POETIC PLUNGE

With some hesitation around this (the hugeness of the commitment has felt quite daunting--but not nearly as daunting as not committing), I've decided.  I will write a poem a day.  Not for my usual 41 days--that feels too temporary. But for the entire year.  

I'm thinking about it like this....my intention is to have this become a practice, like breathing deeply.  an integration of all the other 41 day practices I've done in the past.  I will, each day, sit and breathe and open and allow something to move through me.  And I will capture that something with words.  Words that I will place in my little leather journal, words that I will sometimes come here and share with you.  I see this helping me become quieter, more attentive to the gifts,the beauty, the longing, the tenderness, the ache, more present & mindful.  I see this filling me up and quieting me at the same time.  I see this helping me shed what no longer serves me so that I may become more awake in my life, more awake in my being. I will do this, not with the intention of fixing anything, but with the intention of being with all of it exactly as it is.  So, here we go....

Secret Title (to be revealed soon)
2/20/12


You don't have to wait

a second longer

to move

to step

to shimmy

through that mirage

of can’ts and not

enough-ness

You don't have to try

to be

something you've always been

something you can't

not be.

Breather of life

one who cannot be contained

or named

one who sleeps and dreams

and wakes

who forgets and stumbles

who hungers

to be Seen

and understood

one who despite-

despite so much

returns

and returns

to Love

I know how very tired you are.

You can let go now.

You can let go of those mountains

you carry.

You don't have to wait

a breath longer to be

all you ache

to be

all you so perfectly are.

Simply breathe

a breath so wide---

so cracked-open wide

even the moon

enters.  And the two of you

with your galaxy full

of Light

with your naked wide-

openness

can shimmy

can shimmy right on through

to the other side

*        *        *

Wide-Eyed Open
2/6/12

I would have missed this

You, baby bird

with your half- broken wing

you, with your tiny freckles

and eyes that plead

please, please love me

just the way I am

I would have missed this

if I had held back the gush

of love

in that one-of-a-kind moment

the one that will never 

be again

wispy angel clouds

hand reaching for mine

breath full of new

I would have missed you

if I'd been bound 

by what was "appropriate" 

by whether they'd approve

by should or shouldn't haves

what ifs or hows

if I had been measuring

or grasping, wishing

I had

or hadn't

If I had been thinking

this moment needed

to be more

or less

I would have missed this

but I didn't, thank God

instead I was

right Here

wide-eyed open

heartfirst diving

into this sparkling 

never ending

sea of

You

*        *        *

It
1/20/12

I've been looking 

for It 

all day

in rain-soaked sidewalks

in the lit tip of his cigarette

in the threads 

of the canvas, in the ink 

dripping 

of this page

Studying 

naked branches

and dew drops about to fall.  Praying 

that I'll find It 

there

in things I can see

and name

As if It

can be reeled in 

and caught

As if 

It 

can be found

in things out 

there

*          *          *


What They're Saying
1/14/12


The birds, the shadows, the leaves
every granule
of sand
they're all saying the same thing
slow way down
get closer
listen like crazy
to your life

*           *           *

Doing it Differently

1/10/12

On a Monday, after 

we make love. I fall asleep

to the rain.  

Intoxicated 

with the knowing

that from this breath

forward

we can no longer

do it

the same-I sleep 

like a cloud

happily forgetting

my own name.

*          *          *

His Storms

1/9/12

We got really good

at tiptoeing

Walking on eggshells 

she used to say.

We never knew 

when a misplaced word

or step

would unleash

his pain

There weren't warnings

for these storms 

that raged.  Never enough

time to take 

shelter

The jolts 

the pounding, the quaking

left us

drenched and dripping

Lifetimes later

we wait

for the aftershocks

to end

*          *          *

I Am

1/5/12

It's not that I don't want to feel

the wind

of a thousand wild storms

or dance in the blaze

of one electrifying  kiss

It's just that, in the midst

of it all

I want to be

clear

like crystal is clear

calm

like that old sleepy oak

So deep down rooted

and wide-armed welcoming

of what

IS

that even when the ground trembles

and crumbles

beneath me

I See

like the mountain Sees

I Am

the life-giving

Breath

at the center

of it all

*          *            *

Indifference

1/1/12

I've heard this story before

The words fell

from his mouth as he stood 

to get another beer

And I felt it

The spark 

that had just started to flame

now gasping

for breath

And, instead of the warmth

we could have nestled up to

we were both left

shivering

My two legs begging me

to walk forever

away

from his 

inferno

of indifference.

*           *             *