Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day, St Stephens Day, Kwanzaa

Happy Solstice

Six Snowflakes from Michael

Six rimed snowflakes.

Dihedral symmetry rotates,

reflects,

the quest of six decades,

the rest this ancient raven soul seeks,

exhaling frost scrolls at the sight of the Bethlehem star

hovering above everything that remains new and pure in the human spirit.

Equilateral,

equiangular,

all geometries being equal,

this aging child smiles his woodsmoke curl in the face of the advancing dark.

"It's all right,"

he whispers to himself,

as he begins to disappear.

"It's just a spell of frost.

Six snowflakes.

Melt, disappear, as you return to the Sun."

-Michael Guillen

Photos: Alexey Kljatov

Let us roll all our strength, and all of our sweetness, into one ball;  and tear our pleasures with one strife through the iron gates of life.


A. Marvell

Heaven and Earth, Awake and Sing

Your voice rose. It was in front of me, and behind me. It was above me and below me. It was on every side. And then my voice rose with your's and for a moment we were one voice. A moment later, 5000 were on their feet, arisen by the music.

KJ - JB

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Thanks(giving)

Nov 17, forever blessed

and let myself smile

Sonnet 73

That time of year thou mayst in me behold

When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang

Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,

Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.

In me thou seest the twilight of such day

As after sunset fadeth in the west,

Which by and by black night doth take away,

Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.

In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire

That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,

As the death-bed whereon it must expire

Consumed with that which it was nourish'd by.

   This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong,

   To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

Happy Halloween

Julie Fowlis - Blackbird (Lon-dubh)

In memory of that first October full moon

somebody once whispered to her

“The witching hour, somebody had once whispered to her, was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”

― Roald Dahl, The BFG

Autumn Cathedral

Joel DeeWard

what a lucky girl I was to have you with me for a season

after finding those faces to lick, whom we both loved, curl up on a cushion next to G and Rhap.  I'll come find you when my time comes.  Don't you worry, I'll take care of D.

amidst the waning waiting

A monk said to me, at the time of brotherly loss, "according to our tradition, in 49 days, there will be a rebirth.  Be quietly aware of the possibility that you may have an experience of him again - in the eyes or voice of new creature. And on that day, it may give you comfort to make a proclamation to the Universe to celebrate the return... what will you say?"


...


"brace yourself"


Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will shine.  -V. H.

Goat Rodeo

With a hammer and nails and a fear of failure we are building a shed

Between here and heaven, between the wait and the wedding

Or as long as we both shall be dead to the world

Beyond the boys and the girls trying to keep us calm

We can practice our lines, til we're deaf and blind

To ourselves, to each other, where it's

Fall, not winter, spring, not summer, cool, not cold

And it's warm, not hot, have we all forgotten that we're getting old

Chris Thile

It's not over yet

one week and then, return

watch for the glitter in the air

that's the deal

Why love, if losing hurts so much? I have no answers anymore: only the life I have lived. Twice in that life I've been given the choice. The child chose safety, the adult chooses suffering. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal.

Shadowlands

we will all meet again

Circle Game

Yesterday a child came out to wonder

Caught a dragonfly inside a jar

Fearful when the sky was full of thunder

And tearful at the falling of a star

Then the child moved ten times round the seasons

Skated over ten clear frozen streams

Words like when you're older must appease him

And promises of someday make his dreams

And the seasons they go round and round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captive on the carousel of time

We can't return we can only look

Behind from where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game *

Sixteen springs and sixteen summers gone now

Cartwheels turn to car wheels thru the town

And they tell him take your time it won't be long now

Till you drag your feet to slow the circles down

And the seasons they go round and round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captive on the carousel of time

We can't return we can only look

Behind from where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty

Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true

There'll be new dreams maybe better dreams and plenty

Before the last revolving year is through

And the seasons they go round and round

And the painted ponies go up and down

We're captive on the carousel of time

We can't return we can only look

Behind from where we came

And go round and round and round

In the circle game


Joni Mitchell

for all those children, going ahead

Rilke

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.

:)

The Gift

All the Hemispheres

Leave the familiar for a while.

Let your senses and bodies stretch out



Like a welcomed season

Onto the meadow and shores and hills.



Open up to the Roof.

Make a new watermark on your excitement

And love.



Like a blooming night flower,

Bestow your vital fragrance of happiness

And giving

Upon our intimate assembly.



Change rooms in your mind for a day.



All the hemispheres in existence

Lie beside an equator

In your heart.



Greet Yourself

In your thousand other forms

As you mount the hidden tide and travel

Back home.



All the hemispheres in heaven

Are sitting around a fire

Chatting



While stitching themselves together

Into the Great Circle inside of

You

Hafiz

Letting Go is a Celebration too

happy solstice

Into White

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
Tables of paper wood, windows of light
And everything emptying into white.

A simple garden, with acres of sky
A Brown-haired dogmouse
If one dropped by
Yellow Delanie would sleep well at night
With everything emptying into white.

A sad blue eyed drummer rehearses outside
A Black spider dancing on top of his eye
Red legged chicken stands ready to strike
And everything emptying into white.

