In my heart

there is a little doorway,

a little table,

a little crystal ball

sitting on the table,

it glows and pulsates,

that little ball,

and reaches deep

into my veins and muscles

and all the paths

that pump my heart,

one beat at a time.

Deep within the heart,

my heart, your heart,

lies wisdom--

past, present, future--

all flowing and glowing,

...

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I am happy when my feet touch the ground,

I breathe deep as I walk the lands of my day,

I give thanks with each slow step that I take,

my feet are eager when they feel the strength of mother earth,

she is kind and generous with bountiful gifts,

I am happy when my feet stroll and glide

across her gentle back,

she is my foundation,

my elegant mother

with skies of blue

a...

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Us

Self-centered, wounded

Other-centered, healing

Selfish, skewed

Radical self-care, balanced

A little of this and a little of that, 

in each of us

More of one, less of the other,

in each of us

"Judge not, lest ye be judged"

War

"Where you stand depends on where you sit"

The captured soldier in chains on a hospital bed

tells his nurse,

"If m...

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The world moves quickly

and that's okay

because I am a turtle.

I have a hard shell

and slow-moving legs,

I saunter instead of sprint

(not that there's anything wrong with sprinting,

I find it quite admirable indeed,

and from time to time

I am envious of the speed

of the hares of the world).

Anywhoodles, I mosey along

my merry way,

sometimes I don't even notic...

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She donned dark clothes 

and let her body be wild,

drops of water were enough for cleansing, 

no need to change clothes much

since she was going nowhere

outside of the interiors of her mind.

Food was minimal,

a little bread, some eggs, 

the rest of her plate she left 

for the little demons

that would not leave her alone.

As the days went by,

she lingered in the ...

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My heart wept for joy

when I heard the music

seeping through the walls 

of our little house.

She had been asleep for so long, 

months and months

lost in contemplation,

traveling to a mind-place

where I could not follow.

Was it possible

she was returning to us?

Neuroplasticity

some people call it--

neurodiverse,

spectrum--

this and that,

lots of color...

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Sometimes you have to put on your warrior shoes,

you know,  put your foot down firmly 

and sweep the debris out of the house.

We humans, at all ages, are like babies who cry when our needs are not met;

a soothing tone remedies many ills

but sometimes a firm reminder of what's what is the better remedy.

A true warrior is fierce and strong 

but always has unconditional love as t...

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Sometimes I like to take an eraser and wipe away all the labels

we attach to ourselves as we try to understand our human behavior.

We are so diverse and each mind/body/heart/soul has so many possible trajectories!

Oh, but wiping it all clean is so refreshing.

Down to simple breath,

we are all beings,

along with the animals and plants and wind and fire and water and soil--

all ...

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Yellow Bird Alighting

A yellow bird alighted

on the windshield of my car

as I sat parked in a parking lot

talking on the phone

on a cool autumn day,

grocery shopping day.

But I didn't go into the store

right away

because I needed to talk to someone

to summon aid for a beloved

who needed help

but didn't want it,

a delicate situation

one could say.

S...

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Joy filled my heart

When finally we found common ground

When finally we sorted things out

I knew we would eventually

I knew all things work towards good under the banner of Love

(Which doesn't mean the absence of pain but rather the ever-abiding presence of healing potentiality)

But we had been stuck for so long

Caught in a quandry of exhaustion and confusion for so long

My...

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(This poem was written by my sister Stephanie, who gave me permission to post it on WOL)

When trying to let go of 

The illusion of control 

By a parent for a wayward youth 

My mantra has been

“Trust the fertilizer”

Not the fertilizer from a bag

with numbers and chemicals

But the compost made in the yard

From kitchen scraps and plant clippings, 

The organic d...

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I like slow change,

organic change

rising from the gentle walk of the day,

I prefer fostering tranquility in relationships

rather than demands related to external experiences or appearances, 

I like softness over harshness,

it matters not to me

how others perceive

my way of moving through the world,

I'm interested in spreading simple caring like wildflowers,

this is w...

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What was this impending change tickling the corners of my mind with excitement?

At first I thought it was something big

that would require alot of effort (and no small amount of pain and suffering)

but that would ultimately reward us with exhilarating growth.

But then I realized, no, the change I felt looming in the corners of my mind

was so simple, so quiet, so interior, and yet so...

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Emotions twirl and twirl

like dancing dust

so easily stirred up,

sometimes hard to settle down.

We go inside our bubbles

or take to bed,

hide away a bit

and wait for softening.

Emotions are like waves

reaching for the sands of thought,

we walk these lands barefoot

with nary a sign to guide our path.

We look for the signs

and when we see them

(a butterfly t...

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I worried my way through life

until I learned to dance

in the skies.

Come, take my hand,

show me a little smile,

let's fly to the clouds

and glide across the heavens.

Oh how beautiful

is the blue-green earth

and the blue-blue sky

when we join the angelic choir and sing praises from afar.

Don't be too earth bound

my friends,

it's crazy down here,

fly fly fl...

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Doors open

doors close

we wander the halls of our life

wondering, wondering 

who are we

and where does it all lead?

Sometimes we wear bright colored clothes and laugh with the world,

other times we don cloth of dark shades and cry out our lamentations.

Over-arching all, though,

even in the darkest night,

there is a rainbow,

often invisible to the eye,

but there ...

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