by J. Rumi

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,

there is a field. I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other'

doesn't make any sense.

AFTERGLOW

The east sky indigo

the west pink afterglow

Earth balanced

breathlessly

NAVIDAD

The brightness of a flaming star

pierces the midnight winter sky;

muffled amidst the stable sounds

there comes a tiny infant's cry.

All heaven stands in raptured awe

as the mother hums a lullabye.



Simple shepherds hear the song

of angels bathed in heavenly light;

sages of the orient have

watched a lifetime for this night;

hearts full of joy and faith, they come

and kneel before the holy sight.


The Love and Truth of God come in

this night, this infant, to begin

an age in which His flame goes down

into the depths, to rise again

in every heart that seeks Him as

the gentle light of truth within.

SUNDAY

Listening to Sunday. The silence of Sunday

A light airplane softly purring;

lazy, monotonous, slowly fading sound;

and then silence.

A car whispers by unseen on the street outside.

Everything is hushed, as if the

whole world were napping.

I am alone, listening to the hush.

Savoring the infinite, absolute Now;

drinking serenity to nourish my spirit.

My heater ticks softly, flooding my

little house with warmth.

My now is soft, warm, sunny.

Secure; private; sacred.

I am delicious company.

Anyone else would be an intrusion.

I make no social demands of myself.

All of my selves embrace each other,

and embrace the sunny, hushed world.

Even joy is subdued ~ sleepy joy.

Can I take this now with me into tomorrow?

Tomorrow promises to be busy, clanging,

intrusions on my spirit. Like yesterday.

It is happy clanging, too; it is good.

But let me cling a little longer to the hush.

Let me taste my Self a little longer.

Let me bless the world for this pause

and tuck it away in my breast to carry with me.

Tomorrow, when my selves look

strangely at each other,

I will take an instant to listen to today;

to taste its mellow, golden sweetness

and remember love in its stillness;

when there are no ripples, no dancing lights,

no smiles, tears, exchanges or longings.

Just me. Complete. Fulfilled by myself.

Not wanting.

FRIEND

Shrouded again by the veil of mystery

we approach the sacred chamber of the heart,

the Inner Sanctum

Initiates again, we share the bond

of long-forgotten vows,

to seek the Light and freely pass it on.

Teacher, student, timeless friend,

it is a joy to share the path with you again.

ASCENSION

Daily drama, symbol, saga

of the Sun's ascent to freedom

from the Underworld of darkness

takes root within my soul.

By the power of attraction

it draws me to reflect it,

burning off the fog of Ego

letting yesterdays all go.

Crystal morning take me with you

in your jubilant ascension

I have spent so long in darkness,

in the corners, in the cold.

Awake in me the glory

of your undiluted Being.

I have learned among the cobwebs

to be so.

I'll be naked, I'll be power

I'll be life in all its hunger;

I can face the fear and madness

as you face the morning frost.

For your sweet light bathed my body

and the night lost all its power.

Together -- it's our season

I'm your child.

WONDERING

Why is my mother crying?

Why does my father go to
pray every day?

Why do the doctors whisper?

Why have I forgotten
how to play?

PERCEPTION

A tapestry in four dimensions

woven of mind; woven of joy.

each delicate morsel of thought.

The vastness, the textures, the micro-mysteries;

the subtleties my mind can't touch;

the convincing soundness of it all

well up from nothing ~ but Joy

Only the joy of pure possibility,

unobstructed creative play,

displays this feast before my eyes

for me alone, unique to me,

each part bearing the perfect stamp,

the signature,

I AM.

FIRE

Three candles, three colors,

three flames

one fire.

Essence of Sun long bound by Earth

leaps free of form in its homeward flight

 Where does it go in its upward way

once it disappears from sight?

Does it slip into another realm

to seek its home in the star-filled night;

free-fall again for millennia

through the stillness of an endless sky?

Or does it simply dissipate,

captured again by my room

as light?