Dreams of Rain by Sarah Webb
Hot days beckon clouds
Wishful wistful billowing
Dreams of cool wet rain
Clouds Waking by Paul Causey
Dry parched earth slumbers
Under heavy sun-drenched dreams
Wait for clouds to wake
—Paul Causey
Dreams of Rain
Rain is Coming by Sarah Webb
In hot, dry summer,
memories of spring,
a cooler time,
bringing dreams of rain,
droplets wet and cool,
dripping from hair
washed in an April shower,
droplets heralding the advance
of warm breezes in summer,
drying wet towels wringing with sweat,
parching lips, cracking earth,
heat radiates off the horizon,
wavering in the noon day sun,
cloudless skies,
harboring memories of spring,
a cooler time,
bringing dreams of rain.
—Paul Causey
All that Love…
I never felt unloved by you,
it was there like a shared, sacred
vibration in the air, merged in hugs,
laughter, shared graces.
It’s the outpouring that has washed me
off my stalwart stance, feeling both
its surge and undertow as I try to
catch the next wave of change
coming in, and wanting to ride the crest.
I know I am not in control of this
condition. Instead, I exercise beliefs
not challenged before, to bear witness
to who I truly am, and this condition
is not me. I affirm me and let the
condition die off, as it will.
I do crave your riding this wave with
me. My position is different than that
we’ve been conditioned to feel & express
in this world.
Will you walk with me?
—Martha Koock Ward
At the Kitchen Table…
Eating of the last sweet bite, pushing back from
the kitchen table’s edge and further from temptation,
a glowing satisfaction emanated from us
and coalesced in a field of endless unknowing
and nearly silly pleasure at just being in each
others company.
A pure reckoning of trusting kinship, genuine care and good humor.
It’s never really been tested from my recollection
A reflection of our mother’s love of harmonies,
father’s pleasing tenor voice and a passel of children.
We sang together a lot through the ‘40s to the ‘60s
– thereafter we didn’t
being far flung, we were less in tune. Even in our dis-
agreements we flounder in laughter and sidebar comments
and distract with other stories.
When my eldest sister died, we wrapped our
sorrow within our hearts. So little spoken of – what would
we have done differently if we’d known?
This year we’ve come nearer to pronouncing death’s name,
once more, but no nearer to wanting to talk about our
own deaths or the death of one that we care about, deeply.
Now brother has died, unexpectedly, sharing poems up to the last.
May rich and tender conversations make it to our table.
It is where Life’s terrible victory, living, can be celebrated.
—Martha Koock Ward
We Got Your Test Results…
“Yes, we got your test results, and it
appears your abdominal cavity is filled
with shoreless seeds and stardust”.
Is this normal, Doc?
It felt like I’d had a solar-lunar eruption?
It’s a normal component of an unusual life form.
On rare occasions, we have seen examples,
it is true. That was when we have conducted autopsies
on aliens, he responded
Oh aliens!? Well! Well! What are you telling
me, Doc?
Despite your otherwise normal, it appears
somewhere in your maternal lineage, alien
DNA was dilly-dallying with your maternal co-creator.
It’s unusual and fortunate that you have
lived a long-normal-human lifetime.
Is there there something that can be done? I asked
My recommendation is to dance nightly by the light of
the moon. There’s a chance the seeds may take root and
the dust may coalesce into your own rising star.
—Martha Koock Ward
Meditating on Life
“It's "just this" he said, "and nothing more." a squirrel on Zen master Fa-ch'an’s roof.
I sit, eyes closed softly,
Mind drifting on a lazy river—
A thought, drifting by,
“Why do my thoughts seem to drift faster than me?”
I let it go, but here comes another one.
This thought is trying to catch up with the first one, complaining about being left dangling, uncompleted—
I tell myself, “Let it go, release it, let it dangle.”
Briefly I open my eyes—"oh no, I let in more thoughts, which one do I tend to first?”
New thought—"I know, I’ll close my eyes and start again. I’ll let them all go back, where?
Somewhere. But why do I want to know where my thoughts go?”
And I answer myself because I knew I would. As a child I would ask my parents questions, as all children do, and when they tired of them, or could not give me a satisfactory answer, they would simply say “because” as if that explained life in a nutshell.
