Today
amidst the background noise of downtown hustle
I watched The Passage of Time
watched shadows retreat from the risin sun
watched light as it crossed the street
whereupon Time disappeared and no shadows were cast

Watched the setting sun

as fireflies danced in cylindrical rotation
highlighted by Nature's Special Effects

a vibrant display: luminous twinkling here then there
particles spinning, bobbing, weaving
a spontaneous choreography orchestrated by no-one

Time subtly slipped into time-out
a limbo land where we cease
counting, measuring, sparsely meting out
life's precious substance dose by dose

Yes today Time crossed the street
then gradually and imperceptibly ceased to exist

Deep in the Heart of Being

lies the Primal Self

it is not, cannot be experienced

for it is that which is experiencing

that which cannot be accessed by thinking

that which demands: a STILL MIND

one must stop thinking

let go

let consciousness evolve

trusting beyond the controlling ego

silencing that voice in the head

understanding beyond thought

conveys Peace & Deep Inner Security

independent of circumstances and events

from BEGINNING to END

DIVINE LIGHT within

that which is seen

out of the corner of one's eye

is 'oft times more true

than that which appears in full-frontal view

Meditation
is like a waterfall of Liquid Light
pouring into the crown of my head
as my heart rushes to meet it

How exhilarating to walk Austin
this Indian Summer's Sun-day morn

A myriad of Natural and planted growth
adorns each side of the street

bikers abundant in their array of colorful gear

today, a sense of the Sacred:
all is right with the world

autumn leaves line the path
crunch underfoot with each and every step

to this stream of consciousness
i yield and float down the streets
of Sun-day morn

as i approach the 500 year oak
gnarled and knotted
i did lay myself bare upon Nature's Altar

Never too late
never too late to follow God's will
never too much water under the bridge
The Master had his way with water
turned water into wine
calmed the storm and walked upon troubled waters

God has his way with water

And so it is with us, water is just water
Never too late to still the tempestuous storm
never too late to follow God's will
everything occurs just in time
spontaneously
we need only be receptive
receptive to the impulses flowing from heaven

The LAW of HEAVEN has an INNER LIGHT
that must be involuntarily obeyed
thus, thru devotion to the DIVINE SPIRIT within
the way will arise on its own
SPONTANEOUSLY
(I Ching)

Yesterday
lies on the other side of Today and Tomorrow
Time is cyclical not linear

like a dream, my brief encounter with my Soul

gently fades away upon awakening

from nightly slumber

but which is dream and which reality

that only the Soul knows for sure

but why oh why does the Soul withdraw

when She encounters the pale light of day...

nonetheless, She has spoken to me

nurtured, loved and groomed me well

for my journey into the pale light of day

with the promise She will be here

waiting steadfast my nightly Return

to woman is given the honor
of perserving the Hermetic Vessel
it has been said that she, herself, is the Holy Grail,
of this, tho, there can be no doubt:
the feminine is yielding, receptive, nourishing
and most importantly, life-giving

of the sexes she is more in touch with her instincts
the holder of powerful psychic energies
in her lies the Redemptive the Transformative

A New Day
the Sun like moonlight hiding behind buttermilk clouds
walking thru Ramsey Park
i am struck by mothers with their children
at play

an awareness comes over me of how devoted moms are
and what values escape into our world
thru their children at play
purposeless unstructured and spontaneous

some mothers stand and watch
while others converse
but some, are in-drawn and aloof
not fully engaged in the moment at hand
and thus losing its value
what really stands out tho
is how open and unguarded children are
bringing, as a gift, into our world
completely spontaneous unfiltered moments
a glimpse into the sacred

lets, ourselves, remain open
unstructured
lest we miss moments like these

it is said that awareness

is the state of being conscious that you are conscious

but in this awareness there is a paralysis

as Narcissus is mesmerized by his own reflection

he is struck and stuck by and in his own projection

a mirror reflects only an image not substance, itself

if we are to break this trance of limited consciousness

(like we do every nite when we dream)

we must cultivate divinely inspired moments

seize the moment when there is a fissure in the fabric of experience

when the unconscious breaks thru the conscious threshold

revealing itself as a doorway to lucidity

in short, our task is to become aware of the unconscious

enough with the conscious that you are conscious realization

(automatic writing and drawing, active imagination

meditation, lucid dreaming and keeping a dream journal

all are techniques to break the tyranny of consciousness)

the unconscious can be stirred just by seeing images in clouds adrift

so easy a child can do it

time to bring the unconscious into the Light of day

"Love never dies a natural death
it dies because we don't know how to replenish
its source
It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals
It dies of illness and wounds
It dies of weariness of withering of tarnishing"

