Light a Candle

We are living through very difficult times - basic human kindness, dignity, well-being threatened at every turn. 

may the light so shine, india ink on yupo paper ksully

Many months ago, Bill and I turned off the evening news and brought our supper back into the dining room. With candles burning, we began listening to philosophers, thinkers, mystics - anyone who has something to say about the deeper mystery and meaning of our brief stay on this planet. 

I keep discovering the great pleasure of reaching into a computer full of written work, paintings and music I've created over the years. It’s  great fun to read long-forgotten efforts; and more fun to glom things together in new combinations.

Here is a mixture of pieces extracted from a 2020 Writer’s Digest April Poem-a-Day challenge.  We were entering the fear and mystery of COVID. These pieces speak of finding respite within our own sweet souls.  


Sweet tasting aloneness, 
precious time of
delicious contemplation,
forgotten
inner resilience,
discovery of new wells, 
rediscovery of forgotten gifts
ambrosia from the gods,
mysterious other worlds
underground mushroom networks
deep sea creatures
omphalos 
navel-gazing wisdom
in primeval forests
rivers emerging from underground springs.
Quantum physics and string theories
send the mind spinning into the unimaginable.
What is left after all the talking heads explain what they know?
Everything.
Mysteries of unseen networks,
rhizome tendrils,
raw emotions,
swimming in florescent deep seas.
The wonders of travel,
far-off discoveries
give way to inward-seeking solace,
understanding of self.
Aristotle tried to tell us
but we don’t listen until
disaster and mortality
begin to knock.
Outer is not the thing.
Inner is.
We consult the gurus
ask the four winds
the planets
and the stars
we listen to 
the songs
of our elders
and the cries of our young
we watch the madame 
wrapped in brocades and silk
inspect the lines that wander 
across our palms
wishing
hoping
to choose 
the right path,
when all along 
we suspect that our path
will be true
if we 
will simply
think it so

Light a candle against the darkness.