Now that I am older, I’m not necessarily any wiser, but I sit and try to let go of the questions I cannot answer, to let go of my thoughts so I can see with clarity what is and is not. The river is still murky, but the thoughts drift a little slower now and are a little less intrusive.
When I open my eyes now, and my children ask me why I meditate, I simply say “because.” Then they close their eyes and catch random thoughts of their own drifting on lazy rivers and think their father is only a fish swimming upstream.
Oh, another thought…. were my parents truly wise beyond their years? Were they trying to tell me that “because” is another way of saying “just this, nothing more?”
—Paul Causey
Affection for the Way
i was not in the fire of the Zendo
but i did see the moonlight
through the roof of my small hut
seeking the way amidst the deep mountain paths
we meet for tea
for that moment
my heart softened
walking far
all the way to the sea
observing the curve of the earth
the vast horizon
that night i slept but
awoke in the darkness hearing
the stars weeping
mourning on the beach
i had become a pile of ash
waiting for the wind
—Bruce Linton, MFT, Ph.D.
Misnamed
“love is less always than to win
less never than alive
less bigger than the least begin
less littler than forgive” ee cummings
I misnamed you in my
misunderstanding of what
absence and silence meant.
It is more than words.
I always advanced toward some
star, in another galaxy, aboard
a wobbly ship, sails filled with
the surreal, sailing away from
your silence.
Now we come together where
words may not mean much.
We are held in a body of mystery,
where what Is is shrouded.
No way to know what’s
what.
I find I’m embraced not embarrassed
to feel I am beginning anew ~
nothing lost, much to be gained
under this sky of blue. I’d like you
to embrace it, too.
—Martha Ward
Just This
Just this moment
Radiant change
A sigh
I sleep in humid rain
with petal soft eyes
like a pause
Empty darkness
Suffering and strength
Like up and down
Like heads and tails
Like you and me
Open aware
Engaged
The silence
Echoes signs of knowing
The universe vast love
What’s there?
Notice
Who’s there?
Name it
Hold me gently
For just this moment
Then let me go
—Annecy Báez
What is a Mouse Good For?
a little brown mouse
nibbled on my book cover
in the night
his little teeth marks
and claw scratchings
were distinctive
do we call an exterminator?
what are mice for?
i mean, what do they do in this world?
a small warm animal
covered in fur
a long scaly tail
nobody likes mice…
except other animals
who eat them
or scientist who
put them to use
in experiments…
for you know who
i am starting to think more about mice
they are quiet and alert by nature
they are very quick and quiet
they can run and jump
they are often scared
they too are trying to live their lives
find food
feed their families,
protect their children
be warm and safe
i feel less like calling the exterminator now
let’s look on the internet…
well, it turns out that this seemingly little useless house invader is
“the most important herbivores in the eco system. In forest, fields, farmlands and backyards, mice sustain predators of all sizes. They link plants and predators in every terrestrial ecosystem.”
WOW!
reading further it turns out these little critters are trying to save humanity!
“ The mouse genome is very similar to our own, making mouse genetic research particularly useful for the study of human diseases. ... Mice are extremely useful for studying complex diseases, such as atherosclerosis and hypertension, as many of the genes responsible for these diseases are shared between mice and humans.”
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is the largest animal rights organization in the world, with more than 6.5 million members and they say, “Friendly and highly intelligent, mice are just as smart as dogs and can even recognize their names and respond when called.”
WOW, WOW!!!
you who chewed on my copy of “The Way of the Bodhisattva” by
Shantideva was no other than a Bodhisattva too!
invading my house as a pest
you were a visitor of great consequence
in your simple way, without intention
you are my brother (or sister)
certainly part of my family,
your DNA proves it
I only hope my life may be
as meaningful as yours
I gassho,
homage
to the great bodhisattva
little brown mouse
—Bruce Linton
Companionship
this morning
a strange leaf
turned out to be
a small lizard
sunning himself
i wished him a good day
walking on
three stones sat like buddhas
by my Bay
I sat with them
i rested on a bench
two seagulls flew overhead
one landed on the end of my bench
he looked at me with his dark black eye
i looked back
human companionship
may be overrated
—Bruce Linton
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