medicina libelula medicina coruskone

down and dirty again

at the age of five, i plundered our garden of rocks and stones, enlisting help to lift extra large ones.  i loaded them into my wagon and proceeded to canvas the neighbors, regaling them with the benefits of my selections as natural art for their front or backyards.  if i encountered reluctance, i brought to their attention, the added feature of my wares being great doorstops or paper weights.  i sold out of inventory.

while enrolled in a master gardeners course, i was introduced to a multitude of seed catalogues.  i purchased from many of them.  
i found one that expanded my garden and landscape, both inner and outer.  

my acre was home to grape vines, raspberries, blackberries, apple trees, oaks, russian olives, scotch pines, pinons, cottonwoods and 48 rosebushes.  my tables, culinary, decorative and therapeutic, include varietals in lavenders, manzanitas, japanese honeysuckles, soapworts, fennels, sorrels, alliums, basils, yerba de la negritas, thistles, flaxes, melons, tomatoes, gentians, borages, salvias, morning glories, mallows, edible flowers, native grains, scarlet pimpernel, peppers, zucchinis and all manner of vegetables, common and rare. 

in the beginning, for herbs, i bought the most from a grower in canada.  i attest to the quality of their products.

www.richters.com

here are some others i grew:


lion's tail for hypertension, headaches and digestive imbalances
lovage is early spring bloomer and has celery flavour
silver queen wormwood stimulates appetite
witch hazel is anti-imflammatory
mongolian yarrow reduces stomach acidity 


the sagest suggestions i make towards cultivating your own garden of eden are these: become a sponge at the feet of the elders in your area, soaking up experiential wisdom.  volunteer in a community garden.  make friends with your neighbors, asking for cuttings.  visit your local library or independent bookstore for a good reference primer.  notice, log or take photos of your micro climate (sunlight movement, compass directions).  dream and draw.

windowsills, patio containers or planter box gardens can deliver a hearty yield of color, fragrance and tastiness just as much as an acre.  apartment farming is easy.  do a little prep work and reap the bounty. 

animal planet

6 Ways You Can Help Animals In Japan

03/16/2011

Watching the tragedy unfold in Japan this week has been absolutely devastating and many of us may feel helpless as we sit in the comfort of our homes as tsunami victims are dealing with unimaginable challenges. While the focus in Japan is on helping people affected by the divesting earthquake and Tsunami, many people are also concerned about animals affected by the disaster. Here are six ways you can help, courtesy of The Pet Dish.
1) Donate to Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. A coalition of three groups - HEART-Tokushima, Animal Garden Niigata and Japan Cat Network, their intention is to keep animal rescue on the agenda, provide shelter space and coordinate some earthquake/tsunami animal rescues.
2) Animal Refuge Kansai is also accepting donations. The organization says they have facilities in place and a team of experienced staff able to deal with traumatized animals.
3) The Search Dog Foundation has deployed teams to Japan to help search for victims.
4) Donate to Humane Society International. They have deployed disaster response staff to the region and reached out to Japanese partner organizations involved with animal care and rescue to identify where and how best to provide emergency support and veterinary attention.
5) World Vets are preparing the deployment of a first-responder team to carry out an "on the ground" assessment and provide initial aid. 
6) Join the Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support Facebook page to support animal rescue efforts. 

私達間、分離無し

march 11th.     311: aka, citizen contact number.  

upon leaving in the morning, i glanced up as i always do, to espy a chem trail "X" stretched sky wide.  this occurred at every errand stop i made.  different "x" at every turn.  a continual reminder that no matter how you looked at it, that this day, this moment, made a mark. 

 
friday, march 11.  a day that beckoned I merge my breath with local lake, where an increasing number of cormorants, ranged themselves in a covered-wagon circle, perhaps to fend off the four seagulls gliding in to drop and stand.  


sharing a fishing pier with courting mallards, i was roused from sitting meditation by a peckish resident coot, needing to examine what might be underfoot.  he, on eternal snack time quest.