Anais Nin

out of the ashes of Twin Towers
rises a NEW EDEN
for the old (York) has passed away

we are yet in the midst
unable to behold (NEW EDEN)
for our eyes are clouded by chaos's dust

our nostrils filled with its repugnant stench
its fall its demise surrounds us

obscuring not only our vision

but our imagination

nonetheless the twisted-tortured skeletal relics
will not give birth to a new industrial behemoth
a post-modern futuristic Transformer

rampaging raping the earth

and its indigenous peoples

No, Never again

We the People have before us
the task of re-creating pre-linguistic primeval relations

with the Natural Order the Natural World

from which emerge
a New Myth a New Story of Origin...

a NEW EDEN

What a gift is baby Kenadie
she awakens in us humility, grace
and Spiritual Awareness
born only a fraction of normal size
medically a Primordial Dwarf
in Truth she is God's Angel
sent to startle to seize
awe and amaze awaken the gift that is Life

in her as in Baby Jesus
a miracle is born
sent to transform Life as we know it

Innocence

i wander the barren landscape
of this concrete jungle
where among poets at least
being homeless serves as initiatory rites
to the awakening of the unconscious

my Soul is nourished by heavenly Angels
the Light is within me
the Spirit walks beside me

The Rapture is now...
uplifted in the present moment

in the here and now

The biblical story of Martha and Mary:

While Jesus was visiting their home, Martha was concentrating on preparing a meal and undertaking other household duties, but she was unhappy with her sister Mary who was apparently doing nothing but listening to the invited visitor. She grew increasingly agitated with the situation until she could not hold back any further. She approached Jesus to express her concerns over Mary's lack of work effort, but to her surprise Jesus was not at all sympathetic to her argument. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part which will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:38-42).

one side of my face
warmed by the overhead sun
the other
cooled by a gentle breeze
what pleasures whose gifts
are these

how long have you been
blowin thru the trees
like some unspoken message
rustlin the leaves

beyond reason
with a shy innocence
her eyes mirror the eternal fire
dance to an inaudible song
for a moment, but a moment
Soft with Love

your eyes soft with love
the innocence of childhood
a glimmer a glimpse
and the Soul's shy smile

timidly ventures out
nurtured by a gentle hand

dissolve the obstructions
undo the bindings
by which i have sought to avoid life's pain
it better to suffer a little pain
than a lifetime of numbness

in memories cherished and sweet
we sometimes slip
to re-live a joyful retreat
but alas memories are not
what the present moment demands
memories cannot sustain life
only remind
that the stuff of which life is made
its quality its essence
is life-affirming an intangible interplay
its a give and take dialogue
between the soul and the other
its a bold sometimes graceful
projection
our unique perception
a loosening of boundaries
of what is us and what is other

Back in the day
when i just graduated H.S.
i did not opt immediately for college
instead, i indulged in a bit of self-gratifying
luxury

i went to work
and bought a red corvette (albeit used)
but to my dismay i found myself
painfully self-conscious doubting my indulgence

sitting at a stop-light one day
i glanced over to a working-man
in a beat-up old pick-up truck
he, more than me deserved
a better ride
and to the opposite side
sat a mom with her brood of kids
in her clunker before such transport
was a ticket to something better

as it turned out
after a year in the working world
i exchanged my red corvette
for a year of college tuition

ironically i attended a school
run by Franciscan monks
whose vows included poverty
a message i took to heart

never again would i be comfortable
with such conspicuous consumption (Thorstein Veblen)

our economic system produces a surplus
of items wherein there is profit

but is sorely deficient otherwise

Setting out on today's Journey
i begin among the OLD OAKS
which line SHOAL CREEK BLVD.
yet no sooner than i begin am i pulled down the embankment
to the rock-bed of SHOAL CREEK itself

by all reckonings this is Wednesday morn
tho it has all the feel and characteristics
of a carefree Saturday
its as tho i am a grade-school student

set-free by my Masters

immediately my senses are captured
by such Natural Features
as grassy knolls well-rounded river-rock
and stagnant back-water black pools

run-off fed by the devastation of development
that is houses streets and imaginary neighborhoods

