Thursday, September 19, 2019

Yesterday’s Skies


where are the clouds from yesterday's skies?
water does not hold them
reflections leave no footprint
on the golden edge of dawn

under the rose bush
faded petals fall
carpet the garden
where does winter hide?
beyond the cliffs where fallen dreams gather
and swirl
eddies of emptiness
lose their edges
an echo's dream
sings songs of love
brushed with burning shadows
the last light of hope
blows away
your silhouette
a memory
consumed in waves of flame

no one is lost in the arms of no tomorrow
slip knot of love
erases itself

push and suck of tides
heartbeat of the sea
there is no shore
and no one to rest
joy and sorrow bleed into each other
the pulse of love
folds into itself
disappears without a shadow
burning in the midnight sun


no one to escape
and no one to be free
no inside or outside
nothing to get
and no one to get it
no here nor there
nor anyone to travel

all separation is illusion
illusion is illusion

enlightenment is the dream
anything said paints the dream
all there is is this
and not even that

when imaginary separation is no longer believed
it is the end of the feeling of separation
self and time and all thingness never was
imaginary separation cannot erase itself

this is not the end of the dream
not believing in the dream is the dream as well

there is nothing but the dream
we are the dream
as outside and inside
like all this and that
is made up

enlightenment is not a belief or understanding or philosophy
it cannot be taught or learned or shared
for there is no one singing
and no one listening
it is the utter and complete end of you and me and love
the end of belief and feeling of solidity
is not the end of the dream
it is the dream as well

all of life happens utterly spontaneously
no one or thing makes it happen
it does not arise out of nothing or emptiness or god
life does itself
and looks and feels like anything at all
neither good nor bad nor in-between
nothing can be added...
where would it come from?
can you find an edge?
nothing can be taken away
where would it go?

there are no things
or non things
there is no outside to the dream
or inside
as inside and outside like all this and that
are the dream
made up
trying to escape or accept the story
is the story

all these words paint the dream
the flowing thought dream
of a you who is surrounded by separate things
and lives in a world of time
and you're getting closer and closer
to this imagined future
this dream of enlightenment
have you ever found a next?

perhaps you have been told to let thoughts and feelings flow
is there a someone separate from thought and feeling?
can you find the beginning and end to a thought or feeling
are there separate thoughts and feelings?

perhaps you have been told to accept what is going on
can you find a you outside of what is going on?

perhaps you have been told to be awake to what is going on
when has there ever been a someone separate from what is going on?
if it feels like you are not awake to what is going on
that is what is going on
if it feels like there is a you separate from what is going on
that is what is going on

all instructions assume that there is a way out of the dream
all methods and practices merely seem to substantiate the painful illusion of a self who has personal volition, who can do or not do something or nothing to get this
but you are the looking for an idea
you are the seeking
there is nothing to get
and no one to get it
this is it, coyote
and not even that

enlightenment has nothing to do with you



late moon
shallow wind
echoes alight on shadow's breath

still pond
heavy with night
slowly slowly
reflections delicately kiss
ripples spiraling ever outward
sliding over and under and through each other
reverberations of memory
ever expanding parentheses
all is lost in shades of darkness
sun never finds a place to rest
bleeds into its own reflection

what never happened
what never will
all shadows
burst into flame
fire burns itself

love is the dream
of merging into each other
we are echoes burning
silhouettes of fire
light pouring into light


empty vault of sky
pours through you
there are no shadows to be gathered
in the wasteland of time

how deep is the echo that ransacked your heart?
how wide the canyon that separated you from love?

