reflections

Gone but not Lost

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Number of days shorten
A shining light begins to fade.
Bearers assembled
Eulogies sing out.

Absence marked
At dining tables,
End of text and phone lines.
Keys, cars and clothes
All untouched.

Cried and uncried tears
All await their turns.
Triggers.
Simple stories and songs
Photographs and jokes.

Oh my lovely!
Where art thou now?
Among the stars?
Flying with the angels?
Watching over me?

Something tells me
My yearn
My memories
Of what we’ve shared,
Is my solace.

Your presence
No longer physical,
But still remains
Warm, charming
Undeniably lovable.

You live on, my dear.
Maybe not as I once knew.
But now, in a new phase
Here for me to face.

I learn anew
Life always goes on
Presence changes form
True love never ends,
And you and I
Will always be one.

 

What Possibilities!

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Stride of a stallion
Bridled with passion
Energy magnetic

Endowed with stamina
Forging forward
Racing ahead of the curve

Strength of an army
Yet soldiering solo
Battles conquering

Here is a man
In tune with his mission
Breaking conventions chains

To be that man
To be that woman
Takes more than presence

Yes you are here
Yes you do yearn
To be your authentic self

So silent walk
Or forceful charge
Be sure of direction you go

As it is for sure
That moving you are
Question remains
Do you know where you go….

Reyana

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Reyana

Resting quietly
On a family breast,
Rey’nd a love
Of a sweet little babe.

Big brown eyes
And a gentle spirit,
She sang a song
With her own fresh melody.

Rooted deep
In cultures rich,
She’s cocktailed to perfection
Both contemporary and ancient.

Princessed with abundance
Yet wise like a Goddess.
Rise my lovely
You have all our love to soar.

Thanks for Giving

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At the end of each day
Before the eyes close.
And as the dawn breaks

Before the eyes open.
You’re marketed.
Drawn by the glitter
The glamour, the clatter.

You’re hounded like prey
Trapped like the stray!
Heart beat races as if by a thrill.
But poorly differentiated
Is this pleasure and pain.

Are you the consumer?
Are you the consumed!
Are you falling or climbing?
Finding goal or demise?

Yet confused at the summit
As oblivious to this play!

Look, listen and learn
The way of the world,
And rote cloned you’ll be churned
Like manufactured humanoid!

Upon the pages of your heart
Your mind, your soul.
Erase, erase the messages
Allowed in by the gull.

The self talk,
The ego
Reinforce the convictions.
Drown out the pound
Of your screaming heart,
Gateway
To the tethered soul.

To escape the cycles
The conformity, the pressures.
Takes a presence pristine
A perspective reborn.

Slow, to feel the calm
So breaking the chains.
Shift the focus
Perspectives can change.

Challenge the noise makers
For phantoms they are.
True joy is no acquisition
It’s a gift of the Divine.

Weave in your kindness
Your currency of love.
Such priceless commodities
Stock market left dumb founded!

Let the changing light
Take you deep to your rest.
So fully, you can embrace
The quiet of the night.

Then rise each dawn
With the voice of your heart,
Saying,
“Thanks for Giving”
The wholesomely completeness
Of your being
Upon this earth.

 

Autumn 🍂

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Spring came and she was but a bud,
Full of eager promise.
Green in every torturous way
Simply daintiful and delighting.

With the summer heat
She strengthened with turgor
Resilient to the power of the beaming one,
Enriched by each dawn.

Now with the sun distanced,
Shadows and chilled air govern.
She flaps and fights
Hanging on with brittle stems.

Bursting or bruising
Colors brimming,
Amber to terra cotta
And every shade between.

As departure arrives
Her cabaret is at its height
Her glow, her draw
Never greater, never stronger.

Either gentle float
Or sweeping dive
She brushes downwards
Landing with crisp grace.

Piled in with company abundant.
Crumble awaited
To merge once more,
And merrily feed Mother Earth.

Entwined

Now I know
Inseparable
Entwined
Conjoined
We are.

Like the wind
Blows and cools
My brewing heat.

