Self portrait
Before you say who I am,
I must first find myself
freed
from the bad advice
and flattering applause,
of sideline voices
and those inside my head.
Cross currents of agendas
and wind-chilling judgements.
To reconcile inward discord
and outward appearances.
This is not for the faint-hearted,
assailed by the unrelenting elements
of wind and tide,
until all that is left
is,
what remains.
Only then can I
be
be- coming
me.
No Exit
No exit
The sign, just beyond the cattle stop, said
“No exit”.
If you take this gravel road
there is no way out,
it’s a dead
end.
If you are to return
it can only be by the same road
but you and I both know
you can never travel the same road twice.
You can
never
travel the same road
twice.
The solace of this
fierce landscape
waits:
hills buried by
years of patience,
ponderously lifting
sheets of snow
and a feather down
of cloud laden sky.
Waiting
for you to
open
your lungs
breathing
a soul full of
clean
crisp
air.
These familial hills
motionlessly wave
their beckoning arms
and whisper
with a resonant voice,
as though
your arriving has been
awaited
as long as the hills can
remember.
The choice is yours,
will you go back,
to exactly what
or
will you cross
the cattle stop threshold
and take the
no exit
road?
The Dreamer
Said the Dreamer to the Darkness
“I am not afraid”.
For by the night I can see a horizon light years and beyond.
Said the Darkness to the Morning Light
“Welcome”.
Knowing a dream is only a dream until it is seen by the light.
Said the Morning Light to the Dreamer
“Wake up,
We have work to do.”
Threshold
Threshold
The keen east wind
funnels
between the weathered barn doors
over the threshold,
where the chaff and the wheat
have been separated
by threshing
and a
cleansing wind.
Today the same wind
funnels
between these ancient doors,
and looking westwards
you cross over the threshold,
where chaff and wheat
are separated
by threshing
and a
cleansing wind.
Bread for the journey
that lies ahead.
Turn to wonder
Turn to wonder
When
the going gets
tough
turn to
wonder;
a crack that
catches
the light
by
a
sideways glance,
invading
the darkness of
questions
that only make
sense
from the
other side.
Wonder,
like the burning bush
frees you
from
all
names
spoken
over
you.
Wonder,
like sky,
once held
every
drop
that became
an ocean,
a well
to quench
the deepest of
thirst.
Wonders
weight
turning gravity
into
gravitas
of heart,
mind
&
soul.
Thinking of you
I was thinking of you
as I walked the line between tides,
listening to the sea and the land clap hands,
watching the the rise and fall of the oceans breath,
and feeling the sand between my toes.
This is my prayer for you.
May you forever clap with two hands
each dissolving one into the other with the sound of joy.
May your breath rise and fall with the rhythm of life.
May you write love letters in the sand
made new every day.
I was thinking of you
when I lifted my eyes to the hills.
Forever the same yet never before seen just like this,
a thin place with no boundary between heaven and earth,
where help comes in the clouds and sun kissed rays.
May you pray,
but only as you know you are being prayed for
by this extravagant gift of grace.
May your eyes be lifted up
and your souls made new
as you walk upon this sacred ground.
I showed God my plans
I showed God my plans
and God smiled ear to ear,
as if being presented
with a child’s first poem.
I showed God my plans
and God wept,
knowing the precious under pressure
is fragile and easily breaks.
I showed God my plans
and God asked some questions,
wanting to save me from myself
yet enjoying my imagination.
I showed God my plans
and God laughed,
knowing that no plan
ever survives its paper.
I showed God my plans
and we danced
them off the page
and into a world in waiting.
And one day,
when I was ready,
I asked for God’s plan.
There were no instructions
but a canvass,
an artist still at work,
a smile of delight,
tears,
laughter,
questions,
an imagination
and a dance.
First light
Before the first light of morning,
when only street lights notice,
a world in waiting
wakes,
as darkness is bent
towards the light,
shadows go indoors
for fear of being seen.
As one set of blinds open
another closes
like sun shades,
this fierce yet healing light
splinters,
reach deep into the souls shadows,
terrifying and comforting
the one who is afraid.
And now between worlds
of light and darkness,
a gracious invitation
comes,
to be the one you were
from the beginning,
when seen in the first light.
Naked
and unashamed.
The invitation
Come with me and stand before the dawn,
let us be still,
without words
and wait,
wrapped in the blanket of darkness
within and without.
Watch with me
as sun splinters break into our worlds,
to see and to be seen,
never giving ourselves in total to the light,
but residing in the threshold of shadows
to protect this precious gift.
The invitation of this day comes
through the mist across the vast sea
ensuring the mystery of our adventure,
the known and the unknown,
consummated through our eyes,
a revelation, a constant re-veiling,
for to see fully would be not to see at all
as it is in the familiar of things that we lose our sight.
From this dawning may we awaken
tired eyes blinded by the ordinary
and welcome the wonder of this new day.
Blessing Time
As the days line up one after another outside the door of tomorrow
with hours sorted and stacked in piles of do’s.
May you know how to count the preciousness of each moment and
not live the next before all of life is extracted from the present.
As interruptions come in every shape of the clouds calling for attention,
may you have the eyes to recognise the angels in disguise,
stop what you are doing and go out for coffee.
This may be your real work for the day!
As you become buried in your own sense of self importance,
may you speak words of praise to those who make you look so good and
words of encouragement to the wearied of hand and heart.
This will save you.
In the mundane minutes filled by the particulars of nothing,
may the child within you not forget how to play.
May your eyes sparkle with curiosity
with your heart always open to wonder and surprise.
At day’s end when you’re spent of hours
and the shift worker of night has come,
surrender to the setting sun.
May the grace of darkness bring light to your body and soul in sleep.
Vella, Switzerland.