am safe, held
by a fierce heart
and a trusting fearlessness.

Wind moves around me
birds fly above me
only me and the sky.

I balance on the most fragile tip

and jump

to fall or fly.

© 20 Oct 18