Finding Our Way Home

Image of South Africa from Our Beautiful Planet and Universe

Hi kids, I was thinking about the subject of Love today, having spoken with a couple of young women who are seeking to find love through finding a partner. I have been thinking about how abundantly love is all around us, all the time, both in the giving and the receiving, in the family, friends, connections we make day by day, the smiles we exchange with strangers when we're out and about, a shared laugh, a friendly comment that lightens someone's face - it is ALL Love. There is not only one way to share it.

I am tired right now, as my support is needed at a friend's home all this week, and I come home pretty drained. So I thought about attempting a new poem on this topic, but instead picked one off the shelf that I wrote some time back.

We're all made up of stardust

and of dreams
our souls roamed
light years through
the everness of time
from galaxy to distant galaxy
before we found
our planetary home


we think that we are bodies
until the day we understand
that we are air and spirit
the stuff of stars
with heaven close at hand
our mortal struggles mask
the inner light
that tries so hard to shine
through our dark night
until finally we discover
that all along
we have had
perfect sight


we vainly
search to win
love on the human plane
paying with tears
and solitary pain
for all our hopes and fears
while all the time
we are already One
the way we all breathe air
unseen, yet just as present,
is the spirit
we all share


one day we raise our eyes
beyond the worry
and the pain
and find the way
we can be whole again
grateful each day
for the miracle of life
sky above
and earth below
the beauty of it all
a never-ending show
free for the taking
joy ours for the making
gratitude with
each new dawn
fresh-breaking
no more lonely aching
one heart
in all hearts -
our sudden waking


planetary pilgrims
on our long journey
to the end of time
we only need
to understand
that we already shine
and humbly share our love
in all the corners
where we roam
knowing
in the soul's profound simplicity
with every soul we meet
we find our own way
home


We take most of our lifetime
to shed the human limitations
we impose
we feel the pain
when from our loves we part,
until we learn
no love is ever really lost,
living forever
in our heart


the secret's not
in finding love
but in the giving
it's not in having
the "perfect life"
it's in the living

our healing journey
lies far beyond
our solitary pain
when we enter the
All That Is
we are made new
again


should we forget
for a moment or two
the wonder we once knew
all we need to do
is look up at the sky
filled with a million stars
to remember
just how
beautiful
we are

Stars, at 2 A.M.

[image from google]

A canopy

of stars

stretches over

the sleeping town,

like a

blanket of

peace

over a

world

that cannot

comprehend

war.

Grandfather Cedar

stands tall

and black

against

the sky.

How can

the world

be so

peaceful

and beautiful,

and so full of

conflict and misery

at the same time?

Let us take

lessons

from

the stars

in staying

fixed and

tranquil.

Solitary Star

[image from 200asa.nl]

Solitary star
is it cold up
where you are?
Through bare
and brittle 
winter branches
I can see you
sparkling clear,
shining your brightest
just before
you disappear.

The rooster is
softly crowing
in the barnyard,
a sleepy sound,
reluctant in the chill.
My wolf-dog pads,
silent and old,
beside me.
The day is coming
when he no more will.

Nine white swans
in formation
now come gliding
almost noiselessly
winging
overhead.
Noses pointed west,
they're heading towards
the water.
Nine swans,
and yet they
mate for life
it's said.

Now daybreak crests
the silver-peaked mountains,
lighting the frozen rooftops
etched in ice.
Tall cedars turn
from black and
towering giants
to green again,
their beauty
beyond price.

I breathe the essence
of this winter morning,
wood-smoke on the air
as starshine fades.
My windows
are lit up
and, warm
and waiting,
is the cozyness
of this little home
I've made.
I feel
the blessing
rich with
all life's worth,
just to have
another day
like this
alive
on Planet Earth.

Stars In Our Bones

This beautiful photo  of the Elaho River was taken by my son, Jon Merk.

I read something rather beautiful this morning - thought I'd share it with you.

The small plot of ground
on which you were born
cannot be expected

to stay forever
the same.
Earth changes,
and home
becomes different
places.

