Reasons to Be

In this skin
it is becoming clear
that I have many
reasons to be
exactly the woman
I have become.

It is not easy to hide
in the forest when I have become
one of the only remaining trees.

Slowly you have cut others
to the ground
and let them cure,
drying up all sap
until the bark
is loose and brittle,
cut into perfect lengths
and burned
all season long.

But I stand firmly rooted
even while all my sisters
and mothers
and sometimes daughters
leave me to the open sky and sun
for long days of heat
and the endless stars
and darkness of the night.

I stand,
arms stretched
in prayer,
and accept the embrace
of this posture alone
as the blessings
for reason enough
to be present
and ready to blossom in spring
proved shade on the long days
and release my grasp each fall
to become the peaceful observer,
the perch for all things
that fly away,
my mind soaring
and offering never
to return.

Prayer III

The night awakens
like a sleepy bird
on her roost,
feathers flattened
and needing a shake
after so much stillness.

The sun is glowing
at the seams of the door
where dawn can’t help
but shine through
and announce
another day
for joy to leap
into the room
on the breath
of the believers.

Look no further
than the tips of cool fingers
or the crown of the dream tussled head
and freedom can be found
in the expectation of nothing
and in the kindness of the stranger within.

Prayer II

Gather the beauty
of the body
around the heart fire
and light enough
to fill the day
with courage
to love deeply,
to heal the wounded,
and to see with every cell
in one human
the infinity
of our unconditional
bonds
that must be honored
with kindness.

Here we will find peace.

Here we will find our Nirvana.

Prayer I

Circle the heart
with the warmth of love
and find yourself open
to the possibility of healing.

Dream of the sacred places
inside yourself and soon
you will be surrounded
in the light of truth and peace.

Do not be influenced
by a world of fear
and rules that are not in tune
with the universe
and her powerful ways.

Trust yourself
and all that is whole within you
and joy will find a place
in the center of your life
that can’t help but focus
all things.

January Morning

Snow rests silent
in these trees
after making nothing
of the night.

A single path
of footprints
make their way home
to where the hearth
is kept burning,
abundant coals
burst into flame
at the first breath of air
or with a bit of new kindling.

And out in the woods
the chickadee and nuthatch chatter
waiting for the breezes
that will eventually come
to upset the quiet snow
and drop everything
to the floor of the forest--
where the fox
made his nest
after dark.

Morning Meditation

The twilight of the day
sifts through the night
like sugar powdered
for sweetness.

The mind lifts
a finger, wets it on the tongue
of awareness, and dips the senses
into the fine confection
to return to the mouth
a sample
and the comfort
of a new day.

Awake
and searching the edges
of the room for familiar forms,
the only promise of peace
is to rise at the call,
sit upright
and ask thought
to quiet into the breath
and the companionship
of silence
to greet the rush of my humanity
with controlled consciousness
and the release of everything dark.

Caged Bird

Exhaust the ways
escape is possible
and the panic
of no way out
will make the prisoner
weep, break down
call for his mother
who was also captive
before she died alone
and begging for a glimpse
of the sky.

Turn the bars
into the stems
of daisies.

Turn the guard
into friend.

Turn the heart
into unending singer
like the bird
who loves
her cage.