i set off walking.  at a curve on the path, i hear call of dear friend. 

while a never before witnessed white hawk, spiraled close above,  an elfin-eyed gamine of about three years, stopped to chat and share smile.   

in shamrock green hoodie with the words, "super hero" stamped on it, she confided her name was, "danica."  together we watched a white dove cross underneath hawk orbit. soon she skipped off, only to return, presenting me with fist gripped stems of yellow clover. 

this happened at 3:11pm.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

danica means morning star.
clover is the flower of Miyagi Prefecture

hearty cup liquid love

i awake to rain. 

i awake to rain with hummingbird outside my window. 
she's busy busy busy, focused on nest building at oak branch edge.  
above her a laggard crow caws, "wait up," to early rising buddies.

i love to walk in rain. 

returning from school, the house wore a favorite and well loved fragrance.  savory, bay, nutmeg, oregano and garlic mingled in the hissing song of pressure cooker.  inside it garden veggies, chicken broth and conchigliette were slowly reaching desired softness.  the oven warm, was waiting to welcome poppy seed muffins destined to drip fresh butter.

i love rainy days.

billet deux

from my father's side, one stream of ancestral lineage.

how delicious must have been the dreams, of those who a century or two later, slept in rooms infused with energetic imprints of  giacomo, giustiniana or veronica franco.

dream sharer

have we met before?  
you are very familiar.  
oh yes, i remember.
twas in a library.
learners in the halls of infinity, speed reading.
glancing over my shoulder,
i heard your fingers memorize old photographs.  
while comfortably sunk into chintz clad wingback,
nose burrowed in leather bound tome.  
i stood on tiptoe, reaching across ancient oak shelves.

 

tick tock

"harumph. thought i said no parties."

dot dot dot dot...dot dot

the darlings had nana. 

i had desiree.

many an hour spent belly flat

on damp warm lawn.

i matching bite for bite,

sharing luncheon communion.

our menu?

me, pbj squares  

she, rose petals

and  for both,

honeysuckle nectar as chaser.

trilling canaries

in grandparent's aviary

were background soundtrack.

i confided and listened,

while we discussed life.

inner morse code 

of her wisdom,

i heard today

on faint frequency 

yet growing louder.

radiance

two from a series of drawings:  spring 2010

defragmenting

one word one note

duettino la luna

tumbler click

unshackled
unbound
tomb expels
womb releases

69 days
incubated.
33 newborn
this morn

invitation

Vito's Ruby Tuesday

going going

Shamans in Chanel *

bi-annual peacock gathering 
of blue heron nations.

chiffon feathers clickety clackety stepping.

stillettoed catwalkers vision questing.

bodice branding,

khaki chanting,

aho miyake. 
pow-wow of printemps






* copyrighted

remembrance.

on this date 2005, i met a widow of a 9/11 firefighter.  

he was outside on the street preparing
to enter the second tower with his unit, 
when it collapsed.  

he left three children.

in sacred space, we two, strangers til then,
united as women have since the beginning.

i am privileged to have served,
guided by Spirit to hold circle for tears, 
laughter and  forgiveness to merge.

my client brought the lesson of grace, strength and compassion,
in the form of herself through both singular and collective story.


today, i honor courage inside each human heart.
  
once more, an offering of love 
for the gift of that morning, wherever she is. 
i ask that it ripple outward as gentle breeze, cleansing. 

