FIRST EMBRACE

Never will i forget our first embrace
the force of your cheek upon mine
the soft, yielding invitation of your mouth
the savage clench of our bodies
yearning to unite

Splendor denied

            is

Splendor remembered

RUNNERS OF THE WOODS

come sweet Jill
come with me
into the forest deep
onto the open meadow
set foot upon the path
let Pan be our guide
runners of the woods
you and i
if just for a day, a moment
out of time...

WOLF EYES

                                                             My baby has wolf eyes

                                                             she's wild and she's free

                                                             my baby has wolf eyes

                                                          they have a yellow-gold glow

                                                            and they're burning a hole

                                                                           in me

MASK

Before my eyes my Beloved
shed her mask
and in a succession of images
her soul-countenance revealed
each more beautiful, startling than the rest
until i could behold no more

SIGNIFICANT OTHER

nothing moves me
like you do
you make my world
shake and shudder
you are my significant other

HOW MUCH TIME

How much time is enough
how deep is the love in your eyes
how silently my heart throbs
this joy too great to contain
spills over and over
wetting those around us
drawing them into our circle of joy
how much time...what time
time is irrelevant, of no consequence
in matters of the heart

TIME AS LUXURY

to have the luxury of time, together
to feel assured that with the passing
of this moment
the next is not threatened
the immediacy of your presence
is so great
I am always shocked
when its time to part

HIDDEN BEAUTY

its 3am and three angels are sitting at the foot of my bed
talking, chatting, keeping me company
in the middle of the nite
I'm drawn to the one on the right
tho she's not your typical "Angel"
definitely not "Angelic" looking; but rather dowdy, homely
And I think that is the point:  Beauty is Within

On another level, our own personal search for Beauty
should begin and end Within
On our passage thru this world
we will have many encounters with Beauty
but the Beauty that is tangible, substantial
is the Beauty Within

Hidden Beauty is an experience
that takes place within one's soul
once you discover the Beauty Within
you will never be without it

RALPH de CHABERT

it is said, that "you can never go home" (Thomas Wolf)

But the image of you standing in my doorway
and sitting in a chair opposite me
as we exchanged life histories,
will never diminish in my Awareness

As improbable as it is
for that moment, we revisited the "home" of our friendship
As said, "that moment will never diminish in my Awareness."

BITTERSWEET

upon this
bittersweet sword of my life
I fall
Grant me Release
from this Chaos that would grip me
hold me prisoner in its savage clutches

UNFORGETTABLE

touched for a moment
by the Divine Spirit within
Awakened
brief as it was, but Eternal
Unforgettable, forever lasting, a moment Divine
the Eternal Now

FAIRY TALES

Do you think Princesses and Knights
are things of myth only
do you think of Satan only at nite
then
you know not the reality of the fight

I mount my mighty stead
time after time
and joust with Death
I hold tight my Princess's sacred scarf
as she casts her eyes my way

my armor clinks and clatters
as i settle into the saddle again
then dig my heels into my trusted companion
he snorts and jumps and accelerates with great force
Death, his lance at his side
steps foot into srirrup
for one more bout
knowing his ultimate defeat is what drives me to ride
Truth...an unforgiving enemy

fear of death, fear of life
a semantic reality
mediates
between senses and precepts
the illusion of control

LILITH

Lilith comes, emerging from the forest
fierce and proud
she strides with stealth
cunning yet graceful
clad only in a low slung thong
leather leggings, barefoot and free
the Huntress approaches
men humbled, lower their eyes
unable to engage the gaze
of the Goddess, primeval, unbound

I caught the look
saw it in your eye
tho just a passing glance
your soul betrayed the mask you wear
I saw you...

FLIGHT

How thrilling it must be
to take wing on the rush of air
soaring, diving, gliding unfettered
Flight
free as a bird

REDEMPTION

John the Baptist standing on a street corner
shouting about redemption
Jesus walks up to him and says
"Peace, brother, let it go"

THE ETERNAL NOW

Touched for a moment
by the Divine Spirit within
Awakened
brief as it was, but Eternal
Unforgettable, forever lasting, a moment Divine
the Eternal Now

MUD-MAN

Soul-Making is like playing in the mud
Adam
was a mud-man
patty-cake, patty-cake...

DIVINE MADNESS

The Divine Madness of Love
is an opening into the Eternal
a door that opens out
from human reason to divine mysteries
shaking tranquility

PATH OF MANY TURNS

Soul-Making
has no direct path
while Spirit's ascension is firm
soul meanders, wanders
a path of many turns
the ultimate marriage of spirit and soul
requires the courage to traverse terra firma
moment-to-moment...

