Quoting a favourite source

.... to quote a favourite source, and especially so over these past few ( and likely the next few) days, my heart is filled to the brim.
I will dwell with the beautiful now, delight in all its sweet tenderness.
Soon enough, I will write like one possessed.
For now, I will rely on the words of others.

Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?
Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child's?
Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them
without imposing your will?
Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Can you step back from your own mind
and thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting without expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.

from the Tao te Ching, Verse 10

Sarnath ...

..... the place where the Buddha is said to have given his first teaching, containing the simple message: you have it within you to discover how you should relate to this world; now, let me give you a gentle nudge in that direction.

here, at the conclusion of my first fully online teaching experience, I am reminded why it is that teaching ( and learning, and readiness and willingness to learn) is ( are) important.... the sweet dance of nudging and being nudged.

Copenhagen

here is an image I heard spoken
given to me in story
it has taken hold of my heart

Imagine one of the busiest cities on earth
during rush hour
a horrific accident
stops
everything in its tracks
people gather huddled witnessing
police redirect traffic, bicycles, pedestrians
struggling to maintain composure and the necessary dignity
of
the
moment

here is an image I heard spoken
given to me in story

Think about what it might mean
for dwelling
if regard were as deep and plentiful
as Copenhagen's canals.
Boats of all sorts and speeds share
liquid space and time
Swans mingle like citizens, welcomed
for their grace and beauty,
their delicate sustained stepping and gliding and leaning
their steadfast commitments
unfettered, unhurried
always
in proximity of mate
or young

here is an image
given to me
it has taken hold

A careless driver kills a swan
leaves
its soft lifeless form
white against the too black asphalt
its slender beautiful neck
elegantly posed, breathless
its mate hovers, his head a hair's breadth from her
chest feathers, absolutely still
motionless as death
in reverent, silent loyalty
if swans could weep
the terrible grief
of one who is left standing
those attendant kindred souls
might keen and howl
in shameless agony
or hold vigil in hushed, unrequited sorrow

here is an image I heard spoken
it has taken hold of my heart

then

I tried to offer up this story

too soon
after being locked in
rapt attentiveness
I wept at its re-telling
I could not do justice to its sweetness
or longing
nor can I
now

here is an image I heard spoken
given to me in story
it has taken hold of my heart

Soldiers

In the contradiction

lies the hope

Bertoit Brecht


Poetry begins with a lump in the throat

Robert Frost


While all are conditioned to resist sadness
a poet must embrace and be attentive to sadness

R.M. Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet


Live life; don't solve it

No clue who offered this as a statement for reflection; but I like it!

Unhurried

falling follows
fallow
time for digging
deep
& surfacing
edges beckon
the only way
out
is
through
willingly falling
following
unhurried gestures
reaching
for a thousand and one
stars

Yellow Rose

Her sister finds a secret drawer
filled with lifelines cast
out into depths and birdsong, more
poignant for its sweet, steadfast
audacity. Who knew this shore
was a port where mists might last
beyond this moment's telling for
days, for futures, present, past ...

Yesterday I vowed....

yesterday I vowed
I will weed tomorrow
furiously
today I weeded
furiously
kept my vow
wondering
what is being weeded
furiously

Relativity

A snail was mugged by two turtles. When the police asked him what happened, he said, "I don't know. It all happened so fast. "

The Four Laws

In the barnstorming days, the county fairs would have as attractions "wing walking" where the sensation seekers of the time ( usually more likely to be women than men!) would voluntarily walk on the two-tiered airplane wings while the plane was in flight.
The story goes that these gals had rules of engagement for anyone who felt the urge; they were passed on to me by a great great grand-daughter. I pass them on to you....
the four laws of wing walking

If you want to get off the ground, you've got to lighten your load.

Do not let go of something unless you've got a hold of something else.

In order to take a step, you've got to spend a terrifying amount of time in mid-air.

Flying isn't the miracle.... landing is.



sounds good to me!

how to be....

how to be a life long learner:
stay hungry
stay humble

Rock and ocean

Newfoundland is a wild island in the north Atlantic. I grew up there, becoming a self in a place that is as harsh and tender as any on earth. Still a work in progress, me and the place of my birth. I've been born a few times, now. Twice on the Rock and at least once here on the mainland. For all its twists and turns and tangles, I would not trade my life. I delight in the now and the next, and I hold close all the memories and wonderings of then, glad for whatever the days might mean, equally grateful for gladness and sadness, the spectrum, nuance and intertwining of space, place, time and relation. Weave, breathe, hope

Finding touchstones in the old-timers' sayings: wherever you go, know where you come from, so you can make your way back.... a witnessing of being as much as time and place. I listen.
I do. I am. I will.