Triptych

monday, august 29, 1966
candlestick park

 here

the cyrkle bounces
a red rubber ball.
bobby hebb's sunny
smiling, gives her all.


i am sitting at my first concert.
right field seats.
a birthday present from
my sister, who is on my left.
energetically electric,
there's volcanic excitement
primed to erupt.

hardly daring to breathe,
i instruct self
to sear each moment into Soul,
for this may never come again.

little did i suspect
how correct,
i'd be.

and then,

the announcer
drowned by
a tsunami of sound,
wildly heralds

four brunette british boys,
magically appearing from dugout,
bound for pitcher's mound.

i enter tessellated space:
time accelerating
while ceasing to exist.

i do not banshee scream
hyperventilate,
nor channel maenad.

silent,
i weep from immense
overflowing
heart presence.

i am stretched to encompass
the joy of all creation.

i am her yet again,
here,
there,
everywhere,
every way.

i do not long for yesterday.
when it comes suddenly,
i celebrate it,
imbibe it
relish it,
thanking it
to seed it,
so both power
and summer of love
bloom as new tunes,
this day.



* * * * * * * *



there

november 2009

i am a house guest.
after one dinner, the host vibrates.
eager is he to share concert cd,
prize in his memorabilia collection.
an event he took part in.
startled were my ears,
once again hearing
44 musical minutes, 11 songs.
all i need now is a spritz of
yardley of london
and my jean shrimpton bangs.




* * * * * * * *

august 2009
everywhere

hitting the road as vagabond,
on way to where Spirit wants me next,
i entrust one of my prized possessions
to childhood friends for safekeeping.
now hanging out with janis,
procul harem and grateful dead
from winterland,
is famed beatles poster
san francisco

 
















http://www.beatlesbible.com/1966/08/29/candlestick-park-san-francisco-final-concert/

telerotica

Humid August, mid 1980's.

Full moon companions sleep.

In bed not my own,

caretaker for neighbor,

Curtained 'neath sheers 
while naked on silk,

i lay aside window

open to sky.

Telephone disturbs slumber

and I stumble,

to silence its jangling.

A moonshine soaked, cheroot smoked

vocal growl penetrates eardrum.

Curious is he, this stranger,

as to my identity,

for it is his sister's

speaking he’s seeking.

Once again

pillow propped,

blue shadows

mimic old film projector

flickering through room.

Lunar hour's past midnight,

entering realm of perception

as heightened skin vibrations.

Aroused, another dimension's

Dreamtime made physical.

This masculine timbre

lures me gently,

probing with playful questions.

I drawl responses

as he caresses with story.

A writer, he exposes me,

to Rex, tale of The Reflex Alligator.

I counter pointedly

via banter, thrust and parry.

Edging in closer,

pausing to withdraw,

center is infiltrated.

Throaty chuckles

braille curved surfaces.

Powering this night is

ancient enchantress.

What remains unnamed

is mutual, amid

pulsing liquid discourse.

Masked dancers.

Wordplay as foreplay.

From mouth to ear,

pleasure is mined.

~March 24, 2004

Glanced Upon A Spiral Bend

love surrounds him.
inspiration circles him.
passion eddies about him.
adoration, speculation
and angry envy rings him.
people pressing for small measure
of moth to light attention, orbit him.
life itself, radiates from him.
he, a force of nature,
this Pan-man parhelion,
manifesting it all this way,
natural and preter.

defender lad
of Sherwood's men.
maestro of million miles,
no advantage refused,
battleground scoped,
belly not sighed into.
yea, little is there not tasted,
tried, tale told or
multiverse doorway
stepped into.
Destiny writ cosmos
upon this mortal man,
divine hidden within and among.
pipes call to his soul,
this restless vine of fair Albion,
gentle with silent moon's morning dew.
hearkening sideways,
rose arbors appear,
shown by ogham's
counterclockwise seer.




september 2009

lazarus heart

i lost a boy.
i lost the boy,
and i was lost,
believing
i was forgot.

then he came back.
came back
to lose himself within me,
to soothe himself,
within me.
again,
he left
and i was lost.

still,
he came back,
yet forgot he came back,
and we were lost
to each other.

then this boy,
this boy i thought
l o s t,
lost his life
only to be brought back.

many were the dreams
in which i heard him call me,
many were the dreams.
yet,
believing i was forgot,
i did not answer,
until
the day,
i came back
for myself.