NATURE is as you find it
an inner-dialogue a projection of ourselves
existing in our minds as we frame it

And NATURE is as it ever was
and will be again
thru-out all Nature reigns

So i emerge from my Nature Quest

at the heavily trafficked intersection

of Allendale & Northland

which as a place pales in comparison

to Shoal Creek itself

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach me, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

Henry David Thoreau

HANDS ACROSS AMERICA RALLY

for SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE



August 23, 2:00(CST)

at the Capitol in Austin Tx

otherwise your local mainstreet

have you ever seen a whale die
harpooned...slaughtered
its entrails dumped back into the ocean

the Creator did not intend this to happen
it only occurs outside the purview of Heaven
as man in defiance of Spirit

as man in his own demise

Heaven's Gate lies within us
its key is child-like abandon
willing to receive willing to give
no pretensions no defenses

ego's barrier set aside
baptized by the Holy Spirit
totally awash in unobstructed
complete union

if heart-rendering events move you
your compassion evokes a Spiritual response
and its only Spirit that can save the world
human compassion is a catalyst
so its up to you and i brother
to lay open our hearts and thereby
invoke Spiritual Healing

how much blue is enough
thousands upon thousands of square miles of ocean
endless reaches of blue sky

how many stars are enough
the Universe is filled with countless points of Light

and fresh air by the lung full
how much freshness can one breathe
at any given time

in abundance is Creation endowed
as mere mortals how can we deplete God's bounty

The asphalt rises and winds
before me
but the Black Hills beckon
invite a deeper penetration
So tempted i veer off the hard-top
and pick my way

among valleys and streams cliffs and ravines

no trail before me no trace behind
indeed the Wanderer's Way
is the "road less traveled"

the Way emerges from the dialogue
between man and Nature
between me and the Wilderness

an emergent path is quite personal

the way, the path
arises out of the moment itself
yet it is left for us to determine
just when the moment is right for seizing
if poorly timed, we lose the way
drifting in errant meandering

Right Action/Right Moment
are opposing sides of the same coin

STURGIS or BUST

(a great American Fantasy)

Thru heart and hand
Spirit leads us to our
significant other
hands are heart's extensions
bidding us to reach out
in mutual clasp
forming a relationship
born in Heaven

WALL STREET BANKER

he's a bottom-feeder
double-dealer thiev undercover
taking his cut up-front
...behind his back

i've just ventured to the water's edge
and there's a sea to cross
...a sea to cross

with consciousness we begin to awaken
to our own inner worlds
yet we are only half awake
to who and what we really are
only half awake to our deeper needs
and how to attain them

most of us would like to avoid
pain and suffering
but we believe that how we feel
inside
depends on external circumstances

when we are awakened to our
true nature
we are freed from dependence on
the external world
both for our sense of self
and our inner well-being

we become free to act with
more intelligence and compassion
attending to the needs of the situation
at hand
rather than the needs of ego

once advanced we realize
that the world of matter is not real
and that time and space
are not ultimate reality

this state is known as Christogenesis
the birth of Christ consciousness

the spiritual birth of humanity as a whole

Peter Russel, WAKING UP in TIME

Did you not know
but then
you have always known
haven't you
I have been waiting
deep in the place of your dreams
when you called
was I not there, at once
by your side
in this place
us, where we are, who we are
remains eternal
only time changes
flowing like a river
in which we stand
ankle-deep

JILL

I saw the look
again
caught it in your eye
just a flash
a moment gone by
but...
you can't hide
what's in your soul
you can't deny
that over which you have no control
when you are loved by someone
deep and true
when your souls connect, merge
its really not up to you
anyway
I love you
beyond all time
beyond all rules

I love you
because I've seen your soul
looking out at me
when it gathered itself
in your eyes

musings, Crzy Hrse

All matter
is destined to dissolve
into that Great Energy
that is Love
dissolve the hardness of ego
into pliable accommodating Love

Oh My Sisters
My Beloved Sisters of the world
Beyond whatever physical pleasures
we may share
lies Spiritual Bliss
the foundation of our lives

For we are spirits
enmeshed in physical form
but it is out of body
that our true Natures are known
then and there are we home

"And the soldiers likewise demanded of him
saying, And what shall we do?
And he said unto them,
Do violence to no man..."

