Early Friday Morning in front of the Lowes landing dock glistening sun reflecting off pick up windows and bumpers men loading 2 x 4's like dancers in a broadway play no yelling or shooting bullets just a deep peaceful intent of the work ahead beautiful humans black white mexicans I wanted to hug them all for the goodness and hope of lives they were living on a bright day Friday before Thanksgiving
tanager shares suet with downy hummingbirds flit in gurgling water while catbirds splash and bath buntings linger at the feeder, chickadees fly away titmice stay hammering their seeds on a metal hoop cardinals click blackbirds visit up and down nuthatch on nearby oaks waddling doves peck bluebirds flaunt while flycatchers serenade kites snatch dragonflies osprey dives wood storks soar like the Concorde all colors every kind of bird you can dream up soaring, fishing, playing, eating, chirping ......together ......together ......together
today I took my pleasure and wandered...
wandered slowly
through temples of Bagan, Myanmar
vast hot dry
toast crisp air, like Arizona
breathing deeply eased my mind, kept my heart in my chest
butterflies, crawling bugs, same as home
passing through wars, between peace and unrest
meeting people of the ages, all yearning for freedom
one temple
to another
ancient rough rock surfaces
feel your fingertips touching the others ?
builder companions
buddhists companions
women warriors, slaves, lovers
I was born there one day
meditating was easy
squirrels are not liked by many but one that napped after lunch on a certain branch took my heart smaller limbs grew on either side of the branch propping up his head and tail securing his space perfect for sleeping, not falling all the hot summer, each day, after eating and playing that squirrel napped many times longer than me on that same branch resting his soul feeling secure breathing and dreaming the world pumping more love in my heart
the thing about an epiphany you're most always alone no one to squeal with and jump up and down hoping to remember this sparkling moment when your body shuddered and the truth of the world, pierced your heart a chartreuse green worm crawled around the computer screen as the wind howled and the green leaves danced with three million points of sun you knew then, as always what it's all about a green worm in the summer air
Au revoir mon ami
we lived in neighboring
seaside towns where endless winters
turned into summer days
gi gong classes, art exhibits,
astonished I am
from different cultures we bumped
into bees into gardens into honey into children into stories
into grace and goodness
you helped me with love
guided me through tangled vines and briars
returning to childhood
we squeezed open a rusty, squeaking wolf’s trap
met everyone again with open hearts
you told me you’d live forever
now, you say you are dying
oh, but I see how this works
the stories…
how honey lives
your footsteps sounds on the stairs
lit beeswax candles on your tree
the care, like a shawl, you covered me with
you’re released now, your turn
for some exploring
your stories rolling through time
you can whiz past stars
fly through black holes
and have your miracle a place only you and God know don't wait you just noticed your breath and felt it mix with the breeze so right now is perfect go be with God
so I found a dirt road that you'll love quiet, with shadows drawing lines back and forth early morn or late afternoon with the sun warm and gentle you choose a time I'll drive you there across the marsh green herons perch on the old man's dock a creek, parallel to this road flows high and low with the tide, and waits to run with you
quiet cold sunny day before Thanksgiving a new baby, a new dog, an old dressing recipe old men firing up a line of grills near the Miracle Temple of the Apostolic Faith sandpipers scooting over marsh mudlfats an entire morning resetting passwords recent hurricane waves rearranged the beach hurling sand from ancient worlds right into our laps mixing mysteries with plates as we arrange them over green placemats our bodies bump around the table, lighting candles through clouds of God
Carol Bass 