plunging headfirst into the great abyss
you see your reflection
the great maw of nothingness
wears your beautiful smile

no one wanders the beaches
of this shoreless sea
diaphanous orbs sail across the shimmering sky
slide into their own reflections
the fairy tale of sleeping
and awakening
ends

murmuration blooms and falls apart
sweeps across the vacancy of evening
stars have no name or number
no light is looked for or found
footsteps made of sand
dissolve into sand
wind dances
dissolves into wind


early morning like leftover dusk
darkness breathes
the song of day
suspended in the scent of moon Lilly
finch songs bathe in golden shadows

no one fell into the chasm of dreams
where eternity slept
waiting for her lover
never was a dream that time forgot
while she was dancing in the shadows
of yesterday's sky

tomorrow another day dream
written with memory
these very lines
and squiggles and curves
vowels and consonants like love letters
strewn across the vastness
sent by no one
to no one
crumpled dreams
paper candy wrappers
flowers in the tumbleweeds
trembling in the morning wind

a thousand songs ago
my heart exploded into infinite sky
and there is no one waiting
for its return



slowly slowly
golden leaf spins
caught in autumn shower

petals of your heart fell
one after another
until you could no longer find
a love you longed to hold
but could never name
memories pressed between the pages of time
cannot blossom

flowers explode inside your empty chest
exquisite the thorns that pierce your tenderness
all ideas of love bleed into the dream
river of tears
has no wetness

whose eyes weave the new dawn
and gaze upon the garden
surly they are not owned
nor this love
bathing in this splendiferous naked sky



sunlight pours through cliffs of wind
solidity of joy and sorrow crumble
butterfly seems to catch the light
blossoming iridescence
flies in and around the daydream
that it is

infinity faceted gems
spin
weaving and unweaving this flowing tapestry
that neither moves nor remains still
without a place to land
cascades of dream fragments
fall apart
the hand that tried to grasp it
was it
the teller of the story
is the story

moon cannot hide in its own shadow
flowers do not desire to see their own beauty
yet the flame burns itself
pierced by her own aloneness
it was no longer hers

she was the ache for color
the hum of the night
and the longing for day
painting rainbows on the window
her tears were no longer hers
as she watched the colors flow
she disappeared into the flowing
and never looked back
there was no back
nor anyone to look


words cannot be held
inside your mouth
inside your chest
they paint the inside
and outside
of all things

trace of moon spills into dawn
erases the kiss of shadows
blooming
and receding
into night

pirouette of light and dark
sank in the garden pond
where your reflection waited
for you to appear

longing to drown in light
it burnt the inside and outside
of your shadow

your footprints
melted into earth
your echo
faded into sky
no image was left in the mirror
there was no one looking

all sides fell through the looking glass
as it shattered into infinite reflections
these very words
seem to capture edgeless-ness
trying to catch them
you bleed



where are the clouds from yesterday's skies?
water does not hold them
reflections leave no footprint
on the golden edge of dawn

under the rose bush
faded petals fall
carpet the garden
where does winter hide?
beyond the cliffs where fallen dreams gather
and swirl
eddies of emptiness
lose their edges
an echo's dream
sings songs of love
brushed with burning shadows
the last light of hope
blows away
your silhouette
a memory
consumed in waves of flame

no one is lost in the arms of no tomorrow
slip knot of love
erases itself

push and suck of tides
heartbeat of the sea
there is no shore
and no one to rest
joy and sorrow bleed into each other
the pulse of love
folds into itself
disappears without a shadow
burning in the midnight sun


no one to escape
and no one to be free
no inside or outside
nothing to get
and no one to get it
no here nor there
nor anyone to travel

all separation is illusion
illusion is illusion

enlightenment is the dream
anything said paints the dream
all there is is this
and not even that

when imaginary separation is no longer believed
it is the end of the feeling of separation
self and time and all thingness never was
imaginary separation cannot erase itself

this is not the end of the dream
not believing in the dream is the dream as well

there is nothing but the dream
we are the dream
as outside and inside
like all this and that
is made up

enlightenment is not a belief or understanding or philosophy
it cannot be taught or learned or shared
for there is no one singing
and no one listening
it is the utter and complete end of you and me and love
the end of belief and feeling of solidity
is not the end of the dream
it is the dream as well

all of life happens utterly spontaneously
no one or thing makes it happen
it does not arise out of nothing or emptiness or god
life does itself
and looks and feels like anything at all
neither good nor bad nor in-between
nothing can be added...
where would it come from?
can you find an edge?
nothing can be taken away
where would it go?

