Sonomabuzz

Tag: poem

  • Orion surprise

    Orion surprise
    On a crisp clear night crackling
    Blazing meteor shines
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 12/13/14

  • tiny embers touching

    First time I've seen this one bloom! #succulentsunday #flowers
    Succulent flower
    Is beautifully tiny
    Transient glory
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 11/21/14

    Landpaths - Mark West outing
    embers glowing and being sustained
    wisps of smoke wafting on the wind
    moved about by currents
    known and unknown
    felt and mysterious
    embers
    providing warmth
    pulsing of the light
    like breathe
    oxygen fills the fuel
    brighter
    then less
    then brighter
    potential burst of flame
    or quietly extinguished
    the embers don’t know their fate
    why should we
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 12/06/14

    From the depths of sadness
    Memory brings forth
    Moments of tenderness
    In dreams
    Realization
    In the moment
    That it is a dream
    Thus comfort becomes
    The knowledge that past tenderness
    Resides in the heart
    And wanders around the inner mind’s realm
    Memories of comfort
    Near the depths of the soul
    Touching
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 12/07/14

  • Love in a time of gray hair

    Over Santa Rosa
    Negotiated love
    No more spontaneous belief
    In the wonderfulness of the feelings
    Life’s wisdom learned, that everything changes
    Discovery that wonder and lust
    Live day to day to become something else
    Having learned lessons great and small
    Negotiate feelings
    Carefully caring
    Thoughtfully developing
    Knowing this new thing
    Will be no ordinary love
    Make a bargain to be full of wonder
    Wondering how we can make this happen
    Negotiating rather than falling head over heals
    Exploring how separate pasts become a common present
    Not assuming the future
    Love and dreams young or old
    For each of us may unfold
    Having hopes of happiness
    And finding it knowing we may lose it
    That’s the lesson the gray haired lover learned
    And negotiated anyway
    Over Santa Rosa

  • All Souls Mass, St. Rose Church

    St. Rose Church Baptismal font
    Lord have mercy
    I am here to accompany you.
    Lord we long to see your face.
    Seeking is enough for now.
    Lord how shall we come to you?
    Be kind. Seeking me through kindness is sufficient.
    What can I do for you, my Lord?
    Be like him, ready to serve.
    How can we recognize your followers?
    All of you who seek to serve the Creator are saints.
    How can I be worthy of you?
    You were worthy the moment I created you.
    Grant us peace.
    It is granted.

    [an earlier mass]
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><> 11/01/14

  • Compassion Poems

    Full of compassion

    Attention here and now
    Compassion emerges when sadness merges with joy
    Only those who have transcended the world can make a better world
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/05/08
    If we only knew
    Indestructible compassion
    Underlies all life.
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/11/11
    Unpretentious
    Loving kindness is revealed
    In our forgiveness
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/15/11
    Throughout our shared lives
    As humans we rely on
    Improbable hope.
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/16/11
    You in me in you
    In order to understand
    Me in you in me.
    [pp 322 Field Notes on a Compassionate Life]
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11
    You in me in you
    A common stream of virtue
    We in us flowing.
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11
    Human compassion
    Human compassion
    Resonating our concern
    For all other things.
    [pp 322]
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/18/11
    First and foremost a
    Loving presence is vital
    Found through a prayer
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/08/11
    Accepting kindness
    The reality of life
    Is revealed each day
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/28/11
    The secret of life
    If that success comes to you
    By helping others
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 10/07/11
    She is consumed by
    Keen intransigent kindness
    En route to heaven
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 10/21/11
    All our days living
    Are not spent, rather borrowed,
    Time only used once
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 01/26/12
    Be as a brush held
    In the hand of the Creator
    To create art in the world.
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 01/27/12
    Kindness of a child
    An offering of goodness
    A simple package
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 01/27/12
    Seeking the light
    Will lead to becoming
    A person of no shadow
    Because the light
    Shines through you
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/17/12
    The God in you is
    The God you alone let through.
    To shine on the world
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/16/12
    “Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

    “Through compassion our humanity grows into its fullness.”

