Patience still shines through

Posted by Gerry on May 30th, 2011

Ghostly white egret
Made late twilight passage
A brief glimpse then gone.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/30/11

Long shadows and a
Golden haze bring on the dusk
Sonoma sunset
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/08/11

I wish I could take
The mistakes that mystics make
And understand them
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/20/11

Through each of our trials
Patience still shines through like a
Glowing corona
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/21/11


May 2011

Posted by Gerry on May 30th, 2011

First and foremost a
Loving presence is vital
Found through a prayer
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/08/11

Strange wet day out here
I hope I am not too strange
Strange people abound
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/16/11

Off to the east shone
A glistening pyramid
Sunset reflection
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/21/11

We set out for once
To be spontaneous
We’ll plan that again
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/21/11

I arrived safely
Am ensconced in a blue chair
Thus Monday begins
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/23/11

Try to have some fun
Responses could be in haiku
Make thinking funner.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/23/11

Friday clothing choice
Polka dots or some argyle
Funny but it’s true
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 01/13/11

The only thing we
Can see moving fast is the
Clouds in the blue sky
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 5/25/11


April 2011

Posted by Gerry on May 30th, 2011

Springtime renewal
Cherry blossoms returning
Amongst the new rubble
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/06/11

Life brings us to this
Eating peanuts with a fork
Signs of the absurd.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/06/11

Job cursed the Lord God
On the morning he was saved
The Creator shrugged.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/06/11

Young men watch car shows
Waiting
Old men play scrabble
For
Young women text someone
The
Old women shuffle up the hall
Time
All those who wait
To
Pass the days and nights
Be
Ready for the next thing.
Ready
To happen in their life

At the hospital.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/06/11

Looking to the blue sky.
See if the heavenly
Father is gazing down.

It’s been a hell of a year.
Some have come closer to hell than others.

Why does a good person
Who spends her days serving others suffer
While others who seem less deserving
Have apparent security.

What lessons there are will emerge
When we are ready to see them.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/08/11

In billowing clouds
Over Mount Saint Helena
Other days drift by
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/22/11

Her memory was full
Only three percent remains
No messages saved
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/23/11

The wind through the trees
The branches bouncing
The hawk holds back an appearance
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/25/11

The trees swaying at
their roots strong and intertwined
move, not break, in winds
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/25/11

The hawk just showed up
Watching, drifting right on by
Using the wind stream
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/27/11

Get off the freeway
Listen to the frogs living
In the divider
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/27/11

In my dark backyard
Stars shine many miles away
From all my problems
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/27/11

She announced she had
Cookies in her pajamas
Happy little crumbs
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/29/11

I love the late light
Long shadows of waning day
Well spent hours of life.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/30/11


March 2011

Posted by Gerry on May 30th, 2011

Haiku to you… panavatar

Poetry all night
My eyes they glaze over now
inspiration found?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/07/11

Long term couples learn
That we’re just two of a kind
in different ways
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/09/11

I’d say things cannot
get any worse but I know
otherwise today
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/09/11

The sun still shines in Japan
And the sky is blue
A dark cloud mysteriously blocks out the light
Deep under water the planet cracks
And a vortex spins
The earth shakes and vibrates through millions of lives
The sun still shines in Japan
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/11/11

I screw up laxatives
And stool softeners
Then catch shit for doing it
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/11/11

What is needed is
A serious inversion
Of all our thinking.

(Block 172)
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/14/11

Back to bags and beeps
Headlands and clouds draw the gaze
Another phase starts
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/20/11

In purgatory
The time passes painfully
With uncertainty
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/22/11

Orion places me on the planet
But the planet moves continuously
I can’t change
Change is so hard for each person
We are what we were
We became what we were meant to be
We were meant to be what we tried to be
And what our stumbled path led us into
Change, space, place, and self
Being now, living now, listening now
How?
I can’t express myself except sideways
Through poetry which no one reads or cares about
Listening being wondering
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/26/11

Can a person be
Hypervigilante and yawn
at the same time?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/28/11


Field Notes from a Compassionate Life

Posted by Gerry on May 30th, 2011

Things written while reading Marc Ian Barasch’s book

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Unpretentious
Loving kindness is revealed
In our forgiveness
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/15/11

I pray for an extreme application of the principle of Christian mercy.

[pp 244]
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/15/11

Throughout our shared lives
As humans we rely on
Improbable hope.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/16/11

Children know how to
Open their unguarded hearts
Like no one else can.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/17/11

You in me in you
In order to understand
Me in you in me.

[pp 322]
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11

Unconditional
Love more than anything else is
Overpowering.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11

You in me in you
A common stream of virtue
We in us flowing.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11

Human compassion
Resonating our concern
For all other things.

[pp 322]
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11


February 2011

Posted by Gerry on May 30th, 2011

You go with the flow
Then life gives you rapids or a plunging waterfall
The water moves fast down to the sea
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/12/11

The absence of the ability to pray
In the face of limited evidence of positive results
Leaves you where?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/12/11

A bright winter day,
after six days in the hell of waiting and worrying,
is still a bright winter day.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/12/11

This was such a week
That by the end left me weak
As none before did
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/13/11

There’s a temple on a distant hill
A palace to a higher power.
The person who sees it from afar is lifted up
Until they see the incline across time and space
Of all the steps between here and there.

There is a cure to the ailments we endure
A state of grace and health.
The person who sees it from afar is lifted up.
The magical substances must imbue both health and toxins
In order to break down the parts
Then build up the life.

A blaze from sunrise shines on the distant temple.
A shaft of light under gray skies offers illumination.
The person who sees it is lifted up
Then sees across space and time and hope.
Vague path made clear by magic of science and light
On days to come.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/14/11

If a blind guy and a color blind guy went for a walk, what kind of day would they see?
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/14/11

Life moves by slowly
When a saunter is as fast
As someone can go.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/16/11

Discovered today
You can only see raindrops
Falling close to you.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11

In the scheme of things
Simple pleasures are the best
Capri sun and smiles.
<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11

The “>hand is older.
The metal gleams with gentle care
what has been learned? Yes

<><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/28/11


Life does not make sense

Posted by Gerry on May 11th, 2011

5/11/2011 7:49 AM

Thoughts upon reading the introduction to the Book of Job

Life doesn’t have to make sense.

We miss some things if we are busy looking for that which makes sense.

The Creator didn’t say to you or me, “Here, come and be born and it will make sense.” The Creator said, in many ways, “Come and be born and enjoy the beauty of this world; be human and treat all other humans with kindness. Respect My creation and share it.”

Where in that invitation does the Creator say it has to make sense in order for you or me to fulfill our role.

Making sense is a process we use to become more effective.

Each of us has to realize that other humans make sense in a different way than we do. Sometimes our senses coincide in our interpretation; often, however, the sense we have differs.

Our Creator and this world is open to our human senses and our extraordinary intuition.

The best hope we can have is to create and fulfill our destiny even though life doesn’t make sense.