PAIN
Passed through, not around, is how it ends / A knowing in the depths that you are still here
RAIN
Rinsing the dust from the long summer leaves / A rhythm on the roof through the dark hours
AMONG
A person is partly made by those they choose to be around / Moving through a community of care changes what you think is possible
CLEAR
Clarity arrives when you stop arguing with what simply is / Letting the mind become still is how the murky settles into clear
CAFE
Cup refilled without being asked here / A long Tuesday afternoon filling itself in
CALM
Centering yourself in what is real returns the world to focus / A quiet inside is not the same as a quiet outside, but helps
OCEAN
Once a sailor and now this far from water / Currents moving in the same circles still
LILY
Lifting white above the muddy pond / In the still heat of July it opens
RIVER
Remembering every valley that it drained / In the drought its voice drops to a whisper
BLISS
Between one breath and the next, arriving / Loose inside a moment without edge
DAWN
Day pouring slow over the edge of hills / And before the sun the birdsong fills the dark
RIVER
Remembering every valley that it drained / In the drought its voice drops to a whisper
BREAD
Broken and shared before the plates arrived / Rising all morning while the house did other things
NIGHT
Noise of the city becoming a hum / Into the window the last bit of sky
BREAD
Bought on the way back without planning to / Rising sound from the oven before it’s ready
OCEAN
Old bones of ships lie quiet in the dark / Currents carrying heat from one world to the next
GRACE
Going gently with the self when the self falls short is hard / Responding to imperfection with patience is a practice, not a gift
MIRTH
Making a home in the ridiculous / In the cracks of the serious, it blooms
ADORE
All the light collects around that face / Deep inside the ordinary day you shine
CROSS
Crossing the distance between you and the truth is never free / Reaching the other shore requires leaving the one you stand on