there are no things
or non things
there is no outside to the dream
or inside
as inside and outside like all this and that
are the dream
made up
trying to escape or accept the story
is the story

all these words paint the dream
the flowing thought dream
of a you who is surrounded by separate things
and lives in a world of time
and you're getting closer and closer
to this imagined future
this dream of enlightenment
have you ever found a next?

perhaps you have been told to let thoughts and feelings flow
is there a someone separate from thought and feeling?
can you find the beginning and end to a thought or feeling
are there separate thoughts and feelings?

perhaps you have been told to accept what is going on
can you find a you outside of what is going on?

perhaps you have been told to be awake to what is going on
when has there ever been a someone separate from what is going on?
if it feels like you are not awake to what is going on
that is what is going on
if it feels like there is a you separate from what is going on
that is what is going on

all instructions assume that there is a way out of the dream
all methods and practices merely seem to substantiate the painful illusion of a self who has personal volition, who can do or not do something or nothing to get this
but you are the looking for an idea
you are the seeking
there is nothing to get
and no one to get it
this is it, coyote
and not even that

enlightenment has nothing to do with you



late moon
shallow wind
echoes alight on shadow's breath

still pond
heavy with night
slowly slowly
reflections delicately kiss
ripples spiraling ever outward
sliding over and under and through each other
reverberations of memory
ever expanding parentheses
all is lost in shades of darkness
sun never finds a place to rest
bleeds into its own reflection

what never happened
what never will
all shadows
burst into flame
fire burns itself

love is the dream
of merging into each other
we are echoes burning
silhouettes of fire
light pouring into light


empty vault of sky
pours through you
there are no shadows to be gathered
in the wasteland of time

how deep is the echo that ransacked your heart?
how wide the canyon that separated you from love?

plunging headfirst into the great abyss
you see your reflection
the great maw of nothingness
wears your beautiful smile

no one wanders the beaches
of this shoreless sea
diaphanous orbs sail across the shimmering sky
slide into their own reflections
the fairy tale of sleeping
and awakening
ends

murmuration blooms and falls apart
sweeps across the vacancy of evening
stars have no name or number
no light is looked for or found
footsteps made of sand
dissolve into sand
wind dances
dissolves into wind


early morning like leftover dusk
darkness breathes
the song of day
suspended in the scent of moon Lilly
finch songs bathe in golden shadows

no one fell into the chasm of dreams
where eternity slept
waiting for her lover
never was a dream that time forgot
while she was dancing in the shadows
of yesterday's sky

tomorrow another day dream
written with memory
these very lines
and squiggles and curves
vowels and consonants like love letters
strewn across the vastness
sent by no one
to no one
crumpled dreams
paper candy wrappers
flowers in the tumbleweeds
trembling in the morning wind

a thousand songs ago
my heart exploded into infinite sky
and there is no one waiting
for its return



slowly slowly
golden leaf spins
caught in autumn shower

petals of your heart fell
one after another
until you could no longer find
a love you longed to hold
but could never name
memories pressed between the pages of time
cannot blossom

flowers explode inside your empty chest
exquisite the thorns that pierce your tenderness
all ideas of love bleed into the dream
river of tears
has no wetness

whose eyes weave the new dawn
and gaze upon the garden
surly they are not owned
nor this love
bathing in this splendiferous naked sky



sunlight pours through cliffs of wind
solidity of joy and sorrow crumble
butterfly seems to catch the light
blossoming iridescence
flies in and around the daydream
that it is

infinity faceted gems
spin
weaving and unweaving this flowing tapestry
that neither moves nor remains still
without a place to land
cascades of dream fragments
fall apart
the hand that tried to grasp it
was it
the teller of the story
is the story

moon cannot hide in its own shadow
flowers do not desire to see their own beauty
yet the flame burns itself
pierced by her own aloneness
it was no longer hers

she was the ache for color
the hum of the night
and the longing for day
painting rainbows on the window
her tears were no longer hers
as she watched the colors flow
she disappeared into the flowing
and never looked back
there was no back
nor anyone to look


