Saturday, June 14, 2014

Not everything


Not Everything

Not everything has to mean something, my breakfast doesn't count as meaningful -
I was tired of eggs and so ate oats and fruit 
there is nothing meaningful there unless you wish to severely stretch the idea of what
meaningful consists of which I do not.

There was nothing meaningful in getting up at 7 AM to leave for work unless you
consider that I needed to shower and to deposit my meaningless $34 in the bank
before work.

There is nothing meaningful about the length of my hair, my worn and tired shoes,
my hand me down clothes.  They may tell you something about me but they are
not meaningful.

There is nothing meaningful about coasting on a planet circling the sun, experiencing
spring summer fall and winter.  We are just here.  That's all there is to it.

There is nothing meaningful about travelling 100's of miles out of your way to see your
best friend.  Only the meaning or fantasy hidden in your heart.

There is nothing meaningful about my back yard, its overgrown jungle appearance, its
garden which is not growing anything, its struggle with the noxious clinging honeysuckle
climbing trees, cascading over fences, streaming itself across the ground chocking
every living thing.  Its just its nature and has no meaning otherwise.

There was nothing meaningful in the slow but sure emptying of my checking account.
The only meaning is that I put drug dealers ahead of myself, place fear where courage
should be and the cover the ass of my son who should cover his own ass.

There is nothing meaningful about living in St Louis unless you count meeting Mark and Tina 
and Chris beloved of myself and the many others who have planted themselves here.

There is nothing meaningful about a marriage failed, a lover lost or a friendship
dissolved. There is nothing meaningful there except as it may inform myself.

There is nothing meaningful in the rain, the 14" of snow, the mud in the fields or the
geodes in bombshell creek which inform us of past world formations.

There is nothing meaningful in the house where I live, the furniture mostly hand me downs
or thrift store purchased, the floors dusty , the trash awaiting takeout next week, next
week for sure.

There is only meaning, as I understand it, in my awareness of myself, my breathing out,
breathing in, my feet planted on the floor, my butt in the chair.  There is only meaning in 
my relationship to you, our spiritual lives reaching out and briefly, softly, touching one
another,

This is it.

It's a Mystery


It's a Mystery


It's nothing to be told
nothing in that moth eaten winter coat of yours
that can stand the test of time
Nothing can be understood about where it came from
about the person who wore it before ;you
why they kept it for so long
or didn't keep it from the moths

It's a mystery
as is everything before our eyes
the sunrise, moonrise
how the wind rises through the wheat and rolls across the plains
carrying the dust of our ancestors 
 
It's a mystery
whether the creator wishes us well or flung us
like so many seedlings into the fields of the earth
shouting, "surprise me!  what are you capable of?"

Its a mystery
how we come to walk and talk and hold out our tiny fingers
grasping for hope and help
longing for grace and understanding
smiling compassion on our world

Its a mystery
why I love, why I have friends whom I love
why anyone would love me
how I can love and let go -
how does that  look?  how does that feel?
this mystery of holding, not-holding
coming to be

It's a mystery 
where our deep seated longings slip to or from
and how we find room for the smallest of the animals
and the fish and birds and if the trees can sing in the springs breeze
and the rain fall like dew on every living thing

It's a mystery
how you came to be, how I came to be
how we met, that we are friends
that nothing needs hidden
everything and everyone is blessed and more blessed
now and forever.  Amen
It's a mystery.

Going to Nebraska

Going to Nebraska


wind winding wind down
green rocky plains singing wildflower dreams
primroses, cactus blooms drawing blood
for the watching streams
bloated with early spring snowmelt

why don't you come outside?
why don't you come outside?

wind spooks around the sandy hill lakes
fish and birds, egrets, eagles, the red-winged
and cowbirds who, who can you see today

why don't you come outside?
why don't you come outside?

ground blizzards rolling down from the mountain
hedges, hedges hedging in the plains
cold too cold to freeze unless you're standing still
tumbleweeds against the fence
their thistle skeletons dancing

why don't you come outside?
why don't you come outside?

the great mysteries
sandy pinnacles wind carved over eons,
eons before Sioux  before horses
before water rolling down swiftly
water swiftly kissing the sand goodbye
hello goodbye goodbye

why don't you come outside?
why don't you come outside?

toes covered heels plastered dug in
back holding up arms swimming
under the August sun September wind
stars quilt the night sky
the Pliedes  fled and shape our dreams

why don't you come outside?
why don't you come outside today?