i came back,
to remember,
that what i'd believed lost,
was found,
across time,
across space
and even
from cross death.

memory is miracle,
and we are never lost.


july 26, 2004

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **


adieu, avoir, arrivederci:
(a birthday present)


life and light calls.
i must needs take this
heart shadow,
bathing its erasure
in midday sun.

seven years
in the boneyard,
seasons passing.
odin's winds swirling,
muffled inviting laughter,
while miss havisham's dust
clad me in gray veil.

a husband came and was left,
discarded for fey illusions,
a triangular dance eons old.
dark night's thick fog
whispered lies,
until this morn,
this mourn,
this morn's
declarative no more.
for,
living desires me.

melody stirs soul,
beckoning me,
backstep cross
threshhold
of hades' queen


hear now beside me,
embraced harmony.
cemetery gate clangs
as recess bell releases,
oscillating new song,
new courage,
new world.

bearing witness

the bees are leaving
my apian friends are going
the way of the anasazi.
the bees are leaving.

i pray they found a new earth
of blossom inviting
and colony thriving.

my mother is bleeding,
knife wound in her belly.
my mother is bleeding.

i pray an opening in the
fabric of time
where she may replicate
without malicious children.

i pray she awakens,
as if from bad dream,
to find we were never here.

june's i do

left right
in out
bread butter
mouth ear
pen ink
knife fork
lock key
nut bolt
nail polish
cup saucer
plug socket
salt pepper
match flame
needle thread
pencil sharpener
bottle corkscrew
magnet compass
heaven hell
sunrise moonglow
violin bow
bell chime
jasmine scent
flower bee
you me
all one

When April Showers Come Along

sliver of time

thrums shiver of joy.

love song heard,
heart note attuned
striking chord's
flash of illumination.

Divine bridges
river's banks.

sans reason,
contagious rhyme
measured a pulse.

was it yours or mine?

Do Ghosts Leave Footprints

Ghost men have danced throughout my life.
Phantom men waltzing on earthen floor.
I knew them not, though they were there.
I have photos.
Who were these transient, transparent ones?
These creatures of shadow weight whose names I knew.
Rarely fully material,
their interest in me minimal.
Grandfather. Father. Uncles. Lovers.
I knew them not, though they were there.
Envisioned here are my ghosts remembered.
Were unrealized dreams, cached deeply inner space?
What lost boys did you grieve?
Ghost men, where did you hide while alive?
Twilight men, drifting towards slumber,
your sentry duties fulfilled,
thus spanning a Great Wheel's turning.
Ghost men, my own men.
Did you register my curiosity
or only see me as one?
Ghost men, gone long ago gone.
Spectral men dimming at edges.
Ghost men, first men, you were my introduction.
What did you neglect to share?
My recall's fading.
Wait. Wait. Don't go.
Did you sense? Did you know?
Enchanted and beloved Ghost men,
in sleep and sepia,
do I see you still,
fleshed again.

November 2003

neighbors

weft and weave

last week,
ebony feline
strolled by 
through my early a.m.
botanical meandering.
owner of crossing paths was she.

day ago,
woodpecker suggested
I engage unmet neighbor,
who could not see her drumming.
"point me out up here," i hear.
there, atop telephone pole,
tapping tapping tapping
creating smiles among we three.

this morn, on walk,
was brought to bend
by hatchling swallowtail,
shivering
in miserable drizzle.
hitched a ride
it did,
on my finger.
resting now
on purple petunia,
til cleared for lift off.

with six you get hexagon

they are at moment,
fizzing bubbles,
champagne style.
these carl sagan,
'billions and billions'
heart sparklings,
circling round.
i sip their ebb flow.
which one shall be
the wave i catch to surf,
i leave to La Luna's
metallic illumination.