words cannot be held
inside your mouth
inside your chest
they paint the inside
and outside
of all things

trace of moon spills into dawn
erases the kiss of shadows
blooming
and receding
into night

pirouette of light and dark
sank in the garden pond
where your reflection waited
for you to appear

longing to drown in light
it burnt the inside and outside
of your shadow

your footprints
melted into earth
your echo
faded into sky
no image was left in the mirror
there was no one looking

all sides fell through the looking glass
as it shattered into infinite reflections
these very words
seem to capture edgeless-ness
trying to catch them
you bleed


sound absorbs its own echo
light disappears into its own reflection
moon Lilly wilts in the mid day sun
how deep was my shadow
as I fell through the sidewalk
how wide the abyss
that has no sides?

reflections shimmer and dance
skim the surface of the stream
ripples flow over and under and through each other
sky mirrors sky
light pours through light
and you fall through

there is no other side
of your own emptiness


Tuesday, September 10, 2019

forest of sky


Mostly I’m silent
Love is better hidden 
Clothed in poetry

who is bathed in morning glow 
and the absence of morning?
a thousand mornings
infinite petals
blooming and wilting
are the clothes which no one wears

who wears the the shimmering leaves
as autumn shares its wonder?
no one wears the light
or hides in the dark

morning canyon breathes
the suck and push of tides
ocean's song
vast without feature
reflections of endless sky
echoes of memory reverberate
without a shore 
there is no place for the waves to land
no harbor for memory to gather
and swirl into the dream of you

beauty cannot hold the light
without words there are no seasons
there is no beginning
nor end
to this song
which cannot hold itself

sun rises behind the canyon walls
light and shadow seem to form images
clouds falling through
deep deep canyons
but like all this and that
it is a magic trick
a streaming thought dream
a story land of wonder
a love ballet
a constant union
of what was never apart

moonlight sighs 
In love with its own reflection 
Pours through our hearts 
And sings



dream of night and day
plays in the tides
in breath
out breath
crash on the beaches
of this shoreless ocean
the death of all tomorrows
resides in your heart
it is the love you long for and fear

such beauty in feeling so deeply
the longing
the fear...
the lines between joy and sorrow fall away
you and love
and the night
are imaginary 

night time sighs
falls through its own echo
dances with its own shadow
dissolves into this morning song


love burns even itself
leaves no ashes
to be caught in the winds of time
time lost its footprints
in the dream of never and forever

shadows leave no wake
light swallows all memory of light 
in this riot of love
there are no winners
no losers
a sublime sorrow
a tsunami of joy
an ever present ease
floods the dream
saturates the river
imaginary banks crumble
with every footfall
the dream of nothing
implodes
into the dream of love


This may feel like you’re going crazy 
Or like you’re dying 
It is very rare to see through the illusion of self 
Even more rare to see through the illusion of separation 
However as there never was a someone doing life 
Life continues much as before 
It is not a question of being able to flow along with the flow as there is nothing but the flow 
Heck
Yesterday I met some preachers 
And it was wonderful 
God lovers think I’m one too 
Lol 
Everyone seems wonderful 
Beautiful 
Easy to love 
When it is no longer believed or felt that there is any separation 
And that all imaginary characters are not the chooser of belief thought feeling or action 
Just a flowing thought dream 
Looking and feeling like anything at all


words slice up the sounds
of a language you have never heard
remembering the softness
of forgotten hearts
beating
together
apart
longing to hide
between the rocks of knowing
and the canyons of not knowing
waiting for an avalanche
of love
longing to be exposed
turned inside out
beyond words
beyond wordless-ness

there is no path
nor signs ahead
there is no before
or after
all the roadmaps have been shredded
the stars do not look familiar
the ground begins to crumble
earth swallows your feet
sky swoops down and consumes the rest
exquisite this pain
this loss of all and everything
even the hands 
the heart
that would grasp them

spider web outside my window
holds an early autumn leaf
dancing in the summer sun


