They say it’s important
To acknowledge your feelings,
Mine burn deep
Searing like a heated knife.
Sadness, disappointment
Futility mixed with
Mayhem and barbarianism
The anguish insufferable
Simultaneously we are
Isolated, quarantined
Where will this all end?
Man’s eye like a microscope,
Disproportionately viewing life
Distorted by imagination
Enlarging the illusion.
With no regard
For the ‘third’ eye,
Where lies his clarity
Abundant and beyond compare.
I pray for a united return
Of humanity,
Kindness and peace
Simple joys.
Where greed, power
Egotism are quelled voluntarily,
As realized that we are nothing
But dust in the end.
Yet here we are,
Kings and queens
In a moment in time,
And granted pleasures in multitudes.
What can be that deciding factor
Whether we live in peace and harmony
Or divided and disgruntled?
Gazing up into the sky
The sun, moon and stars peacefully
Focused, levitate and orbit
Constant in their mission.
Down here on earth
I see the equilibrium of nature,
Of which I am a part
With a privy to consciousness.
Herein lies my blessing and solace,
For not only can I sing and dance along,
But also acknowledge the Orchestrator
The One to whom I benevolently belong.
Defying physics you stand
Your strength is daunting
Your stature mighty
Yet here comes the ocean spray
Wave after wave
And you welcome the attention
You dance and yield
With the passion of lovers
And caressed are your contours
Your union brings forth
Countless grains of sand
Capturing the essence of time
With every turn
There is awe
In these simple cyclic laws
When elements work together
Magic happens
The impossible is possible
For how can a mighty rock
Be so transformed
Into the tiniest of particles
And no less
Than by drops of water
One wave at a time
And within me
One breath at a time
Is revealed a celebration
Of existence at its finest
Carrying a simple joy
Which even lapping waves can teach
What gathers together
Giving rise
To that one feeling
Of being in the right place?
No words needed
As all in the glance
Is acknowledgement, respect
Perhaps even an adoration.
Flourish here
Does the calm,
The peace
More so a mutual love.
Bestow on the self
The same gratuitous presence
And feel yourself at home
Welcomed, received and loved.
Here lies a bond
With no bondage,
A relationship
With no need for any rules.
Belief and faith perhaps
The stepping stones for most,
But this inner knowledge is to be reached
With an ardent and persistent thirst.
Let then the magic
From the ultimate connection
Release it’s power supreme
Second to no other.
So accept and harness
Your own ‘Genius Loci’
And bask in the stream
Of the greatest of loves.
Original artwork of myself and my companion of a short time, Duchess, who claimed my backyard as her home for the last two and half years of her life.
Photo by Max Malloy, curtesy of Pinterest.
Staples of Life
Food?
Water?
Light?
For the warrior of old
Chia was his sustenance
Now with innumerable grains
Some so old like amaranth, unknown
For the arid desert nomad
A palm on the horizon, a vision of hope
Now water, flat or sparkling
And in any flavor sought
The shepherd into his night
Lead by the galaxy of stars
Today with the neon lit skies
Some have lost the savoring of dawn
So what now remains
As the staples of life?
What is it, without which
We cannot survive!
Conditioned to strive
For fame and fortune
Placing prosperity before responsibility
Lost is man
In the battle
The mirage
The day’s toil
Leaders, soldiers, all men
Muddle in circles
The greatest of misfortunes
Has befallen mankind
For he has no answer
To what sustains his own life!
At times, man is forced to face
His dichotomous humanity
For some a choice
For most not
When stripped naked
Of the labels, the roles
The doing and undoings
The staples of life
Emerge from the core
Humility or pomposity
Vulnerability or defensiveness
Compassion or suppression
Gratitude or greed
Wait not for the unraveling of your life
Embrace your core
And claim
The grandest of staples
Fit for this life
At no other time in existence
Has there been a world of such abundance
Where we have them all
Choice, access, immediacy.
