this body this flesh these bones

heavy with suffering carried

sink deeper into the dirt

wrapped with chains of attachment

let go let go

remember the lightness of a feather

that drifts onto an open hand

the love that lifts the heart to soar

winged like a plumate bird

let go let go

you’ve died you’ve flown

now be at ease relax rest

in the infinite expanse of your spacious mind

when you are lost, so easy to be these days

remember what brings you home

gray clouds recall dark waves of the sea

both echo in the rushing creeks and slower rivers

a handful of dirt is grit from your own bare feet

a smudge from the cheek of a beloved child

dust from a house that makes you feel safe

despair is easy, just too is hope

both practiced habits we daily foster

be kind to yourself thus to others

come back, come back, always return

I have walked this land countless times

the scape ever changing but the view remains

swampy earth that sucked at my childhood feet

become rockier hillsides with steep incline

now as then I am companioned by pain

this most faithful of teachers by my side

one day finally to be needed no more

when I sit upon the groundless ground

and relax into the boundless sky

and though the greatest oak has split

its mightiest branch in total breach

downed by age and wind and rain

in mute testimony beside the trail

do not let this grieve you

no loss unless you make so, instead

let yourself see with different eyes

changing form allows new light

in between the branch and the trunk

appeared one brief sun slant in the grey morning

and a bird flew through the frame

so it is, so it is

I offer you this

let the drops fall as your tears

and the sky itself express your sorrow

the clouds heavy as your heart

and the streets awash with all your loss

know that grief has its time

a season natural as any weather

but also that you can let it go

to stand in the sun that always shines

wait before you leave, do not fly when bidden

do you have sharp edges that would cut

we bleed all too freely but unawares

do you have harsh tones that would bruise

we walk already wounded but numb

consult first the heart,therein wisdom and compassion

let these shape and temper whatever message you bear

even to find you stay contained within

letting kind receptive silence go in your stead

not there yet, and yet here

resting, grounded in groundlessness

arising as a playful moment, a brief jewel

sparkling with infinite reflections of all other gems

caught as a node in this boundless web

this rippling expanse of joyous laughter

though certain events press us to be frantic

and the marketplace is busy with worry

remember this is always so

and likewise there is always an antidote at hand

let the winter season that rests the field rest your mind

since you must walk with care, pay even closer attention

each step its own journey, a remarkable gift

stop for a moment, let your eyes gaze with new sight

open your ears to hear without immediate judgement

feel how you occupy that particular space

you might find the fence post or street corner

changed because you changed

in such small ways do we transform the world

peace by peace by peace

but look! there upon the shelves in bottles of iridescent glass

are arrayed the beautiful poisons, there displayed to dazzle the attention

five lustrous containers, their very appearance preoccupies

I remove one to drink my fill, then heady with ignorance I reel and fall

to find myself within the calm eye of the storm hearing the destructive winds turn into laughter

with a snap of my fingers this disappears, and I return the vessel to the shelf

I am neither a dot nor an enclosing line but both and space itself

poisons, like demons, are not to be feared

befriend them, for they are more helpful than gods

remember what treasures they are