April 19, 2020: Respite from the Sun

Respite from the Sun

I like these

  Dark, overcast days.

They give me the feeling

  Of being protected

  From that unforgiving sun -

Though I know

  It’s only an illusion:

One well-placed flare

Could reduce us all

   to cinders!

And the paradox is

  That without the sun,

There could  be

   No cover of cloud!

We would be

  Just another piece

    Of rock and ice,

      Wandering through space,

     In search

  Of another

Star.

April 18, 2020: Selection of Aspirational Haiku

Selection of Aspirational Haiku

High mountain valleys

Never glimpse the red sunrise

Reflecting on the peaks.

High mountain summits

Don’t embrace the noon-day sun

Like lush, green valleys.

People of high thoughts

Don’t yield to cultivation

Like wide, open plains.

The pine tree grows tall

Because it is straight;  Balanced,

Because it is round.

A person goes far

Because she has clear ideals

And keeps well attuned.

Life is a mountain.

You can’t always see the peak,

But you know it’s there.

Living is a climb.

Knowledge is the hook and rope.

Wisdom is the way.

April 17, 2020: In Relationshp to God and to Our World

In Relationship to God and to Our World

I see God when I find a friend;

A person that I need to know,

But when conflict arises that we can’t amend,

Where does the friendship go?

I seek for God because God is the Friend

Who knows what I’m going through,

Though I’m cursed by afflictions I can’t comprehend,

And have no idea what to do.

I see God as a relationship

To myself and to the greater community,

But everyone clings to their personal trip,

And we scatter.  So where is the unity?

And sometimes I think I see the Lord,

When that’s really not what I see.

I think It asks me to wield a sword,

When the problem’s all about me.

I don’t see God in every place;

In every bridge and wall.

I don’t see God in every face,

Though I know It’s in us all!

I serve a God who is kind;

Who holds all of life in its weave.

I see It as One who identifies.

I see It as That which conceives,

Infusing the earth with its wisdom and power,

And finishing all that’s begun;

Nurturing seeds to grow and flower

In the balance of the rain and the sun.

I don’t see God in every place;

In every bridge and wall.

I’m looking for God in every face,

Because I know It’s in us all!

April 16, 2020: Vitality in the Ebb and Flow of Thought

Vitality in the Ebb and Flow of Thought

I’m seeking to reach a new synergy.

I want to make the Garden to grow,

But I’m appalled by how my energy

Seems so much to ebb and to flow;

How I forget the things that I know.

My mind is swaying in the winds of the world,

Pervasive, mysterious - that world keeps me humble!

I recall my ideals:  Will their promise unfurl?

Whether jet or thunder, I hear a rumble.

Like waves, my own thoughts sway and tumble.

They start off subtle, like a gentle breeze

That wafts a profusion of scents.

I hear them rustle the leaves of the trees,

And I’m not sure about what is meant.

Are they of seas, or the firmament?

So I seek to confirm my sense of connection

To the life I must live, and the Spirit,

Without knowing the reason, I change direction,

And I hardly seem to get near it.

It has music, and I so want to hear it!

And then, I’ll be seized by an inspiration

That swirls like a sudden gust:

A life-changing vision, for consideration –

Is it an impulse that I can trust

Or only a moment of bluster?

So where does it come from, and where does it go:

Our creative force and vitality?

Can we ever be sure how the winds will blow,

To support or affront our humanity;

To heighten and threaten our sanity?

It enables me to set my own sails,

And tack wherever I choose.

My resolve might falter, but the urge that prevails

Is the one I’ve got to use,

Even when there’s much to lose!

Just as winds also might carry the rain,

And dissipate the pollen,

And catch into a windmill’s vanes,

Or set the surf a’ rollin’

Or raise up a kite that was fallin’ . . .,

They may also carry a thunderstorm,

Or commence a change in the season.

It may stir up a fire.  It may flatten the corn.

Though balance is always the reason,

At that point, it isn’t just teasin’!

We seek to maintain our composure,

While striving to do what we will,

Awed when Life makes Its disclosure;

In sorrow at what falls, unfulfilled,

And yearning when the wind is still.

Will we ever end our inner resentment?

Will our balance be restored?

Will we ever find our contentment -

Beyond ideas of what we can afford -

In the wind from the wings of the Lord?

Will we ever attain the grace to accept

Our lot, though we seek many things,

And while we don’t know the steps to be truly adept

We draw vision from poets and kings,

And our souls are flapping their wings!

April 15, 2020: Musician, Carving a Path

Musician, Carving A Path

We like to get together

To sing the old, familiar songs,

Believing that’s the way

We get along,

And sometimes, if we’re clever,

We’ll make up a different version.

It’s not so much what we need to say;

We only need  a diversion!

Sometimes we’ll endure an original

By one who likes to perform,

Who knows that the path to personal power

Is to go beyond the norm,

And even beyond what is cynical,

To some place we’re not sure we’ve been:

A new rhythm in which our love can flow;

Once, an unpredictable spin!

Chorus:

And then someone else might take it on,

And it acquires a familiar ring;

It might not be traditional,

But it’s something that we want to sing!

It opens up a new conception

That hasn’t been sung before;

That inspires yet another original;

That reminds us what we’re singing for!

That newness don’t have to be intricate;

Quite often, it’s simple and slow.

The singer will do whatever it takes

To lead us where he wants to go!

And it’s not necessarily intimate.

Sometimes it’s hard like a stone,

But its got an energy keeps us awake

And comforts us when we’re alone.

It’s like carving a path through rocky hills

To a place at the other side.

You can’t cut directly through:

It’s too simple just to decide!

The trick is to balance conflicting wills,

Like winding around a slope

So the goal is reached most simply and true,

In the realms of our common hope.

Chorus

Once again, we get together

To sing the new familiar songs.

We move with them,

And they help our bonds to grow strong!

And  sometimes it just makes us feel better

To sing a tune from out of the past:

A melody that still remains to remind

Us of the mem’ries we’re wanting to last.

April 14, 2020: My Invitation

My Invitation

Your open heart can still look at me

And think I’ve got it all wrong.

Did I paint myself into this wrong place to be,

Not knowing how to get along?

You see my strength and ability.

You’re not sure I’m very much fun.

You doubt I retain that agility

To walk on the paths where you run.

Too far out of step; too close out of place:  

Should I hang my head in shame?

A fool in every matter of taste,

Who’s bewildered by the game.

You might think that I’m just not enlightened,

And advise me like a younger brother.

Could it be we’re both just a little in doubt

Of peculiar friends we discover?

Chorus:

Do I look like you?  Do I look real strange?

I think that’s the way of creation.

I hear what you’re saying and I want to exchange

What we see in our situation!

The world is changing.  We all have to change

To reach out for our own salvation.

So many pieces remain to arrange.

Still, I offer my invitation.

You might find that I nurture a life you can lead

Beyond patterns that were just a disguise.

I might become someone you actually need.  

You might see me through different eyes.

I might open up the world to you.  

You might show me a whole new vision.

We might find a new balance in what is true.  

We might rise to a new decision.

So I sing you this song in self-confidence

Even if you think I’m crazy

To think in my lonely innocence

That you could be my lady,

Exploring dreams and exotic places,

Engaged in this world’s liberation,

Immersed in the magic of many embraces;

Building with imagination!

Chorus