Talons

 

photograph by: Norbert Rosing

On some days
It seems easier
To soar free -
To lift your feet
And scramble for balance
Than it is to stand
In the middle
Of a wind
That chases eagles
From high perches
Near the top
Of ancient trees
High places that offer
Clear sight and some safety
From crows and gulls
That pester them forever
No other birds are in the air today
Just the eagles
Talons tired from holding
Tight to favorite branches

Water

The Ocean lives at the bottom
While clouds float overhead
How is it the sameness of water
Gathers such varied experience
How is it every water particle
can know the brush of a bird’s wing
As well as the push of a fish’s fin

Expectations

This world is not what I expected it to be
It never was and probably never will be
I celebrate that
It helps me lose expectations
And blends new moments together
Into its recipe for life

Patience

How do trees survive
On a bare rock hill?
Their soil is hidden
Under the mountain's
Distant river of trees.
Bare rock shuns tall friends
That stand expressionless
On the cold face
Of mountain rock
As it burns slowly toward black
While collecting bright badges
Of mosses and mottled lichens
To fancy up its dreams.

Walking Stick

Traveller
Carry this stick
To guide you true
To steady your feet
To learn your footsteps
And to share your world

Joy

Open your heart to joy.
Watch the searing pain
Of pretending to be a rock
Pass blindly by.
Embrace the rich visitor
Fall in love with laughter
And let your body dance

Winter Sun

Two warm sunny hours
On a winter afternoon
While the river stands still
At the turn of its tide
Young widgeon float
With blind excitement
Along the river’s margin
In twos and threes and fours
Exploring every direction
Into an unknown future

Then I watched it happen
Like a yawn or a sigh it spread
Through the whole population
Not one bird was left out
First one then another was infected
By a neck stretch, flapping wings
Tail wags and a bath
As if to let spring know
It is safe to come now

These ancient movements
That offer modern survival
Are practiced under winter sun
Birds, bugs, buds and flowers
All do what life needs done
To honor spring’s arrival
And flourish without thought
As life’s longing sighs

A Blessing

A blessing
Can only be heard
If a soul is listening
Through an open heart

A Gift

Ancient song
Sung by the soul
Sounds richer
When pain stands to listen
Glad to be heard
Joyful to be known
Frightened to be seen
Glistens when it’s given

Walking

Pleasantly walking
A visitor to this land
Finding it familiar
Trusting these footsteps
Not to lead me
Into someone else’s dream
But into my own sweet death
Of this or that sort
Until asked
To change this mind
Again, again and again
Until we are too tired
To remember
Why we came here
In the first place

Colored Flame

Colored flame of feelings
Bright emotions dance
As life vibrates
Touching my strings
Inviting joy to sing
Through every log
That burns

Life's reflection

Hundreds of birds rested
On the river today
I did not count them or name them
But there were geese and ducks
Floating on the river
Its cold and wet stillness
Looked warm and buoyant beneath them
Just one day after the winter storm left

I noticed the birds noticing me
Then everything let go of self
And everything let go of other
Whispers dissolved into silence
And the world was alive again

We drifted quietly in that place
Floating within winter’s stillness
I watched life tending its own seeds
They were waiting and growing everywhere
Enjoying the stillness of winter
Anticipating early colors of spring

Life found its own reflection
Among the birds, within the river
Through the forest, above the sky
Within my body and under my feet
Not through outward communication yet
But through the unconscious practice or release
Of scattered fragments of behaviors yet to be -
Of incomplete actions still unable to express their meaning
Simple truths that betray life’s longing
For its own grand adventure
And secrets that remain embedded behind
Time-locked veils of collective unconscious
A bud here - a tail wag there
A small fish splashing
A Vee of geese following
Life’s promising thought
Across an endless sky

Source

The river is full again today
It welcomes new water everyday
Water blessed at its source
As we are blessed with breath
Simple gifts beyond love
Truth and freedom and peace
Can scald if we consume them
Let them shimmer beyond wonder
Just to see them is enough
To lead us to the river

Winter’s River

Walking by the river
A flotilla of ducks
Claim the river
In the mist and flat light of Winter

One hundred ducks are here
Just for this moment
Scattered over the top
Of a hundred meters of river