You took flesh
from clay
but the clay
did not come
from just one
place.

To feel alive,
important, and safe,
know your own waters
and hills, but know
more.

You have stars
in your bones
and oceans
in blood.

You have opposing
terrain in each eye.
You belong to the land
and sky of your first cry,
you belong to infinity.

Alla Renee Bozarth

The Night Sky

photo: maydenchronicles.com

As I stand looking up

at the night sky

curved ribs of light

arch above

enfolding me

like a tall umbrella

or the drooping branches

of a mimosa tree

hung with stars

instead of blossoms

just for me

What lies

in the spaces

between stars?

What dances

among the

interplanetary beams

of the northern lights -

light catchers

swirl

like ecstatic

Sufi dancers

across the sky

We watched them

together

at two a.m.

once

you and I

Celestial Beings

wave their

mile-long arms

tossing falling stars

from side to side

that glimmer

brilliantly

and then go out

leaving mystery

behind

that is

Forever

undefined

STAR VOYAGER

[Shaman's Journey - from deviantart.com]

[This poem was given to me in a dream. I woke from sleep, seeing the Shaman's face right before my eyes, swiftly writing it down, as the dream and his face slipped away, faster than I could write. Posted for Poetry Jam: Visions]

Time traveling,

winging through the cosmos,

my body

its own spacecraft-

nothing between

my Self

and all the stars,

bathing in their friendly light,

riding the vortex,

upward hurled,

traveling through Forever,

awesome

Sky-world.

Cosmic beings,

giant creatures

green and blue,

beckon me

to join them,

this journey

all the proof

(I always knew)

that we are One,

speaking a language

of the heart

that needs no words,

sharing a universe

where we all belong,

making music

in which we are all notes

of the same song.

Then, as I waken,

eyes open

and for sure

no longer dreaming,

I see

a painted mask,

First Nations warrior,

his face alive,

suspended there

before me.

He looks at me,

behind his painted mask,

Medicine man,

intensely kind and wise,

and, strangely unafraid,

I do not hide

but hold his shaman's glance

beguiling,

as he looks deeply,

deep into my eyes,

and smiling.

[When this waking dream happened to me, I had just collapsed with chronic fatigue but did not yet know what was wrong with me. I found the shaman's face so kind and reassuring, like he was telling me I would be all right. And I was.]

SPIRIT

photo credit: NASA
August 9, 1997

We're all made up of stardust
and of dreams
our souls roamed
light years through the everness of time
from galaxy to distant galaxy
before we found our planetary home


we think that we are bodies
until the day we understand
that we are air and spirit
the stuff of stars
with heaven close at hand
our mortal struggles mask
the inner light
that tries so hard to shine
through our dark night
until finally we discover
that all along
we have had
perfect sight


we vainly
search to win
love on the human plane
paying with tears
and solitary pain
for all our hopes and fears
while all the time
we are already One
the way we all breathe air
unseen, yet just as present,
is the spirit
we all share


one day we raise our eyes
beyond the worry and the pain
and find the way
we can be whole again
grateful each day
for the miracle of life
sky above
and earth below
the beauty of it all
a never-ending show
free for the taking
joy ours for the making
gratitude with each new dawn
fresh-breaking
no more lonely aching
one heart
in all hearts -
our sudden waking


planetary pilgrims
on our journey
to the end of time
we only need to understand
that we alrady shine
and humbly share our love
in all the corners where we roam
knowing
in the soul's profound simplicity
with every soul we meet
we find our own way
home.


We take most of our lifetime
to shed the human limitations
we impose
we feel the pain
when from our loves we part,
until we learn
no love is ever really lost,
living forever in our heart
the secret's not in finding love
but in the giving
it's not in having the "perfect life"
it's in the living


our healing journey
lies far beyond our solitary pain
when we enter the All That Is
we are made new again


should we forget for a moment or two
the wonder we once knew
all we need to do
is look up at the sky
filled with a million stars
to remember just how beautiful
we are