answer for a query

elementals

breezing, air whispers.
a dancing caress of invisible invites.
yes, strand slides upon cheek from tease.
'what?' it asks.
'you define yourself as chignon?'
it smiles at the helmet headed,
lacquered in defense against.

gull song lulls,
i step among broken open,
ground by shifting edges
me and blake share knowing.
glass birthed from heat,
a lightening strike quenched
in liquid salt.
rhythm in pulse,
in repetition
in endurance,
in foam dissolving
into
faceted light.



i took to the open road last august. like salome shedding veils,
i departed desert sands ruthless fire, returning to sirens' call
of craggy coastlines, hydrated beach and redwood elders.

spirals, blues and watercolors are one medium singing
themselves through me currently.

the words are there, standing just off stage awaiting their cue.
fingers are again itching for faces and clay.

as for winged victory, i know her well.
gold miner. gold worker.
i found, i fashioned."

Yule Believe

For you skeptics and bah-humbuggers out there, I tell you, the legend is real. As real as your hand held in front of your face.

We, my mother, sister and me, had returned from Grandma and Grandpa's house where we always spent Christmas Eve.

'52 Pontiac in the driveway, presents in hand, Christmas midnight was cloudless, hushed and celery snap crisp. We were very merry and the only creatures stirring for at least two blocks, when suddenly:

Tinkling jingles penetrate the night air. Clearly.

“Shhhhh! Can you hear that?” I ask, attentive to listening.

All three of us come to an absolute silent stop, glancing at each other. Checking up and down the streets to see if we can locate the origin of this fabled and seasonal sound, nothing and no one is around.

“Look! Up there, in the sky,” I cry. Mom, my sister, and I, mouths muted oh's, are watching blinking lights. The bells are above us.

“That's a plane,” my sister insists.

“No, it's not. There's a plane flying, that dot.” I point to a measured blink of red and green. “See there, how high up it is.”

What we are watching is not, I repeat, NOT an airplane. The lights and bells overhead are much closer to us and twinkling. The arc and speed of flight is also much different one from the other.

“Mom! Patti! It's Santa Claus! Oh my,” I pause, wonder struck.

We, all three, are rooted to the spot, doing naught, except staring. Normal time suspended, everything is occurring in slow motion. I knew we had crossed a threshold into the fairy tale, magical world which exists alongside the one that the unimaginative are convinced does not.

The gift of certainty is mine.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

nine of wands

A lion was captured and placed into captivity in a concentration camp. He was surprised to find other lions who had been there for years, some had even been born into captivity in the camp. He caught on to the social structure of the lions in the camp very quickly. They had banded together into various groups.

One group was very social and spent their time socializing. Another was into show business and performing and kept themselves busy entertaining others. A third group was cultural in its nature and their purpose was to preserve traditions, customs and the history of the times when lions roamed free. Other groups were religious, when they gathered they sang uplifting songs about a time in the future when there would be no fences in the jungle. Some of these groups attracted people who were creative and artistic. Other groups attracted revolutionaries and they gathered to plot against their captors or against other groups with revolutionary aims. Occasionally a war would break out and one group would wipe out another or the guards would be killed and replaced by a new set of guards.

The newcomer also observed one lion, often near the fence, who always seemed to be in deep contemplation. He was a loner who kept to himself, joined no group and avoided associating with the others as much as possible. He commanded the admiration and the hostility of everyone, for his presence created fear and self-doubt among the others.

He told the newcomer "Join no group. These poor fools are busy with everything except what is essential." "And what do you think is most essential?" asked the newcomer. "Studying the nature of the fence."

