Daffodil

Like clockwork
they come back
year after year.
Thousands of them.

We go out to look
at them and walk
among them and
take in their smell.

It must be
the season of renewal.
Like shaking off
a long winter's night.

Ephemera

Everything passes away in its turn.
What lasts was never born.

Does this wisp of life matter more
because it's just a whisper?

Or does it matter less
because it will soon be gone?

Why isn't it enough just to be
here now?

Three Silences

An empty closet.
Sunlight.
A closing memory.

Seeing Meanness

To see meanness
where there is meanness
is to see meanness.

To see fear and lack
where there is meanness
is to see a deep pain.

Marriage

If your God
stands against
two hearts in love,
either your God
is too small
or your vision
of your God
is too small.

A God who
stands against
those in love
cannot be called
a God of love.

Wherever You Are

Where one day is fading to black,
another day is just beginning.
The consequences of location.

Help those you can wherever you are.
Trust dawn to come to those you can't.

All We Have

Nature mimics nature.
Imitation creates patterns.
Patterns lead to assumptions.
Assumptions birth expectations.
Expectations project a future.
The future is created now.
Now is all we have.

Too Bright

Sometimes, daylight is
even too bright for flowers.

Ping Pong

Soft or hard.
Which is
more difficult?

Far or near.
Which is
closer to home?

Light or dark.
Which has
more to teach?

Fast or slow.
Which reaches
deeper wisdom?

Enlightenment

What do I know
about enlightenment?

Do I know enough
to tell a tree it can
never be enlightened?

What if we humans
are the last ones to get it?

What if the ten thousand things
have been waiting patiently
all of these years for us
laggards to finally wake up?

Art Teachers

Lichen and birds 
taught us what painters do.

Rivers and boulders
taught us what sculptors do.

Winds and forests
taught us what composers do.

Thunder and silence
taught us what poets do.

The natural world
taught us what artists do.

We didn't come by
these things on our own.

Another Path to Wisdom

The first things we see
when we look for wisdom
are the things we expect to see.

What we expect to see
comes from what we've seen.

But there was a time
when we hadn't seen before,
when we were new.

To have such a mind
when we're old offers
its own path to wisdom.

What We See

Beauty in chaos.
Mystery in order.

Regardless of
what we see,
what we see is there.

Blight

When the wealthy
rake in more and more
while others go hungry,
everyone grows poorer.

When the powerful
waste time bickering
while children are homeless,
everyone grows sicker.

When the clergy
sit by and say nothing
while violence blooms,
everyone draws closer to death.

God's Ears

You are the wind,
and you are the chimes.

God's are the ears
listening to you ring.

Tree Lessons

When branches die
before the tree dies,
careful pruning
is the answer.

When roots die
before the tree dies,
working the soil
is required.

Release what is
no longer needed.
Loosen what binds.

Built Up

Nation is built
upon nation,
tribe upon tribe,
clan upon clan,
house upon house.

What was new
passes away
as if it never was.

And now,
we are here.

Whose ground
will we become?

Island

My life is
a new land
every morning.

An island, lush,
fragrant, seductive.

But how much more
there is beneath the waves.

Only Way Through

The sky will cloud over again.
Darker nights will return.
Mists will hide the mountain.

To keep going anyway
is the only way through.

Criticism

How easy it is
to see ourselves
in other people.

When the Namers Are Gone

How long will it take
for every trace of us
to disappear?

What happens to the sky
when we go?
Does it vanish, as well?

What about the oceans,
the mountains, the wild places?
Do they need us to exist?

We bring them into being
when we give them names.
What happens when the namers are gone?

Where I Am Going

A journey
that requires
no steps.

A path
that heads
in no direction.

I stand
at the beginning
and the end
of where I am going.

Scouts

Why does it
seem strange
that flowers
would be the first
to notice spring?

First Step

To see
through the trees
to the forest within
is the first step
in.

Conspiracy

If trees
were conspiring
to save us,
would we still
cut them down?

After

Wisdom does not drive us
away from what might hurt us.

Its voice is not the soft one
whispering, "Do not sin."

Wisdom is the healer
that comes along after.

What Is Deep

Love what is deep,
not what is shallow.

This is how to love
those I cannot stand.

What Would Become?

What would become of laws
if good behavior was the norm?

What would become of morality
if all worked for the common good?

What would become of religion
if salvation was already in hand?

Same Mother

Straight creates curve.
Curve creates straight.

Neither came first.
They were born twins
from the same Mother.

Connections

Every structure
has connection points.

Strong connections
make strong structures.

Weak connections
make strong structures, too.

If there are enough of them.

Procrastinator

Ridges catch the wind
and twist it around.

Prairies let it wash across
like an uninterrupted sea.

Either way, the wind still blows.
It never finishes its work.