Evaporative Flow

As long as there is wind
the raindrops of wonders
will wash over my head
tapping me in all directions.

Until I stop trying to collect them
and let myself soak
and then I won't even be
able to tell if I'm getting wet.

And those waters will run to
the ocean
where I will ride them
with joy
until they splash back up
to the sky
to teach me another lesson.

Process

As I do I achieve
As I achieve I feel strong
As I feel strong I push harder
As I push harder I resist tenderness
As I resist tenderness I build tension
As I build tension I feel under attack
As I feel under attack I put up walls
As I put up walls I lose sight of my path
As I lose sight my world becomes smaller
As my world becomes smaller I realize I'm off course
As I realize I'm off course I embrace tenderness
As I embrace tenderness I release tension
As I release tension I feel connectedness
As I feel connectedness I take down walls
As I take down walls I see my path
As I see my path I embrace the moment
As I embrace the moment I fear for my safety
As I fear for my safety I step back
As I step back I choose to live my life
As I choose life I find presence
As I find presence I erase coincidence
As I erase coincidence I find purpose
As I find purpose I develop gratitude
As I develop gratitude I lead with compassion
As I lead with compassion I become love.

The Present

It dissolves away
false fragments of imaginary times of past and present
give way to the only truth I have
which is that this is it
this is all I have
and everything I need.

Happy Mother's Day Grandma

You seeded the desert
with wildflowers
when you smiles upon it.

Your understanding acceptance
filled the air
with the twinkle of stars.

Your words were the wind
which swirled around us
gently pressing us together.

But ultimately it was your "YooHoos"
which kept enough good food in our mouthes
for us to all get along.

Thank you for blessing us all with a loving family Grandma.

Dear Fridgie

Dear Fridgie,

Thank you for keeping our food fresh for a long time.

I appreciate that you weren't designed to do what we needed and I am sorry for anything I did to contribute to your demise. We tried to keep you functional for maybe a year by putting a bowl in the fridge to capture all of the water being leaked. We probably emptied the frozen water 100 times.

We went through a whole saga with your predecessor, Fridgie Sr., who after months of repairmen visits, just kept getting humid in the freezer and clogging up.

Upon hearing you running 24/7 for perhaps a week or more, it was clear to us that you were struggling to do what we needed. Also, the sound was immensely agitating.

Today Micky called several repair places before finding one who was willing to make sure you were well taken care of. We even cleaned you up to make a good first impression.

To make sure they didn't change their mind we immediately loaded you in the truck and delivered you to them on the spot. We wanted to make sure you weren't abused on the street.

We home you are tuned up soon and find a wonderful home where you can again keep people's and perhaps even animals' food fresh and safe.

Thank you for taking great care of our food Fridgie.

Ben and Micky

Time Turns to the Scent of Liquid

The scent of the pores of the Earth

Opening up as the sky pours into it.

Smells have no filter.

They draw a direct line to the past.

With one deep inhalation

I am connected to a million lives lived.

Past lives are subtle

But my childhood is vivid.

We take the long way home

No matter the weather.

All four windows down

As we drive just below the speed limit.

The wind blowing in my mother's hair

Nostrils out the window and parallel to the headlights.

Pulling the miniature forest into her lungs.

As a kid it was just

Another strange adventure.

But also fun to see

My mother transported to another time and place.

Our drive was through a thin slice of the park.

But she devoured that slice

And it fed her until our next ride.

I pulled more moist air into my sinuses

Into the backs of my eyes.

I opened up that memory

And let it pour out back into the soil

So that the next time it rains

She can enjoy the scent again.

Moment Contains Infinite

It's been years since I held a galaxy in my hand

I pulled it in towards my eyes

and it made me a bit uncomfortable

how it also pulled me in.

Race tracks ran down the top like

an intricate system of Maglev trains.

Crackling commences all around me.

I panicked for a second

worrying that I had

lost something in that

close by galaxy.

I let go and

let it continue to flap

in the wind.

I sat on one of

the grey rolling cliffs

meandering out radially

like aquatic serpents.

It was as if I was sitting on

the giant leg of

a wise ancestor,

turned entirely grey from

deeply rooted wisdom.

Did it also recognize me as kin?

The crackling rain poked

at the leaves on the ground

while my kindred spread its arms

and hunched over me,

letting only intermittent pattering through.

We sat there together

until I spilled over with

the overwhelming novelty of stillness,

moving around in a rabid search

for novelty in more movement.

Did that tree know I wasn't yet ready to learn the whole lesson?

Did I just buzz away like a fly?

That tree is no doubt there at this very moment, staying still, soaking in the gifts of star-born wisdom while we all move so fast we stir the cosmic pot we find ourselves in, never able to see the detailed components and interconnectedness because we've lost the ability to stay still long enough.

Maybe that's what we try to do with sleep.

Perhaps it is no coincidence the Buddha found enlightenment through stillness at the base of a Fig, if in 30 minutes it could begin to show me the threads of interwoven fabric we all belong to.

Thank you for your patience Fig.

I look forward to seeing you again.