~from tarot canada

angel of forgiveness

Gaian Divine

tactile:

ocean breeze cleansing soul
wet clay, oozing through fingers
sandy toes wiggling in wave foam
effleurage petrissage
giving facial massage
cashmere yarn
silk velvet

oral:
pink lady apples
garden picked peaches
fresh made lemonade
parantha bread
personal culinary experiments
spring water cupped to drink
licking an ice cream cone
cognac

occular:
lighted night sky
river movement
butterfly dragonfly tag
wind mussing globe willow's tresses
lover's grin
Rod McKuen's poem,
"When I Was Nine"

aural:
hawk song  
wind chimes
beaver's burping
children's giggles
friend's merriment
migrating cranes
happy dog yips
thunder
creaky redwoods sway
church bells

olfactoring:
heirloom rosebushes
lavender fields
bearded irises
russian olive blossoms
towel dried babies
rain soaked desert
herbal soup simmering
old grove forests
ocean tang



life is good. it's good to be us.
spirit of divine ever present

Parchment Charmed

Antiquarian's exclamation,
unexpected uncovering.
Cradled in palms
gently brailling worn cover,
bindings loosened by time.
Archeologist's delicacy
softly brushes breath
across particles,
releasing dust of ages.
Cobwebs enchanting,
veiled till now.
Tender whisper turns leaves,
tracing fortune's path.
Lips resound ancient muse.
Poetic duet spans eon,
a ladling of troved gems.

beyond form

Every evening, the dragonfly lands on the Bull's horns to tell tales of her day's roaming. She speaks of wind currents and whispers of coolness riding same, where water lifts its cheek for caress. She mirthfully clicks imitations of frog song meant to lure her as lunch to lily pad. Weaving with floral color, she laces the delicate texture of subtly perfumed lotus.

Whether hovering, skipping with breezes or playing dip-your-toe tag with others, certain was the pleasure awaiting her as dusk begins slow cadence to moon hum. It's in his listening, at day's respite, she dares share. His presence delights her. She knows her joy as a hug.

Slight modulation in breath, with fly swishing tail, the Bull listens for specific airwave band. She is a sound all her own. He smiles through his chawing. Startled was he, the first time she'd lit. These were unfamiliar fractalled eyes gazing into his. They displayed rainbow facets unseen before. Iridescent in pupil and translucent wing, she paused to brush dust from them. More astonishing than her arrival, were her questions. Did she not realize, a shake of head was death knell force for insubstantial such as she.

Fazed not, she rises airborne at slightest movement on his part. First to his left, fast feint sideways, zip around, land again. Her acrobatic ability was dizzying, although now he knows it as her dance. Her being lifts him. He feels his heart grow lighter.

delicate essence

i am you.
you are surrounding me.
i dreamed i entered you
using tongue to taste
cranium and brain stem.
from within you,
i am you.
consciousness seeps into
sinew, pulse and tissue.
i lengthen my knowing
on the slide in from
rectory to oratory.
you are immersing me.
seeing through your eyes,
i spill seed of joy.
i am your deep belly
laughing.


2004

Hexigram

this versus that
this not that
this leads to that
this or that
this and that
this is that

R.S.V.P.

Sunday. 5:55am.
After sunrise prayers offered, Mabel is walking, as she does daily.
Mourning doves hear her chuckling. She stops, raises head and speaks heavenward. "I'm so ready. I'm thinking, God, that if the carnival came today, I'd hitch me a ride."

Sunday. 3:33pm.
Mabel pulls into her weekly Staples parking lot. Reaching to turn off radio, when circus music issues from the speakers. At same instant, she glances up to the sight of a ferris wheel, carousel and midway tents across the street. Mabel erupts in laughter.

Next Month. High Noon
I'll receive a postcard. Photo side is a road sign. Message on back reads, "Follow it."

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

Welcome to Always
 

Realm of this Samurai Dragonfly

“Now” is so last year. The new thinking and way of being is circular and organic. I invite you to join me.

In agriculture, it is well known that to reap a bountiful yield and maintain the health of the field, one rotates crops. Lessons from the Masters must also be changed around, lest they become weakened from repetitive plantings. We seek to renew them by allowing them to lay fallow, while we sow a companion seed.

