Scottish physicists declarethat the universe may stop expandingand implode instead English physicists declarethat neutrinos suggestthat effect could precede cause An American woman danceswith joy in a kitchen,laughing and singing, while a Scottish man melts butterin a skillet, breaks eggs,drops them in the butter, adds pepper and salt,flips the eggs with a spatula,adds more salt, more […]
Georgia O’Keefe’s Taos
is time collecting prints on the thumbs of sage smudged hills.A translucent blue topaz lightdisappearingbeneath half-eaten pine cones.
Birds of Prey
“Most people are onthe world, not in it” Muir said that so long ago but he was wrong Most people are outsidethe world, doubting they know how to be among it Riding under a hawk’s wingsthe air forgets what it means to be useless
The Sacred
is when you knowthat shoveling the drivewayis a Catholic mass and eating at Red Lobster is the same as receiving communion, that’s prayer and meditationa Yoga when taking a shower is baptism and going to the movies is Mecca when reading the Torah is reading the New York Times and going for a walk in the woods and having sex is celibacysmoking joints and tobacco and incense and salmon on the grill in the backyard on Columbus Day or Veterans […]
Journals
Happinessis teaching yourselfto smile even for peoplewho do not deserve it And even that in timewill become effortlessWhen is it easy for you to smile?When I am not trying As Times Changeso do rules. I am no longer afraid of what I want.
The Practice of Simhamukha
Featured image: Simkamukha fragment. From thangka-art.com Simhamukha is a supreme dakini in Tibetan Buddhism, who combines anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features. She is an wrathful emanation of Guhya Jnana Dakini (Tib. Sangwa Yeshe Khandroma) and is revered in the Nyingma school as one of Padmasambhava’s main teachers. In Hevajra Tantra, she appears as one of the […]
An Unquestioned Gift
Instinct reminds the butterfly they are changing No counting the daysor paying attention to the position of the sun It is always present
Seven Haiku
winter morning —daylight arriveswithout a story snow plungesfrom tower block ledgeslike falling bodies duckling left behindpaddles to catch upwith mother and siblings children playing in ruins of millme 40 summers agowalking by today young woman pushing prambruise beneath her eyemorning rain zazen together, one breath4000 miles butno distance between us winter street —dog turd on […]
Journals
Journal #3Survival is nature’s morality. Life on its own is valueless. We give it value.We make it worthsomething,and say it’s so. Like your Aunt’sfavorite pearls or your Uncle’sgolden watch. We are the treefalling with no onethere to hear it crash.
Clocks
How long would the music be withoutseconds and minutes? The feeling of time is different. Put away your phones. Cover your watches.Eliminate all the telling devices. Play Japanese flutes. And ask how long the musicwill play for. How do you keep track?