next time

next time what I’d do is look at
the earth before saying anything. i’d stop
just before going into a house
and be an emperor for a minute
and listen better to the wind
or to the air being still.

when anyone talked to me, whether
blame or praise or just passing time,
i’d watch the face, how the mouth
has to work, and see any strain, any
sign of what lifted the voice.

and for all, i’d know more — the earth
bracing itself and soaring, the air
finding every leaf and feather over
forest and water, and for every person
the body glowing inside the clothes
like a light.
                    next time
                ~ william stafford

next time now
in wonderment at the vast fantabulous sounds of a starling..
the whirring propellers of hummingbird wings..
the way water rests on the coat of a black dog.. rosie..
the dharma discourse from the alder elders
      leafing wisdom just across the street..
the yellow finches lined up on the branch to be counted..
the miraculous fabric of peony petals..

it is evening now after a full day of rain..
there is clearing further across the valley
and the light is edging closer..
only the still thrum of the hummers,
the drippily drip of the roof drops descending..
the echo of a robin trilling..

the solitary refinement of a day ..
a birth day..
to be born into this!

fallowed be my name

fal low /falō/
left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility 

who can say?
why one simply stops sowing seeds,
nurturing words, ideas, notions ~

a field that has rested 
gives a bountiful crop
             ~ ovid

that might be overstating
what may come of this post,
however!

i have heard it said that
providing oxygen is the
noblest of vocations..
giving flame enough oxygen
so it may burn..

breath..
a deep breath..
slowly, intently
the oxygen of our practice..

udana -
the vayu (wind) of expression..
at the throat
up and out!
thought expressing as speech

think of brahmari breath..
the honey nectar of hum..
the sound of space.. akasha
- the element of the throat chakra -
vishuddha
pure clean communication

poetry and hums aren't things
which you get,
they're things that get you.
all you do is go to where they find you.
                       ~ a.a. milne

once, when i was sad, i said to a kind olde priest -
have you learned any secrets to unburden the heart?
he responded -
hum a favorite melody;
wine will always rise to
the top of oil.
        ~st. catherine of siena

it's mother's day!
my mama's  favorite melody
( mine now, also..)
and a most profound notion:
row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream,
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
life is but a dream.

what kind of dream do we wish
to be living, we would ask one another?
no nightmares!

she was a needle artist and had been
working on a piece..



















it is unfinished..
the never-ending dream..
the never-ending sweet dream ~

in the highest yoga tantra of vajrayana,
the throat chakra is focused on
for the practice of dream yoga...
meditating upon it before sleep
will bring forth lucid dreams..
where we continue our yoga practices ..
awake while dreaming!
seeding the heart-mind
with sweetness, with wisdom..

~ may your pure dreams come true ~

ian bogost has said :
as a writer, i realize i am going
to have to write again!
as i say:
glad to be back..on blog
as osip mandelstrom says:
take from my palms,
for your delight and joy,
a little honey..

hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm!