Archive for the ‘Spiritual’ Category
Because
Because of what happened
this garden is my refuge,
this silence amongst purple coleus
trailing inquisitive vinca vines.
I hear not one opinion
uttered from the plants,
just their perky faces toward morning light,
their spines straight with innocence
and disregard for my life,
or possibly standing tall
to demonstrate graceful endurance.
Only their lives matter—being God’s
earthly ambassadors, holding
no one accountable for silliness.
Even the overgrown fern
showers delight from its crowded
nest of green fronds,
drooping, bowing to reality.
Time, I say.
Time they tell me is needed
for strides of growth. Time and rain—
rain from dark clouds pouring
into patient soil, rearing
the pointed caladium leaves of fiery red
and starlight of white impatiens’ flowers.

My Patio in August

Fabyan Japanese Gardens
To Be Changed
seek quiet
in a Japanese Garden
walk without sound
passing black pines
slender lavender blooms
on giant ribbed hostas
the dry stone creek bed
will rush with rain
pause at the pond
cross the moon bridge
dipping to the stone lantern’s
unmovable thick walls
arched openings for light
seeping through rice paper
at night
to change you

Moon Bridge and Lantern
Still Living
I will be alive
when I am dead,
did you know that?
I will not be still
like a hard stone,
but breathing
as roses do,
as robins do,
as the heart
of mountains
which change
and move,
as the mycelium
of mushrooms
under the soil,
unseen, ignored,
sprouting up
at a moment’s notice.
Dark Moaning
And now December
After changing the clock
This deep gray sky
This dark moaning day
This cold wind and threat
From which will come
the light
From which will come
the music
From which will come
the hope
Taking Merton’s Path
This moving away
from the world,
this moving inside
somewhere near
the center, to hold onto
God
is one way,
but avoidance,
then one day
in the clatter
of the world
God enters in,
tells me She is in
my heart — the quiet
which has been
growing there is God,
the One who takes
me by the hand
into the tumult,
to be there without
noise, without distress,
with new compassion.