the post of heaven

rain, wet, sky falling on our people..
the earth -  a soaked, flooded homeland security
like low basements in deep winter..
four-leggeds dense heavy feet cannot scamper..
frenzied flight of rain-sopped wings do not take off..
sodden rugs, drapes and car wheels move with flow
to go..where?
in the wake of the shake of the great drench..
where are the snakes ?

the post of heaven in broken..
the weighty wet deluge
carries moist hearts of compassion..
~ as tears add gallons ~
to the already too full reservoir..

we must overflow to see one another..
beyond our beliefs, our national pride,
our registered voter status..
drink up..
shall we all drink up?
the elixir of love
the storm clouds that filleth our cups..
to runneth over..
with the not-so-still waters
we cannot be still..

broken windows and empty hallways 
a pale dead moon in the sky streaked with gray 
human kindness is overflowing 
and I think it's going to rain today…
                                  ~ randy newman

the light in this valley..

it seems so much brighter..
after the eclipse..
are we not embued with some new glow?
such clarity of air..
the setting sun a fireball..
piercing my rear view mirror
on my way home from class -

then lured, i was, from a weak slumber
to the midnight warmth..
an invitation to behold the celestial stars -
the big dipper dipping deeper
into a twinking glory ..
much alighted by the day's
flurried affair..

i could not go back to sleep
so crafted a love letter to
a friend from long ago and far away..
remembering our torrid times
in the monastery kitchen
where we made good food for others
and followed the instructions
of our heavenly monk, our tenzo....

even in this morning next ..
the light that slipped over the farm lands..
catching trees and fields aflame..
sipping it's tea and crunching toast with me..
brought forth a new kindling of kindness ..

the neighborhood raven pair
seemed to enjoy circling in the fair air with more gusto..
adding their own radiance and dazzle to a new day -
the  dark duo skimming the empyrean regions with a fresh enthusiasm..
as if ravens could be more enthused!

though my own bones and feathers are ruffled
from eons of flight and upright rambling of being body bound..
and though sometimes a sun snuffed out
makes a nest in my heart pocket..
there comes a gleam of wildness ..
this dawn
having witnessed the heavens winking..
in a blink of an eye..

the light in this valley comes to rest ~

eclipse meditation.....

the moon after much reflection says:
sun is god!
                      - ferlingetti


in our bodies..the microcosm of the macrocosm..

sun is soul ~ moon is consciousness

sun/moon in reciprocity..

our gold and silver merging..

the alchemy of conjunctio (sacred marriage)

within the sushumna nadi..our central channel..

doesn't get more cosmic than this..

the sun was not always male, you know..

many moons ago! the sun was a goddess..

the tantrikas would greet the sun goddess
in the early morn & chant ~

o glorious one, o sun of happiness... 

we  salute you,  o goddess marici -

bless us and fulfill our pure wishes.. 

protect us, o goddess, from the eight fears... 

(which are....)

water 

thieves

lions 

snakes 

fire 

spirits or flesh-eating demons

captivity or imprisonment 

elephants 

their respective inner counterparts are:

craving or attachment
wrong or false views
pride
envy or jealousy
hatred or anger
doubt
avarice
delusion or ignorance

therefore consider:
floods of attachment 
thieves of wrong views
lions of pride
snakes of jealousy
fires of anger 
carnivorous demons of doubt
chains of miserliness or greed
elephants of ignorance

in ancient times..too,

the moon was not always female,,,

the mbocobis of south america claim 
the moon as husband and the sun as wife..

my mother is the beauteous sun,
my father, the bright moon..

in sanskrit the word for moon is masculine...chandra..

so....
in our yoga practice are we always in eclipse..perchance..?
since we aim to unify the sun and the moon energies..
to yoke them together in one biosphere..our microcosm..
earth..moon...sun..
prithvi, chandra, surya...
are we ourselves transgendered planets..?
!!!

heavenly bodies are in a constant state of change..
we are that and that is so...

As If to Demonstrate an Eclipse

                    ~ billy collins

I pick an orange from a wicker basket

and place it on the table

to represent the sun.

Then down at the other end

a blue and white marble

becomes the earth

and nearby I lay the little moon of an aspirin.

I get a glass from a cabinet,

open a bottle of wine,

then I sit in a ladder-back chair,

a benevolent god presiding

over a miniature creation myth,

and I begin to sing

a homemade canticle of thanks

for this perfect little arrangement,

for not making the earth too hot or cold

not making it spin too fast or slow

so that the grove of orange trees

and the owl become possible,

not to mention the rolling wave,

the play of clouds, geese in flight,

and the Z of lightning on a dark lake.

Then I fill my glass again

and give thanks for the trout,

the oak, and the yellow feather,

singing the room full of shadows,

as sun and earth and moon

circle one another in their impeccable orbits

and I get more and more cockeyed with gratitude.

i praise this
great wheel ~ the sun ~
an earring for
the lady of the east.
                  ~vidya kara  11th century poetess