When love beckons you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep.
And when his wings enfold you yield to him,
Thought the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams
as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you.
Even as he is for your growth he is for your pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
SO shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you will laugh but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.
...
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God."
And think not that you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fullfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.


From 'The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran

when things start to fall apart
maybe instead of saying what have I done
where have I gone wrong
I will say
where is the poetry..?..

and that almost seems like a great end
but theres still more
I must say that
I am not always transcendent......really
sometimes I am in a state of descent
on my knees crying
and aching as I stare into the faces
of my ugly and distorted fears
feeling the dark, inescapable void
that is a deep, cavernous reservoir
I stand on the edge of reality
with my arms open
making waterfalls
being with despair
in the grey
drinking black tea
sucking on rocks
trying to create a fire through the harsh wind
cursing
til exhaustion
learning my soul.

"It is very important that you take care of yourself first. It is very important that you love yourself completely. Can you say "I love myself" ? Really say it . It is very important to allow yourself to feel. Can you say "I embrace all of my feelings" ? This is very important work. This is very, very important. We all love you very very much. Thank you for feeling. Thank you."

I will give it All away
for the chance of a glimpse
into the Sun's eyes in another Being
another Heart like mine
looking to take flight and be Birthed
into the fiery glimpse of ancient story
into ancient souls varied history
to the stories untold
I raise the golden chalice of gifted existence
in Present tense
givin thanks to the Most High
the glimmer in your eyes, Beloved Keeper of Truth
from the deepest depths of city to the cobble stone craft road of indigenous center
elders breathe upon me
dark obsidian Truth
that All is well if I will it so
Free Will to be Universal Fire
to behold the Heart in those I encounter with open
petals - Spirit giving medals for the Ones with the courage
to embark on the Journey of the Lifetimes
beginning with One step
tribes gathering
rainbow bridge of Unity tied Infinity
pon chest
to double crest of Wings
embracing fires of trans-eternity
that all Beings may be Happy
for the breath that gives way to form
I will give it all away in thyme
through the rhythm and rhyme of the MLK sermon
as he saw the Heart beyond colors
Rainbows speaking of beyond
mark of percieved separation
being rethreaded through embrace of Family
around the way
the great remembering
the great sharing
the great clearing
the great bearing of the vulnerable, pumping
blood filled center of inevitable change
for this I will rearrange my every motive for everything I have ever wanted to make room
for the unknown beauty
of a thousand names
a thousand places shine on me
through seeds of collective consciousness
the word is bond
that we just Love the Life in our hands.
That I will give it All away for the shining sake of Peace.

Seed dreams
of Kings and Queens of Earthen Eternity .
we live here .
this is where we are from .
beneath this Sun and Moon
and we are not going to move .
this is where we live .

I am in another world, though I am not sure where it is or who exactly lives there...Some say it's a discovery, others say it's a creation so it must be both. I sit silently on corners watching the world go by and it feels ephemeral ("a sensation that is felt by a person for a certain period of time before needing replenishment"). Deep down I know what that means but words are an elementary form of communication to this esoteric moment. I'm just a bright soul harnessed between to polars in this mental matrix of constructed obsurities and rainbow paths. We hold hands though you are invisible, you cradle the unseen.

They told me to grow my ideas and the process created a mysterious forest of fabric soft to the touch with a bitter taste. Many trees have their roots in star systems...in the season of the Sun, I traveled backwards beyond my initiation into life and my home was a bright ball of burning light (like that you see in the cornea of Merlin) what I understood is this is the womb my soul alchemized within.

In this mental matrix, I am Love strengthened by the earth and sky as a pillar of Light.

Lord, I AM an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, I AM love.
Where there is injury, I AM healing.
Where there is doubt, I AM faithful, and
Where there is darkness, I AM the Light.
Creator, through Unconditional Love,
I choose to be compassionate.
I choose to be understanding.
I choose to be love.
I choose to See You in All Others and Myself,
I choose to Give, trusting in my replenishment.
I choose to Allow, knowing that all is in Divine Order,
and I choose to Surrender, knowing that this truly is the path of freedom.