Widgeon whistle warnings
As Chester and I approach
All of the other ducks
Must have stayed silent

I never noticed the others
Till I passed by the last of them
And heard the back-alley belly laugh
Of young mallards behind me

Their bright colors lost
In the misted raft of ducks
That floated darkly
On the silver river

Wet winter ground squishes
Under carefully placed feet
Radio warnings of heavy rain
Have not made me wet yet

As I stand here thankful to notice
The smooth perfect beauty
Of water droplets on branches
Just above me where I walk

Physical World

Air informs flight
Flocking, soaring, hovering
The energy is our choice
But the lessons belong to air

Water teaches swimming
On the surface or underwater
We need to find our breath
And we want to learn the lesson

Land inside gravity
Smiles as we begin to crawl
And then walk and then run
Jumping and sitting as we go

Your rules are so perfect
We can almost forget
Who we really are
Inside this body you rule

The desire we carry to move
From here to there
Beckons us on
Accepting our blindness

Christmas Tree

Lit-up trees are beautiful
They can’t be understood
Christmas only lets truth stand
Privately remembering the land
Where the tree left its roots
While we feed it water
Not to help it live
But to protect us
From its bright flame of dry anger
Baubles and their boxes
Fondly remember Christmas’ past
They all belong to this time of year
In their own certain way
They shed all our past worries
And sing only with fondness
For those who are here
And for those who are not
How can you give such gifts
After we do such things to you

Moments of Knowing

We all have
Moments of knowing
Accepting a past
Understanding the present
Embracing a future
All three alive
In the seed
And the flower
Of a simple moment
Held in our heart
Untarnished by thought
A bird’s flight
Through the forest
Of all things
Gently embracing
All truth
In that precious moment
When everything
is still

Solstice

Winter in darkness
Strains at its solstice
A leather tether
In the casual hands
Of an unthinking child
Spinning the round weight
Of a heavy world
Faster and faster
Over a head filled
With full moon
The rest of us sleeping
Winter windows open
Listening to the world
Orbit and spin faster
Through the steady air
Hearing and feeling
Wind brush through tops
Of needled forest trees
This place stuck tight
To the surface of the land
Where we sleep safely
Fastened under covers
Tethered to our dreams

Friendship

I like
Walking beside you
On this path
That appeals to us both
But really it is
The echo of my laughter
In your eyes
That draws me on
Through the brightening
Landscape of our friendship

The Ocean

She welcomes every river
That flows down into
Her always open arms
Nourished by salt and abundance
Ten thousand voices hum
Life's ever-changing melody
With gratitude
As the ocean dances
Within the moon’s embrace
Spinning under stars
Born in darkness
Between sleeping breaths

Winter Leaves

Wet brown broken leaves
Stuck to the end of their branch
Single, separated flags
Flutter in the winter wind
Now long past autumn
And still they can’t fall
From where they’re stuck
To whippy branches
Way out there at the end
Of the tree’s most flexible part
They seem trapped
Like a fish on a line
The wind can’t blow them
Off their flexible perch
And gravity won’t pull them
They rest there in their death
Simply proving
That the sleeping tree lives
In spite of the earth
That calls the leaf back

Oregon Junco

Efficient in the cold
Followed close by the flit
Of your own white streaked tail
And all of your similar friends

The two white tail feathers
Are just a part of the package
So is your little black crash helmet
That seems no good at all

Frost

Frost’s thin shirt
Covers everything
Fuzzy cold crystals grow
Through winter’s sleeping stillness
Wind chimes hang heavy outside
One eye open
Listening for any sound
In the forest
So wanting to be found
By the slightest winter breeze
To free its inspired music
And urge the last bright
And colored leaves to
Fall through autumn’s spell
During earliest morning light
Before sun can prove its presence
And while salt lamp still
Shines through
Into the clear heart
Of fluorite that waits
Patiently beside me
While I sleep

Winter Wren

Tiny, fluffy and brown
You share your whole world
With your friend - a partner
Flitting from ground to branch
Chatting through the world
I notice one of your legs
Stiff and pointed back
It does not touch the ground
Its been broken a long time
I can tell that
I watch your mind fly
Effortlessly
Through the universe
It never trips on your leg
It never even points there
I feel your warm presence
What a big truth to know
Thanks for showing me
How you fly