Luke 3: 14

listen ye to Nature all Creation
knowledge and wisdom she imparts
cultivate openness and receptivity
yield rather than dominate

all time occurs
concurrently
it is only the rational mind that divides
time: past present future
the heart penetrates the universal
thus we can chose among categories if we get above them
plot alternative courses, further diversify
if this-then-that

time is an unending circle upon a circle

once again i find myself startin over
as in the "seven year itch"
be it seven years, months, days
or just moment-to-moment

we all need periodic renewal

the remnants of past gone by
like old coffee dregs the day after
must be cast aside
on the Dawn of a New Morn

the Cherokee have a ceremony for such occasion
the Green Corn Ceremony
it was to start life fresh
to erase past mistakes
and to be forgiven for wrong-doing

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth
where moth and rust do corrupt
and where thieves break thru and steal
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt
and where thieves do not break thru nor steal

For where your treasure is
there will be your heart also

No one can serve two masters
for either he will hate the one
and love the other
or else he will be devoted to one
and despise the other

You cannot serve both God and Mammon
Matthew 6: 19-21, 24

Mammon: the false god of riches and avarice

we live in God's Kingdom
the GARDEN of EDEN
but blinded, unaware
of the Kingdom that surrounds us

awaken to consciousness
let that blind-spot
fall away...rejoice

don't take synchronicity
for granted
it is a strong primal message
saying:

"I [Spirit} am here"

synchonistic events are attempts
to awaken consciousness
a calling to Spiritual Life
lest we forget:
that first and foremost we are Spiritual beings
in physical form

moisture-saturates dew so thick
you could cut it with a knife
but only scattered showers fall
only dew materializes

then and only when we entreat it
does it rain in our consciousness
imbuing it with transformation
then inner consciousness
transforms the world...
and finally... it truly rains

like ZOMBIES seeking creature-comforts
we trod the earth

solemnly we plod along
caught up in our own daily delusions
ego-consumption threatens to swallow us

unaware of the KINGDOM that surrounds us

apply equal portions
of RIGHT to ANXIETY

the suffering that i am experiencing now
is no-more no-less
than that which i imposed on others
in times past

the LOVE for which i now yearn
is that which i did not GIVE

in the quiet security of heart
i rest my cares ambitions and sorrows
the fullness of this moment
leaves no time nor space
for yesterdays or tomorrows

never have i seen
such a day as beautiful as this
punctuated with sky-blue-clarity

even the rustle of autumn leaves
prodded by a warm Southern breeze
did seem to sing out in celestial harmony

on special days like these
Heaven comes to meet Earth
and in Divine copulation
lays down the foundations
of a New Earth and a New Dawn

miles from nowhere
guess i'll take my time'
oh yeah, to reach there

lord my body has been a good friend
but i won't need it
when i reach the end

miles from nowhere
guess i'll take my time
oh yeah, to reach there

cat stevens

the same friend i referred to earlier
(2 men and a mack truck)
according to his wife
would awaken in the middle of the nite
with extreme panic disorder
he dreamed he was still in 'nam
perched in a tree maintaining a nightly vigilance for charlie

i too have had my share of Night Terrors
the dark night of the soul
maybe our experience has not been that different
after all we were... teammates

The Earth by its mountains
lifts up flowing waters
to the Heavens above

i had a laminectomy and missed vietnam
i sometimes wonder how my life would have been different
had i gone

one of my best friends and fellow football teammate
lived with me during our senior year of high school
(he had intense conflicts with his father)
after high school he joined the marines
and took the proverbial senior trip to 'nam
when he returned he was in extreme shell-shock
(PTS in today's "political speak")
his wife said he would not be able to function without his meds
well, either his meds or his functional-disability
spurred him to single-handily carry sofas on his shoulder
anyway, after graduate school, i worked for him briefly
in his furniture moving business
(he specialized in apartment moves)
2 men and a mack truck: will move

so, long-story-short
i know i have a lot of baggage now from my life before
but it could be of a different sort
had i gone to 'nam...