Like the sun
Lights and warms
My lonely times.

Like the rain
Waters and washes
My dulled mind.

You walk alongside
Wanting of nothing
Giving of everything.

Bringing reminders
Of our sublime unity
Over and over.

With every lesson learnt
My weight lessens
Yet my gains increase.

As closer to the core
Of my existence
I reach.

How oh how
To thank,
With this heart
Of gratitude’s fill?!

Eyes brim
Heart glows
Sweet nectar
Smothers my skin.

This is
That promised land
Of milk and honey.

Satiating the hunger
Not of bodily organs
But of my soul seeking
Existence.

 

Artwork by James A. Eads.

Non Nobis Solum – Not Only For Ourselves.

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(Motto of Orchardleigh Village Estate in Somerset, England.)

Great beauty with legacy
800 years and still standing,
Orchardleigh Village Estate.

From times of bartering
To more complexities
Of social structures,
Survival of honor and simplicity,
Depends on the motto:
Non nobis solum.

Unaware
Oblivious
Every move, every thought
Yours, mine
All entwined.

Whether vows of marriage,
Neighbourly existence
Or humans of a given time.

Our lifetimes leave footprints,
Marks on minds
Impressions on hearts.

So tread softly on the blades of greens,
Carefully on jagged gravel.

Speak gently to sprouting minds
And sparsely to older vines.

Love deeply and passionately your betrothed,
And kindly every other fellow on your road.

Now as we leave this Estate,
This county, this land.
One day this planet.
Leave only what can be enjoyed.
Leave legacy of life lived well.
Life full of love and joy.

 

Debut Poetry

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There’s that book, on the bookshelf, it’s a treasure trove, full of every word you always wanted to read, speaks to what you’ve felt, what you know and where you want to go in your journey in this life… and even though you know each page, every once in awhile you have to pull it off the shelf…
Prior authors for me have been, Tagore and Gibran…
A lofty statement, but here is another from today’s world.. Atul Ranchod, with his debut book, Top of the Water…available on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/atul-ranchod/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aatul+ranchod

The first poem in the book is ‘Human Time’… when I first came across this poem it inspired me to make this audio recording…I hope it gives you a taste for the book..

Audio-Human Time

Embrace Time

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In this cavern of time
Seconds tick
Hours slip
Days merge
And years fly

‘Tis human nature
To grapple and look
Ask,
‘What happened in all these years?!’

True wonder
Laid in tiny seconds

Just as every raindrop
Yields a forging river
As every sun ray
Sprouts fields of grain
So does each second
Culminate to those years

Capture the magnificence
Look no further

Raindrops fall to your feet
Sun rays beam on your face
Moments delivered as breath

Tune into this finite time
The song and dance is on

No vocals needed
No taps shoes required
Once tuned in
The music is on

Yet midnight will strike
When magic runs out
The carriage disappears
So be forewarned

Do not procrastinate
Quiet yourself
Listen for the song
Feel the dance
Be in your present
Let melody and rhythm unfold

 

 

Why?

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Why do I stop
To smell the roses?
Why does the rose
Look up to the sun?
Why does the sun
Shine just so rightly?

The most powerful star
The most destructive force
Yet it shines
Gently enough
To feed the bloom
So the rose may grow
So I may stop
To smell the rose

What divine design
This universal force
Unites the grandeur
Of the sun
The seeming insignificance
Of the rose
The magnanimous posture
Of the human being

This pale blue dot
Within the universe
The galaxies beyond,
Why?
Why do they all
Exist?

Each day a gift
Each breath a gift
For just a minute shift
And poof, no more to live

So yes ask
Why?
And in the search
You’ll find your gift
The mighty power
Tying sun, rose and man
Divinely together

With a little acknowledgment
Your gratitude blooms
Like the rose
Your fragrance shows.

With a little understanding
Your wisdom shines
Like the sun
Your radiance beams.

So postured
Is this being,
Most fortunate
In his possibilities!
Grandest for the one
Who asks ‘why?’
For with an open heart
He shall find
His answer
In the Divine!