SOUL MAKING

Too eager to know, too eager to act
wanting a literal, immediate solution
to all life's dilemmas
in bottom line fashion, we bypass opportunities
to know ourselves, our motives, our secrets
leaping ahead to final solutions
we bypass soul-making
which requires that we pause
savor the moment
apprehend, perceive the mysteries
beyond the scope of reason

INNER BLISS

as i awake
the power that rushes up to meet me
swells from deep within
I am overcome by an exalted sense of well-being

by reflection on Inner Being
a whole realm is transformed
and the world comes to order

A SECRET

I know a secret
by which a whole realm can be transformed
Patiently, let go of doubt, fear, anger and distrust
Quietly, accept the Unknown

FOCUS ON THE MOMENT

My life does not consist of that which
I have to look forward to
but of this moment beseeching me
to explore the NOW
pregnant with calling demanding my full attention
imploring unconditional surrender
to the UNKNOWN, This Moment
This Moment, only

OUT FOR AWHILE

i'll be out for a while
in between
this moment and the next
is where you can find me

lets rearrange our senses
and see what comes about
our perceptions are all too common-place
leading to inaction, doubt

its not what you agonize over
that matters
its what you can do in the moment
that counts

PRESENCE

Presence in the moment
no past, no future
thought and doing unified
mind in heart, power in presence

HEART AND WINGS

true to life, true to heart
letting go of mind's strangle hold on life
to soar like birds in flight
heart and wings beating as one

THE FUTURE

to divine the future
is no great task
requires only that we retreat
put first things last

LETTING GO

give up on strategy
cease trying to predict, control
surrender to the tide
merge with the flow
heavenly guidance surrounds us
all you have to do, is let go

PAIN

pain purifies makes pristine
holds on high that treasure stumbled upon
in the valley below
polished, perfected with the sharpness of an Eagle's eye

CLARITY

seeing with clarity
requires utmost suffering and despair
the diamond, wrested from the clutches of matter
yields its sparkle, most unwillingly

ETERNITY

the end is in the beginning
nothing to fear
eternity, present, here

TIME AND SPACE

energy and matter
time and space
stuff made to order for the human mind
as long as the heart
is in the right place

TIME

its all about time
how it unravels, how it unwinds
how it conforms
to the order of mind

THE DAY AFTER

Rising to a grey day
the surging tide of my power coming up to meet me
unheasantly, I pushed off for my embarkment to foreign shores
upon my arrival I am met by only a solitary light beacon
all else, desolate in disarray

what favors of fate have worked this disaster
was it nuclear holocaust or Nature's revenge
unanswered, lies the remants of the day after
it matters not, for fortune's future
lies with the Light within

SLOW DANCE

Slow dance to the music
lets be gentle, take our time
gather some rhytm, enjoy the sublime

MOONGLOW

Moonglow lay soft over her shoulders
i dare not move, nay, even breathe
for fear of disturbing a grace so emminent
a scene so tranquil

Silently, I bid the Princess of the Morning Dawn
God speed
as she sets off for another run

LONE WOLF

I know why the lone wolf howls
his pain, his loneliness, they are my own
I hunger, but do not hunt
my instincts grown dull and blunt

I know what the lone wolf feels
his cry is my song
memories etched in flesh
shake my body
Haunted by images struggling within
A fight I cannot win

I know why the lone wolf howls

SHE-WOLF

Lone wolf howling
bowels bellowing loneliness
my pain a cry echoing in a dark, empty sky

My dreams, my yearnings
clothed in flesh and blood
She-wolf, wild, untamed, motionless
her stare transfixing deep from within
my mirror image stood before me
dropping to my knees, heart fluttering
head bowed, i submitted

Sweet love that might have been
but because i could not hold her gaze
she vanished
a moment, but for a moment
did we stand outside of time

...with eyes to see

when I was young and brave
full of deeds
a pretty girl looked up at me with admiration
but, I did not see her until many years later
                                          BLACK ELK

THREAD THAT TRANSCENDS

Is it just for this brief moment only
that our lives intertwine
or is there a thread drawing us together
that transcends space and time
this feels like more than chance
happen-stance
but then, time is so irrelevant
inadequate as per measures of the heart

LOVERS' PASSION

as lover's must, return to dust
lets take with us
the seeds of a new humanity
sown in fertile soil
of having left nothing un-lived
only thru our raw passion un-leashed
will the power of these seeds be released

MY GURU

I was walkin down the Path, aimlessly
one day
when i bumped into my guru
he stepped out from within
with a how-do-you-do

INDOMINABLE NATURE

The wind roaring thru the trees
could be the incoming tide
lapping at the shore
As such, Nature's repetitive patterns, sometimes interchangeable

DAMION

We are made from the depths
from beyond consciousness
more original than we can imagine
We are driven from a place beneath awareness
what drives us has been called an angel...damion

The inner presence that is full of power
the ultimate source of our real creativity
the authentical self
                              Thomas Moore

EMPATHY

It takes an awakened heart to identify with others...
when the heart goes numb...we can no longer feel empathy
based on our own emotions...

We may not have the capacity for empathy
because our attention is focused on ourselves
Anxiety about our own welfare may preclude the very imagination of another's distress
                                           Thomas Moore

LANGUISHING SUMMER'S DAY

The clouds foreshadowing sunrise
appear as mountain ridges on the horizon
the parched yellow grass takes on the look
of a field of summer wheat

the mirages of a summer drought
mystical, numinous in their illusory forms
leading or misleading, the mind
in the deception of the senses

So, Mother Nature ever myriad in her displays
the start of a languishing summer's day