I built my house from barley rice
Green pepper walls and water ice
And everything emptying into white


Cat Stevens
Tea for the Tillerman

From the ashes, his voice rises... three years later

a Time to Every Purpose

A time to mourn

and a time to FLY...

Chase the Wind
Touch the Sky

Ecclesiates 3:1 and Julie Fowlis and me

the thing is... I will never be "ready" to say "goodbye"

that's just the deal

I will reincarnate you

I will resurrect you

I will hold you and keep you  in my heart  

until MY last day comes


and all I have left is my love for you

to leave behind

the only thing of permanence is love

Giancarlo Scalzi | The Missing Pieces of Scoundrel Rocco | CD Baby Music Store

Giancarlo Scalzi | The Missing Pieces of Scoundrel Rocco | CD Baby Music Store

The Missing Pieces of Scoundrel Rocco

Time's Come

cat's out the bag
lid's off the pot
the fox's in the chicken coup
the bear's out of the cave
the beans are spilled


let the chips fall as they may

we'll see if the shit hits the fan

The Scoundrel Rocco

a voice begins to rise from the ashes...

a light in my life, taking flight

Marlene watches from the wall

Her mocking smile says it all

As she records the rise and fall

Of every man who's been here

But the only one here now is me

I'm fighting things I cannot see

I think it's called my destiny

That I am changing

Suzanne Vega

Wallin

I have failed you, I have failed you,

I have closed my heart, I have failed you,

But I love you, how I love you,

All my days were rearranged to say I love you.

Oh, setting sun, don't sink before I've found my heart;

Heart, don't give up now while there's still time;

Time, don't beat your old retreat,

Stay a little while with me, 'til I've looked the whole thing in the eye.

I have waited, I have waited

For the big reveal, the even keel, I've waited,

But there's no one who makes it all come true,

Just altars gathering dust while we bow to them.

Oh, night, bring all your shadows and your silence;

Silence, make a hostage of my mind;

Mind, bring on your trickery;

Black dogs, nip on at my heels, 'til I've looked the whole thing in the eye.

Swing low, sail high,

Swing low, sail high.

Oh, setting sun, don't weep for all the things you lose,

Morning comes as sure as it must die.

Dying is such mystery,

Yet I wonder will it be,

when I've looked the whole thing in the eye?

"Beverly Home"

I felt about the circular hall… as I felt about the place where, between our lives on this earth, we go back to mingle with other souls waiting to be born… all these weirdoes and me, getting a little better every day right in the middle of them.  I had never known, I had never even imaged for a heartbeat, that there might be a place in the world for people like us.

 Denis Johnson

The Remote Creative

Phoning in demands

through two pieces of wax paper

and a layer of aluminum foil

Inconveniently timed



Stuck in the waiting room

no other place I need to be more

but the two and a half possibilities
that have popped up since last night


and still the demand
screams

one year later

:)

love is... who

what we let go of

what we dream about

what we give

where we go

what we feel

what we hear

is what we do

hugh macleod

dance

We have come to be danced
Not the pretty dance
Not the pretty pretty, pick me, pick me dance
But the claw our way back into the belly
Of the sacred, sensual animal dance
The unhinged, unplugged, cat is out of its box dance
The holding the precious moment in the palms
Of our hands and feet dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the jiffy booby, shake your booty for him dance
But the wring the sadness from our skin dance
The blow the chip off our shoulder dance.
The slap the apology from our posture dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the monkey see, monkey do dance
One two dance like you
One two three, dance like me dance
but the grave robber, tomb stalker
Tearing scabs and scars open dance
The rub the rhythm raw against our soul dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the nice, invisible, self-conscious shuffle
But the matted hair flying, voodoo mama
Shaman shakin’ ancient bones dance
The strip us from our casings, return our wings
Sharpen our claws and tongues dance
The shed dead cells and slip into
The luminous skin of love dance.

We have come to be danced
Not the hold our breath and wallow in the shallow end of the floor dance
But the meeting of the trinity, the body breath and beat dance
The shout hallelujah from the top of our thighs dance
The mother may I?
Yes you may take 10 giant leaps dance
The olly olly oxen free free free dance
The everyone can come to our heaven dance.

We have come to be danced
Where the kingdom’s collide
In the cathedral of flesh
To burn back into the light
To unravel, to play, to fly, to pray
To root in skin sanctuary
We have come to be danced

WE HAVE COME.


by Jewel Mathieson
http://jewelm.net

Time to Learn How to Fly

Run and tell all of the angels
This could take all night
Think I need a devil to help me get things right
Hook me up a new revolution
Cause this one is a lie
We sat around laughing and watched the last one die


I think I'm done nursing the patience
It can wait one night
I'd give it all away if you give me one last try
We'll live happily ever trapped if you just save my life
Run and tell the angels that everything's alright


Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone
Try to live this life my own (and)
Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone
Try to live this life my own. . .

I'm looking to the sky to save me
Looking for a sign of life
Looking for something to help me burn out bright
I'm looking for a complication
Looking cause I'm tired of trying
Make my way back home when I learn to. . .