By linear time, we are two thousand years since hearing the voices of the Infinite Teachers and some even longer. We read them in the present, seeking to make their relevance to the external world we are. Close your eyes for a moment and visualize their historical contexts. See them in their settings. Can you picture them, here and now? To what were they responding? 

We are them, come round again, in order to spiral an eternal dance.

They, Jesus, the Buddha, Lao-tzu, Zoroaster, Isaiah, Plato, Mohammad, Confucius and Mahavira, all brought and taught for some whose view of the world was that it was flat. Flat implies linear or straight. They came to seed a circle. Round is the new “Here.”

Rotation time, continuance of the coracle.

“Always” is center point from which all potentials and actualities converge, diverge and weave their intersect. It is the thread of them all. In 1989, in Taos, through a series of unfolding sequences, I experienced awareness of Past, Present and Future as a simultaneous and singular event that can be consciously traversed. It was a non-verbal communication, an immediate “gnosis.”

I felt a presence alongside me, within my heart, gazing out of my eyes, vast beyond my small self comprehension, immediately, joyfully recognized and ever present. There was no place, “we” were not. In blinding flash, a door opened and I knew myself as part of the whole and the whole as me. Everything.

I “heard” although a more accurate rendering would be, “absorbed” in completeness, that each one's purpose through all these “points,” was to know in perfection, an individual spark of Unconditional Love. I was engulfed, buoyed, embraced, pulsating in “Oneness.” I was “seeing” all the other seminar participants around me as continually connecting, shifting (“morphing”) in ever rotating spirals
.

As I gazed into other eyes, during closing ceremonies, in only one pair did I see reflecting back a corresponding recognition. I asked the Presence if I was to share this and received a reply that said, not at this time.

And so, I went silent, in line with what the teacher counseled.

I have carried this within me from then, forward, speaking of it on rare occasions. 

I have been a monkey waiting, at times impatiently, for the 1ooth to step into “Always.” This will be the quantum instance, we have been amassing and holding frequency for. This time around,  we, along with Gaia, will do this together. "I have it on the best authority."

In the meantime, I have worked at “neutralizing” specific sections of mobius strips or karmic streams, if you will.  This has been part of my task.

 The Divine Presence I encountered, revealed that it mattered not what name was given to the condensed sparks of Soul that were in agreement to serve, both in body and pure consciousness. 

The name is but a resonant note, a symbol that holds space for renewal of connection.

How I found myself at the Taos event is a story on its own, yet has it's correlation to what I've shared.

I heeded an inner voice that said, Be here now,” or more accurately, “Be there Now.” So, there went I, without any preconceived expectations, without knowing what the entire 5 days would encompass, as had been suggested. It was the first time I'd ever attended anything like it. It's also been the only one. When the Divine steps in and says, “Glad you came, I have something I've been waiting to show you,”  i intuited that further learning would be in the province of the everyday.

Also, once anchored, non-returnable.

And so, I end as I began this telling.

Welcome to Always, True Sanctuary of the Heart.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Prophecy, Forsooth

Out of Time.

Out of?
As in lemme
run to the store
and pick up a quart?

Out of?
As in stepped
outside to grab a pack
and didn't come back?

Out of?
As in
time out,
time delay,
gone fishing,
taken a break?

Out of?
As in
doled out,
passed out,
drawn out,
logged out?

Out of Time?
Well,
there's no time
like the present.
And, if not?
Well then,
it should be
taken out
and shot.

* * * * * * * *

chickens scratch in dirt,
like quilled pen writers of old,
seeking choicest phrase.

St. Peter's Prudery

Even though I'd given Catholicism up for Lent when 13, I still contained sediments of convent distilled guilt. Knowing one could be refused entry if not demurely attired, I studied my limited wardrobe. One is entering sovereign, not to mention holy grounds. No Daisy Dukes, micro-minis or naked flesh shoulders. This former parochial girl decides to test limits.