ridin the bus is an archetype- like- experience
activating my inner muse
a non-stop conversation
between me and myself

"its not what you know
but what you can do in the moment
that counts"

musings from Crzy Hrse

the Repugs
by submitting to Partisan Politics
have renewed their ownership of Irrelevance

but the blue dog dems
are no better
licking the boots of Corporate interests

ain't but one way out baby
but i just can't go out that door
cause they a main down there
might be you main i dunno

lord i'm foolish to be here in the first place
i know some main goin to walk in and take my place
ain't but one way out baby and no way in the world
i'm goin out that front door
cause they a main down there
might be you main i dunno know

ONE WAY OUT, allman brothers band

from sweden alabama and maine
came they one and all
answering Last Century's Adventurers Call

on october 25 1842 indians killed whites
at what was to be Shoal Creek and 38th

but as well a texan settler from maine
bought some 1200 acres @ $.50 per
for some $600 cash outlay and built a Stone Bath-house
hot-tubs fed by Shoal Creek
and by a horse and buggy ride from the Austin Avenue Hotel
on Congress Avenue to Stone Bath-house
at 38th & Shoal Creek
they came

by divine sublimity
doth Penetration's candle burn

but there is a hole in my heart
by absence its presence known
otherwise unrecognized by penetration's eyes

the air we breathe breathed again
breathed anew
refreshed by the breath within

walking along the banks of Shoal Creek
there to lie down my weary bones
and to take up Nature's edifice, again
as was my way in days past
to which i have returned at long last

when the means become an end in itself
then the fool stumbles upon the True Way

i love you
not the pain and suffering
that this present moment brings
but the you beyond this moment
you as you truly are
you in the eternal heart of god
you in a safe secure place are loved

My Child
who is my child
is she not everyone, everywhere
anyone
who suffers and weeps
an Iranian child whose parents were killed
by explosive US ORDINANCE
black operations

Suffer the Children

the problem with an open heart
is that it is a receptacle
for pain and suffering
not just personal but vicarious

yet the hardship may be endured

if it but make resolve stronger

dying
as when you run out of breath
but need no more
no last gasp
for you have left it behind

every nite we practice
as moment-to-moment we forget to breathe
heavenly ghosts in between breaths
cloud-leaping-dancing until... we breathe no more

from time to time
i am submerged
by compassion unfulfilled
may we hear the Divine Hint
follow Impulses flowing from Heaven
and Compassion show

I have heard the LOST SILENCE
as my heart sounds out the Way
pray ye, listen for Silence

in war the end never justifies the means
only when the means become the end
is Justice attained

if i culd be as sturdy as a tree
out-reaching limbs over- arching all
no greater security culd i 0ffer
in answering God's call

yea, its not the growing old
that is the culprit
not just the passage of time
that robs a man of his life
but the quality of moments gone by
that's the measure of a life
rich and full

THE COMMONS

Humans in their totality are born of the earth
We are earthlings
The earth is our nourishment our support our guide
Thomas Berry

This we know
The earth does not belong to man
man belongs to the earth
Chief Seattle

The land must not be sold beyond reclaim
for the land is Mine
you are but strangers resident with me
Lev. 25:23

The profit of the earth is for all
(not just exxon)
Eccles. 5:9

Woe to them that join house to house
that lay field to field till there be no place
Isiah 5:8

Restore I pray you to them even this day
their lands their vineyards their olive trees
and their houses
(Palestinians one and all)
Nehemiah 5:1

The earth is given as a common stock
for men to labor and to live on
Thomas Jefferson

The land the earth God gave to man
for his home sustenance and support
should never be the possession of any man
corporation society or any unfriendly government
any more than the air or water if as much
An individual company or enterprise
should hold no more than is required
for their home and sustenance
All that is not used should be held
for the free use of every family
to make homesteads
and to hold them as long as they are occupied
Abraham Lincoln

as a species
we humans don't know how to take hardship
we struggle, wiggle, wrangle and sigh
but other animals in a hard world
know different
they accept, adapt and more than persevere
they experience a reality unknown to us

lights bursting rays

thru the forest dense
occasion to recompense
that which is too often missed

the saddest thing

is what could have been
that ego stands in the way
shuns the present moment in spiteful defiance
then all too late... what could have been