So, how hard is it to be grateful?
“You can be anything you want”
“Where there is a will, there is a way”
Philosophy to preachings
Man is the almighty!
So…How hard is it to be grateful?
Gratitude now linked to the tangible
Objects and materials
Acquisitions and conquests
Talent and masteries.
Yet the most sublime features
Sustaining our existence
The true wealth of mankind
Diminished to being taken for granted
Forgotten, dismissed
At best at the bottom of the list.
Requiring ownership and rsponsibility
Value to enable preservation
Is the air we breathe
The ground that hold us
This planet we all share.
Perhaps deeper still
The constant repair and re-birth of each living substance
The invisible atomic and cellular exchange
The very life source
Sustaining those things we enjoy.
Yet we abuse, even destroy
These majestic elements
Lost in our ignorance
Our pride, greed
Our righteousness.
Gratitude, I pray
Wake me,
Wake in me
So tomorrow can be
As fruitful as intended
By the Master designer.
Original art by Tejal Patel.
Left guessing each morning
As the night sky lingers,
Sun rising faster elsewhere
You tease your arrival.
Tickling the leaves
At the tips of weighted branches,
Sway is soft, sometimes brisk
Ghost-like you change the air.
Mid morning telling
With full force brightness,
Your are not quite ready
To come and stay.
Waiting for your signs
With warm hues of amber and burnt orange,
The longing deepening
For what only you can deliver.
Trees will be crowned
With jewels to be shed,
Giving comfort
And rustle to my feet.
Fall you arrive
Bringing time to reconnect,
As the hearth becomes
The gathering spot.
Time for reflection
Three quarters in,
The year almost done
What’s happened? what’s yet to be done?
Lists never completed
Bewildering and unforgiving,
Instead let’s give thanks
To each day, each season.
Thank you my old friend
You teach how to shed,
Keep gratitude close
And revive for seasons to come.
Learning to love
The ‘hardest’ person
In your life
Will be The greatest achievement.
To love this ‘hardest’ person
Means to Accept
Their weakness
Their faults
Their idiosyncrasies.
To love this ‘hardest’ person
Means to Forgive
Their choices
Their mistakes
The pains that are carried.
To love this ‘hardest’ person means
To show kindness in their loneliness
Share laughter in their sadness
Support their efforts
Acknowledge their concerns.
So begin now
To Love, Accept and Forgive
This ‘hardest’ person,
As it is none less
Than You, yourself!
This task appears easy
In this ‘me’ world
But who is it that we love?
The true self or the made up self?
Past the screens and barriers
Lies a tender soul,
Strong and fruitful
Locked away with but one key.
True love is this key,
With the mighty power
To release from all suffering
To embolden with courage.
So unlock this ‘hardest’ person.
Allow the potential
To surface
So love can be felt
Inside and out.
Artwork by Yossi Kotler, curtesy Pintrest.
Takes but one tiny seed
A little nurturing love
Out sprouts our friendship
Every moment intense
With joy or discomfort.
The infant knows
Of nothing else.
Life as a child
Simple and unencumbered
Brims with adventure.
Here
Exhaustion is of excitement.
No need for bells and whistles
Nor ribbons or tassels.
Play and repeat play
Is the perfect ticket.
So what happens in all the growth?
We practice and perfect.
Becoming masters,
No longer enamored.
We call these milestones.
With crownings and honors
For drone like behavior,
These achievements a demand
Conforming to institutional norms.
With passage of time
Fatigue and age,
Perhaps we no longer
Jump, skips or dance.
Lost in this mud
Is the pure spirit of child,
The glee, the radiance,
The essence of life.
Without your childhood roots
Exist you would not,
So let the energy of old
Climb back into your bones.
Maybe then the ‘adventure’
Will not be lost,
Allowing your rise
To claim,
With the heart of a child
The aim,
To play again
In this great game of life.
rhythmandthedancer 