No more wine for me!
I'm past delighting in the thick red
and the clear white.

I'm thirsty for my own blood
as it moves into a field of action.


Draw the keenest blade you have
and strike, until the head circles
about the body.

Make a mountain of skulls like that.
Split me apart.

Don't stop at the mouth!
Don't listen to anything I say.
I must enter the center of the fire.

Fire is my child
but I must be consumed
and become fire.

Why is there crackling and smoke?
Because the firewood and the flames
are still talking:

>>>>>>>>"You are too dense. Go away!"

"You are too wavering. I have solid form." <<<<<<<<<


In the blackness those two friends keep arguing.
Like a wanderer with no face.
Like the most powerful bird in existence
sitting on its perch, refusing to move.

What can I say to someone so curled up with wanting,
so constricted in his love?

Break your pitcher against a rock.
We don't need any longer
to haul pieces of the ocean around.

We must drown, away from heroism,
and descriptions of heroism.

Like a pure spirit lying down, pulling
its body over it, like a bride her husband
for a cover to keep her warm.


Rumi

Divine reflection and inflection of voice
invisible direction, mental erection of choice
dancing in place for all human race to feel joy
beginning to understand that true happiness
is the real McCoy
Stand back or reach further
many props in life are just toys
reach out and touch, foot on the clutch
straight towards mystery
let go of the list of things you thought you might enjoy
natural time my body,
mind the clock,
Spirit like sunlight penetrating
from the periphery to the core
like the eleven masks I never wore
warmed up and ready to begin
to decode my lifes history
and put it back together again
shall we start from the beginning
ending with you
the key to the unlocked doorway
these wings had never flew
singing the songs of yesteryear
stunted like deer in headlights
guide me home
the one who alerts the call
run, jump, climb over the wall of your doubt
rights, rock steady, ready no clout
still got my fire
flames climbing higher
ascension won't due
through descension finding clues
Souls news
isn't this why we sang the blues
a thousand golden moons...
bow down
head to heart
to thank the foundation under your shoes.

and set your suffering aside. just for a moment.





For Miriam

In Berkeley where birds fly and men walk in suits
I stroke my head full of crazy hair and apply lip balm
The wind streams over my face
containing a million unspoken thoughts of passersby
Could she see my soul in that glance?
Did he just call my name under his breath?
Does anyone look UP around here?
Its okay, I have a velvet lined jacket that was my grandma's and a handbag made by Emily
The world keeps turning
And so does my head.....Wait! Stop.
Breathe.
Back to life in this quilt of bright hues and soft tones
In my bedroom
No one is here but me
And this is where I live.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

City Asylum

People moving and grooving
rushing like tides, in the full streets where there is nowhere to hide, unless you're homeless or "mentally ill", then you actually disappear
you disappear to the eyes of many
to afraid to see themselves in your face that desparate side of them that is crying for life or the lack thereof -the motto 'lets take more drugs'
more diluted farther from the feeling of pestilence and despair of the molding shadow or mulch for the garden's fertile soil, however you'd like to look at it

something deep needs tending to....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know its been a while since I transcribed my thoughts and feelings into nouns and verbs in this book of morphed trees but theres always time.....time to travel dreamscapes to the ones you love and dance with them under golden moons and roll through fields of fine silk in their arms, them in yours singing to Life for the fiery light in your beloved's eyes that mirrors your soul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prophetic wisdom imparted through him, the light....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I rose like a phoenix from the ashes of reality to face and accept the circumstance.......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Toilet

Let me tell you about a young sociologist
who cleaned rich people's toilets
and struggled with fleeting arrogance.
She cringed at the sight of their shitty toilets and bit her lip for compassion's sake until she tasted blood. She may not be that cynical young woman who judges.
Bent over scrubbing she mentally tamed her gag reflex with dozens of rationalizations to make the rather quick task gentle.