I elect to wear the only dress I'd packed, black with low scoop neck, albeit made more acceptable (or so, I thought) by pairing it with a higher cut camisole.

"Scusi, scusi" they would have said if they talked. By they, I mean the striped, puffy pantalooned ones. Instead, a strange man's hand on my chest bars way into the Shrine of the
Apostolic Order.

Denied. Thrice.  How ironic.

So off go I, to purchase a suitable cover for my exposed self, except, nothing was bared other than cardinal red lace. Oh heavens, do you think it the color or the fabric? We'll never know if my black one would have garnered the same response.

Wending my way through columns, hallways and hungry prayer boxes, I arrive at small gift store. A nun of hobbit size assists me, though neither speaks the other's language. I coffer up, returning with the only scarf large enough to veil head and decolletage. It is muted blues, homespun, coarse cotton, from papal homeland.

Chastened by habit, I am waved through with benediction. I cross threshold into Basilica. I smile.

"In nomino Madre..."

"Hungry? Thirsty? Sit.
Oh do tell. Fill me up, please,"
 Blank paper invites.

and now,

a soup pot of
syntax, synonmyn and syllable
are simmering on my stove,
so....

please enjoy the delicious gift of this:


How To Eat A Poem

Don't be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice
that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.

You do not need a knife or fork or spoon
or plate or napkin or tablecloth.

For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.

~Eve Merriam

 In Any Language


thank you.

2 words,
too small,

yet widened to stretch,
they encompass it all.

maiden flight

(first legs)

from within
will resurface the old stories.
the ones imagined just for me.
Girl Penny and Boy Penny,
loafer passengers.

Whose adventures were they for?
Grandma, did you wish to see the world?
Like the secret ingredient
in Thanksgiving gravy,
did you stir into me your longings?
Did you envision me solo explorer?

I open to receive who we were, and
who it's imaginable still to be.

Here I am,
miles away and beyond,
tasting boundaries
where new edges are grafted.
And some, original
wildest imaginings.

Here I am,
having the times of my lives.
Sitting upon ancient stones,
the ones quarried and carried.
True blue Aegean, my eyes behold,
hearing orators and philosophers
on the wind.

Here I was,
in the energetic presence
of Aristotle and Aristophanes.
Here, where visionary Pericles
brought glories to his
pledged Goddess,
loving her form in Aspasia.

Here stand I,
within the mathematic
language of God,
head bowed in gratitude
for sacred geometry.
Here imprinted,
photographed by stangers.
Did we recognize
each the other
from when we'd trod
these corridors before?

Here, amid cries and cheers,
were Caesars, Christians and charioteers.
The glory that was, still is,
alive in cobblestones.
Here too, my soul borne via Appian way.
Church chimes measuring time.

Here I slumber, to arise
humming morning arias,
appreciating work-bound descendants of
Cicero, Caraveggio and Claudius.
I partake a daily ritual,
counter sipping biscotti soaked expresso.

Here lay I
on back in awe,
a challenge to boys
in red dresses.
Here I, Isis
the veiled and ineffable one
they thought suppressed,
shedding my coin
in fountain and papal box.
I assure our way into their heaven.

Called am I,
to stand again on beloved shores.
Rapallo welcomed,
pensione ensconced,
I am brought from sleep
to ripe bounty unloaded
outside my balcony window.
Romeo to Juliet meeting at dawn.
Portofino piloted,
Here rest I, child delighted
by sweet gelato dripping.
Grazi Ristorante Puny.

Railed cross frosted crags,
I arrive, Elysee side.
Here I and they,
coquettes sipping champagne,
Chanel clad and enchantee.
Plaintive song emerges,
La Sparrow rehearses.
We, the sigh floating Seine-ward,
awaiting lover's return.

Too mute
to draw in elegant word,
I, eye sight of Paris alighting.
Faerie realm sparks appearing
first sky, then mirroring Earth.
Here I, daughter of Sacre Coeur
from the doorway gazing.