    Nouwen-McNeill-Morrison in Compassion
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/21/12
    Every person
    Unlimited positive
    Regard for each one
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 06/04/12
    It’s always a choice
    Action now or apathy
    Life is up to you
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 02/07/13
    It was a conceit of mine
    To think that of all the poor seekers for help
    There are none
    who have it worse than me

    There is a depth to a well
    Which grows deeper and richer
    As woe is poured in
    And compassion is pulled out

    The woman of Samaria stood at the well
    And drew water for Jesus
    He recognized the kindness being given
    By one who had suffered in order to stand by that well.
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 03/07/13
    Enter resonance
    All relationships are now
    Empathic presence

    or

    Present empathy
    Intertwined us together
    As a sacred gift
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/08/13
    Empathy requires
    Unconditional regard
    For the one person
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/08/13
    Giving and getting
    The stuff of life’s renewal
    Offered by kind hands
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/16/13
    How do we sustain
    The good of each person seen?
    Respect and kindness
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/16/13
    The flame of compassion
    Is started by generosity
    Borne in our own experience of need
    Kept alight by
    The wind of desire
    To be better than we are

    A fire shared among people
    Who, together, become
    A towering blaze
    Of life giving warmth in the world

    (inspired by Piero Ferrucci, “The Power of Kindness”)
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 06/01/13
    By way of a chance
    Hidden quality is born
    Showing reality
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 06/10/13
    I have a daily dose
    Of pain and heartache
    Shared and passed on

    Life is not pain and sorrow
    Life has pain and sorrow
    Life is not goodness and happiness
    Life has goodness and happiness

    Pain and goodness
    Sorrow and happiness
    Are caused by attachments
    Hanging memories on our being

    I have a daily dose
    Of compassion and wonderment
    Shared and passed on

    Random acts of kindness
    Senseless bouts of cruelty
    Daily struggles
    And nightly dreams
    Such are the things of life
    Hanging memories on our being
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 06/14/13
    All around us now
    Opportunities abound
    For kindness and grace
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 08/14/13
    Agitation is
    Specific compassionate
    Confrontation, yes?
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/17/14
    William Morris Glass at Palm Springs Museum

  • Some views of love and its choices

    Mystical oak
    Love is a spite.
    Its devotion knows no bounds;
    Neither high nor low.
    Love is an integration of souls.
    Love is an interminable commitment of fidelity.
    Love pushes all our buttons and expects us to reset them
    So they can be pushed again.

    Love is a spite with a certainty
    that no matter how much
    of your hurt and sadness and frustration is expressed as anger,
    no matter what,
    it holds on to me and you, and you and me.
    Nobody told us it would be exactly like this,
    but they sure told us it would be a journey.
    We heard “for better or for worse” our whole lives.
    And lo and behold they both happened again and again.

    Love has the spite to prove to you that
    I’ll hold on to you no matter what.
    Love is just stubborn that way.
    Love is never violent. It never hurts for hurting sake.
    Love never destroys itself nor the other person.

    Love can be unkind at times
    Because love trusts in its reciprocity
    That hurt and sadness can be overcome in its very being.
    My love is my love in spite of myself after all this time.
    The love I receive in return is the same,
    Full, complete, complex and in spite of it all.

    I love you in spite of myself.
    I love you in spite of yourself.
    There is a connection deep and unexplainable
    Which brings our souls together.
    In each of our minds we are committed to the other.
    As time goes by the connection is stronger.

    The meaning of fidelity is manifest in spite of all that happens.
    Our minds and our souls and our lives experiences
    Are so intertwined that the two cannot be less than together.
    Even if we are apart the connection remains strong and mysterious.
    This is what we have made by choice and chance and spite.
    If we love in spite of ourselves, and if we take away the spite,
    All that is left is the connection of our love.
    ><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 05/19/13

    Love is a choice
    It is also a mysterious voice
    Inside our heads, within our hearts

    Inner emotion evolves
    Until it finally resolves
    To bring together all of our parts

    The part of me that sees
    How separate I can be;
    Such an unenduring plight

    Nothing else can fill the part of me
    That needs to have some company
    So search ensues to cure this blight

    It’s not some random thing
    Like a bird upon the wing
    Startled to take flight

    Love makes choices every day
    What to do and what to say
    Affection the branch found to alight

    But like the branch that moves and sways
    Loves must balance in its days
    How to act and feel while making something right

    Hopes to share an inner vision
    Connections made in each decision
    It’s not some random wondrous flight

    Affection grows through choices made
    As our hopes and dreams get weighed
    Through the evenings on into the night

    In sleep and dreams the choice still spinning
    Is this joining worth the winning?
    Joy of love found at first light

    Happiness found in its potential
    For each humans being, love essential
    Fulfilling hopes and dreams so bright

    Love is a choice
    A lovely yet mysterious voice
    Inside our heads, within our hearts
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 10/14/14

