A Test

The past has resurfaced

in the form of uncertainties and tears
It’s a test of fortitude, perhaps
To see how much meek souls
can endure.
Facts spin wildly
What was truth, for a time,
is lost.
The sun shamelessly shines
The clouds persist in their
shape-shifting play.
Naive and trusting, her tear-filled
gaze engages mine
My eyes a misty meadow;
hers a questioning sky.
But words that might comfort or appease
catch painfully in my chest.
There are no words, it seems.
No reason or easy explanations.
There is only now and
what will be
And a love that will
never, ever end.

Hafiz, “This Place Where You Are Right Now”

I could tell you a priceless secret about

Your real worth, dear pilgrim,

But any unkindness to yourself,

Any confusion about others,
 
Will keep one 

From accepting the grace, the love,

The sublime freedom

Divine knowledge always offers to you.

Gratitude

Whatever it is,

I cannot understand it,

although gratitude

stubbornly overcomes me

until I’m reduced to tears.

—Saigyō

Her Feet Were Bare

Her feet were bare

that winter day.

The day her dream
and reality collided.

Just Go Along With It

Photo: Tim Bies

Flames will destroy everything
at the end of the universe.
It may already be destroyed.

A cold cricket cries in the pile of wet leaves.
He wanders back and forth, unable to get past regret.

Go along with it
Stumble in rain,
Walk on alone.

At the end of the trail is a warm cabin with a single fire.
There you may dry out those lonely years.

~ Blue Cliff Record: Zen Echoes

Red Dragonfly

photo.bugz

a red dragonfly too 

has come for a visit 

all alone 

satisfied 

~ Kaitō Hōko

Untitled

The Bat-Poet

“The trouble isn’t making poems, the trouble’s 
finding somebody that will listen to them.”

~ Randall Jarrell (Illustrations by Maurice Sendak)

The Perfect Stillness

Love is
the perfect stillness
and the greatest excitement, and most profound act,
and the word almost as complete
as His name.

~ Rabia

“The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt

There is dew

on these poems in the morning,

and at night a cool breeze may rise from them.

In the winter they are blankets, in the summer a place to swim.

I like talking to you like this. Have you moved

a step closer?

Soon we may be

kissing.

~ Kabir

The Gift

Beauty Hones

So many tears behind these words.

Love hones like that—

perfects and

purifies

the

gift.

—St. Thomas Aquinas

“Tell me about your heart,” my every word says.

Speak to me as if we both lay wounded

in a field and are gazing

in wonder

as our spirits

rise.

~ St. Francis of Assisi

"Monet for Mom" by Hope Arden, acrylic on canvas

They can be like a sun, words.

They can do for the heart

what light can

for a field.

~ St. John of the Cross

What Is Real?

Only Love is real.

Everything 

else 

is 

I

L

L

U

S

I

O

N

.

It Is a Lie

It is a lie—any talk of God

that does not

comfort

you.

—Meister Eckhart

The Sky's Sheets

When He touches me I clutch the sky’s sheets,

the way other 

lovers 

do

the earth’s weave

of clay.

Any real ecstasy is a sign 

you are moving 

in the right

direction,

don’t let any prude tell

you otherwise.

~ St. Teresa of Avila

No More Words

No more words.

Hear only the voice within.

~ Rumi

Wild Geese

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, 

are heading home again. 

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, 

the world offers itself to your imagination, 

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — 

over and over announcing your place 

in the family of things. 

—Mary Oliver

Orange Sky

To have this one day is a gift 

to have so many days  

so many adventures  

so many dark nights dawning in bright mornings  

so many encounters opening to friendships  

is a blessing beyond measure.  

~ Anthony Lawlor

I have always regretted the shallowness of words

Compared with the depth of human hearts.

Today the two of us look at one another,

Silently, but with feelings a hundredfold.

~ Liu Yü-hsi