leonard 1934 – 2016

it was the late sixties .. in pasadena, california..
my first real boyfriend and i were painting houses..
(didn’t we all do that?)
only the interiors..

our music of the times was the beatles, bob dylan
and of course, leonard.. his album just out ~
songs of leonard cohen..
remember this?
https://goo.gl/images/J6LKvI
we were smitten..

we would have our music with us..always..
and i recall many a time painting the lyrics
of his songs with primer on walls of our clients...

the residents would return home to
a newly painted living room
with lyrics of suzanne..sisters of mercy..
embedded in the hue..
delighted with the energi ~
interior design ~

they would be so enamoured with us and our work..
wanting us to paint every room in the house..
leonard was our job security!

i had a man fall head over heels in love with me
after we painted his bedroom..
he had no idea why..nor did i..
we figured it must have been leonard..

leonard's music, his poetry,
his life and wisdom  ~
a thousand kisses deep

o see the darkness yielding
that tore the light apart
come healing of the reason
come healing of the heart

the swing & the gypsy

between the conscious and the unconscious,
the mind put up a swing:
all earth creatures, even the supernovas,
sway between these two trees,
and it never winds down.

angels, animals, humans, insects by the million,
also the wheeling sun and moon;
ages go by, and it goes on.

everything is swinging:
heaven, earth, water, fire,
and the secret one slowly growing a body.
Kabir saw that for fifteen seconds,
and it made him a servant for life.
                    ~ kabir



distractions
think about gypsies...
like smoke in the evening they cross a border.
they don't believe in it, and they say if god
doesn't care nobody cares.  in the morning
their wagons are gone, carrying their stories
away.  they like the sound of a wheel
and have given up owning a place.  they roll
beyond old newspapers and broken glass and
start a new campfire.  sometimes, going up
a steep hill, they get off and walk forward
and whisper the oldest secret in the world
into the ear of their horses.
~ william stafford


it is incredulous..this day..
in the words of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai lama :

life is so colourful !

V O T E

  
the form of government which prevails 
is the expression of what cultivation
exists in the population which permits it.
                         ~ emerson

V - vexation   antonym  contentment

O - onerous   antonym  temperate

T - tacky antonym  tasteful

E - eeeew!  antonym  egalitarian


let us be poised and wise and our own today ...
without a shadow of a doubt, 
amidst this vertigo of shows and politics,
i settle myself ever firmer in the creed
that we should not postpone and refer and wish, 
but do broad justice where we are....
                              ~ emerson


to the mind there is such a thing as news,
whereas to the inner knowing,
it is all in the middle of its happening....
.....
to the lover and the visionary,
it is life as it's being lived.
             ~rumi

i have cast my vote..
i vote for love..
i vote for kindness..
& big grace !

W

W
feels like a sunday..
this day after the world champions of champions
cubs
having grinched the curse and wrung it out dry


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saint james cathedral
on my knees
the church of baseball

all soul's day
tied up in sixes

gabriel faure's requiem

slipping out of my pew
to our blessed holy mother

$2 bill in hand..
a candle for all the mother's
a candle for the cubs fans
a candle for the cubs..

17 minute rain delay!!
divine intervention

right after holy communion
and the sign of peace...

W

the great sea change.....

history says, don't hope
on this side of the grave.
but then, once in a lifetime
the longed-for tidal wave
of justice can rise up,
and hope and history rhyme.
~~~~~~~
believe that further shore
is reachable from here.
believe in miracles
and cures and healing wells.
                        ~ seamus heaney


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