    The essence of love
    Is borne of the availability
    Of the heart and emotions
    A person chooses to love
    As love chooses to evolve.
    Attraction, then infatuation
    brings a choice of commitment
    to explore the possibilities.
    The commitment to the other person
    Sometimes comes first,
    But often our love is borne
    In the mysterious inner self.
    Did one inner self touch the other inner self?
    The point of contact may be obscure,
    then in joy, relief, and trepidation
    one discovers the connection to the other – the love.
    The connection, once made, is sustained by fidelity.
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 04/16/08

    Double Rainbow

  • dangling leaves

    Fall colors

    Wind through the trees
    Blows leaves that flutter
    In their last attachment to life

    The buds of Spring
    And green Summer
    Give way to orange
    And brown
    Of life moving on

    Leaves are like illusions
    Or lives blown by truth;
    They last through time
    Until contradictions
    Or wisdom
    Blow them away

    The flutter is caused by
    The stem clinging to its source
    In a gale force

    The sputter and flutter and denial
    Both stated and internal
    Of any person resisting
    Acknowledging the truth
    Is like those stems
    Destined to separate

    In the depths of winter
    There may be a few leaves
    Still dangling
    Old beliefs die hard
    And illusions linger
    After long and bitter truth
    Blows down upon the disillusioned

    The blue sky of reality
    Cold and stark
    Is laid bare
    By the winds of truth

    Until a new Spring
    <><><><><><><><><><><> 12/09/12
    Fall leaves

  • Light on a redwood tree

    Redwood Tree, Armstrong Woods, Guerneville

    Find a place to stop and sit while light and orbit shift
    To here and there, or there and here, or where we are to be

    Light on redwood bark of a thousand year old tree
    Hues of brown and sienna and sepia and coffee

    At a point part way down bright glare makes light white and scattered
    Masking clear vision of strands of bark as if the tree were tattered

    Each strand of life perhaps a soft light of recollection
    Lives passed as lives passed, hallowed in loving connection

    Images or stories reverberate in time
    Spectrum of our lives entwined

    Intermittent shadows dark, in time our minds may ease
    Like bright memories become diffused histories

    Movement of the planet around the sun
    Marking time or marking us, each one

    Light so bright now gone away
    And tomorrow will be another day

    Trees do not spend a thousand years in shadow
    Despite rain or fog, bright sun will not be laid low

    Light so bright deep in a heart
    Where to end and where to start

    Find a place to stop and sit while light and orbit shift
    To here and there, or there and here, or where we are to be

    <><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/17/14
    The Walking Tree

  • The bottomless courage of the heart

    062813 UCSF Mt Zion - In the Meditation Room
    “The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.”
    Blaise Pascal

    Bottomless courage of the heart
    Is discovered in the moments when the bottom falls out
    Sometimes it happens in an instant
    Sometimes months and months
    Discovery of the bottom occurs as the movement is down
    And down
    Keep going down and no bottom is found
    Hence the bottomless and no solid ground
    The heart holds itself and everything else
    On the trip down
    As the heart sees or feels the sides and keeps going down
    And down
    And the heart holds on to courage
    Courage of the heart is to be in the bottomless
    And hold on
    And find courage to bounce
    Or arise or rise up
    The bottomless courage of the heart
    Is discovered on the way down
    And formed on the way up
    <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 09/12/14
    080308 Albee Creek Redwoods - God's summer home

  • who owns the sky

    dawn

    when the wind swirls and around mountaintops curls
    no one knows how patterns grow as the wind will always flow
    down ravines air careens
    pushed or pulled in patterns full
    of meaning for those who wonder
    who owns the sky

    the sky is seen across time or dreams as limitless open space
    meaning derived or arrived by happenstance in each place
    by effects of interminable wind, blowing up or down again
    half way down or half way up never clearly seen
    except askew by the few who can see in between
    sometimes seen as gates of heaven
    moving life forward mystically like leaven
    who owns the sky

    the wind like breathe of God comes down
    shaping space, then clouds, then ground
    moisture gathered up above
    comes down as snow or rain like love
    to bring life’s beginnings or push us on
    every night then every dawn
    each day or evening like the ones before
    buffeted in movement or in lore
    though each day uniquely given
    events or legacy somehow driven
    blowing, swirling, whirling spaces
    shaping or renewing faces
    of land, or rock, even mountains moved
    by wind and sky until it is proved
    who owns the sky.
    desert sky 1