Sound Possibility

I feel interlaced and impacted by sound

sound of my heart beating

beating a way through the roaring wind

wind whistling down strewn empty streets

streets echoing with aching loneliness

loneliness we sense and hear everywhere

everywhere we whisper the loss of our connectedness

connectedness longed for and beginning to emerge

emerge out of our small isolated air bubbles

air bubbles rise up to meet others, a chance to give voice

voice the aching sound of possibility

possibility and yearning, tools of change

change is coming and we are ready

ready for the next stage, a step forward

forward, encompassing seeing and hearing

hearing the sound of multiple hearts

hearts of the world unify in a deep well of listening

listening and loving is all there is

Blood Line

Seated in a plastic chair,

right arm extended,

ready to release blood.

The young woman who inserts the needle

is clearly wrought up.

Inches away,

yet, we are worlds apart.

I ask her, ‘What would you make you smile today”?

She bursts into tears.

I gently put my left hand on her shoulder

ask her what is going on?

She tells me her car broke down

she was late for work and

worried about the cost of repairs.

This, information

while my blood is captured in 10 vials.

After the tourniquet is removed

she accepts a hug

and returns mine with surprising strength.

Jessica, who, each day,

drives all the way from Vallejo,

driving to work to draw blood

to support herself and her 11-year-old son.

My blood soon processed then discarded,

but for her blood is the life line of her days.

A-Z of Berate

From now on I wish to           Alleviate

all self-blame, no longer to  Berate

myself, let alone                     Castigate

nor allowing a voice to           Denigrate

me, instead I wish to             Extricate

myself, so I will be able to    Formulate

a plan to  fully                       Graduate

without needing to               Hesitate

inviting in a sign that will      Indicate

how to allow and best          Judicate

so that no further                   Karmate

can arise, but rather to         Liberate

to moment by moment       Meditate

which will then not               Necessitate

any need to                            Overregulate

rather choose to                    Penetrate

and decide to                        Questionate

allowing my spirit to               Re-invigorate

on all levels, as well as           Saturate

my cells to absorb and          Tolerate

this new state of easy            Uncomplicate

in addition to smoothly        Validate

becoming a spiritual            Welter weight

to help me thoroughly        Xtracate

any signs of                           Yakety Yakate

arriving finally at                    Zeroate

Wanting

I am not averse

to writing a verse

but my wanting gets in the way,

This can be a curse

to be so perverse

when my wanting gets in the way

I will try to transverse

and make a reverse

so my wanting to no longer holds sway

From this place I immerse

myself into true verse

and my wanting melts away.

As If...

 From a high distant mountain

rivulets tumble and skip down the steep slopes

as if knowing where they are going—

as if cascading downhill will give them more freedom.

Rivulets use old riverbeds

to find the quickest route down the mountain

as if they had a destination—

as if their rapid descent would gain them all.

The mountain feels this liquid torrent

cascading down its slopes

as if its contours were being altered—

as if it were being reshaped by rivulets.

High above an eagle soars

resting on the updrafts, watching the scene below

as if by watching it could be part of this shifting change—

as if it were joining the worlds of sky and earth together.

As if Time cares in what currency it is counted,

only wanting to be in perspective.

As if Hours were worried about being obese,

only wanting to be in balance.

As if Minutes were limited to what is within sight,

only wanting to know the visible.

As if seconds did not always want to laugh,

only wanting to be elevated.

There is no time, no hours, no minutes, no seconds,

only insights of the indivisible.

How to embrace un-certainty?

An oxymoron,

which the dictionary says means

“pointedly foolish” or “paradox with a point.”

As for embrace and un-certainty.

these need to be un-hooked!

An embrace is supportive

 un-certainty is unsettling.

As is learning to walk again,

once taken for granted

now an endeavor replete with

uncertainties.

It appears that there are at least

300 words commencing with un.

In my present stage of un-acceptance

some of the un words that bubble up are:

un-comfortable, un-acceptable, un-satisfactory,

un-gracious, un-accustomed.

Un-fortunately that is where

my un-skilled thoughts un-dulate!

Nothing is certain, let alone an embrace.

So I am un-equivocally left with

an un-satisfactory ending

 to my un-cool rant. 

Un-til I can encircle

embrace and un-certainty together,

 I will have to settle for

a future un-derstanding

of this oxymoron.

Sloth



Once I was a sloth.

In the time it takes me

to move a limb,

you could have

written a novella.

By the time

I move again,

you could have

run a mile.

Meanwhile

I am still climbing

My tree.

This links me to the

improbably blue sky,

which

one day

I will

melt

into. 

Fire Hydrants

My father climbed many peaks on many continents.

My aspirations less lofty, merely being able to walk

the blessing.

My distance measured between fire hydrants.

My pumping heart the gauge of the inclines.

My quotidian forays building stamina and fortitude.

Who would have thought a fire hydrant

could be a measure for fitness.