darkness blossoms
thin thread of light beckons
there is no path to the edge of midnight

wings of light caress you
with a promise of tomorrow 
but it is all reflected light
pouring through you
anointing your heart
with a future love
that will never consume you
there is no one to kiss away the dark
and no one to greet the day

when the treasure you long for
is in your hands
in your heart
they will no longer be your hands
it was never your heart
never your love
this priceless gem was always here

can't you feel this wondrous aliveness?
it seems to come in various colors
pulsating
breathing in myriad forms
but it has no shape nor shapeless-ness
it is not moving nor non moving
it has no light 
nor darkness
it is an echo's dream
dancing with its own reflection



this river of tears is not a journey
no one leaves
no one returns
all paths collapse
all directions spin into meaningless beauty
stars on an unfamiliar planet
waves of light shimmer
on deserted beaches
the song of midnight swallows all words
day and night
light and dark
here and there
are lush and wondrous songs without substance

why did I seek the source of wetness
when tears were all around me
why did I wander past the wetlands
walking through reflections of heaven
looking for the end of sky?

the wings of sorrow and joy beat this heart
that was never mine
no one wears this river of tears
neither you nor me
it is all wetness
there is no center to this swirling dream scape
no edges to this love



I wandered the midnight garden
adrift in the scent of moon glow
I ransacked piles of last winters leaves
seeking ancient songs of spring

I longed to escape my skin
and replace my nakedness with starlight
but there was nothing underneath
to discard it

I searched the stars for guidance 
but all I found was fathomless beauty
the untold tales of millions
words of reflected light

gazing at the featureless ocean
I longed to be drowned in the sea of love
and endless sky
lost in the middle of an echo
I was pierced by love's heart magic
all sides collapsed
edgeless love sang
her song

there are no drops in the ocean
nor wetness
no empty beaches
to rest upon
no empty footsteps
to be wind blown into stardust
there was never any song 
but love


who sings with the voices of flowers?
is this radiance contained?
this explosion of life blossoming
that wilts just as it is heard?

is there a singer
or just the song
singing itself to sleep

light streams through its reflection 
drowns in the sea of dreams
waterfalls of echoes fall through ripples of sorrow and joy
it is all a love song
breathing
under water


moon glow
diamond back mountain
darkness melts into its own shadow
drenched in midnight
love swallows itself

vowels
round and lush
stream through the night
clouds absorb the remaining light
moon Lilly unfolds her wings
but cannot fly
cricket song of consonants
hides deep in the garden
I was a symphony of shadows
bleeding

sky kisses itself in the rippling stream
no one is lost in its echo
reflections have no source
yet they shimmer so
the world fell through my heart
eviscerating all ideas of love

I had tried to hold all the love songs in my chest
but it exploded into colors I had never seen
rainbows pour through me
this is not my heart singing
this is all hearts
breathing
wingless love songs
soar


first sun
shadows pour down the mountain
gather neath the brambles
cricket sings
last breath of night

moon Lilly wilts
dragonfly hovers
where is the sound of echoes
on a windless day


trying to erase the illusion of separation
is illusion
and perpetuates the painful belief in the illusion
unicity is already always on
and has no edges nor center
no time dimension or causality
no qualities or characteristics whatsoever 
it is not an it
and cannot and need not be made anew

this is not a conceptual knowing
as it is not a thing
or non thing
it is more of an intuited un-knowing
that subsumes all conventional knowing
this delicious unknowing 
cannot be found
you feel this
and long to find it
to capture it
to hold it
you are the longing for completion
for wholeness
but wholeness is already this
whatever it looks or feels like

longing for it 
is it

self is the feeling of lack
and the assumption of knowing
it is the seeking for completion, for wholeness 
and the belief that it can do or not do something to feel whole

the more knowledge we acquire
the more solid we feel 
...perhaps we won’t die! 
yet the more like statues we become...

stars skim the surface of mind
oceans drown in forest of sky
moonlight golden on the first leaves of autumn 
echoes of robin song
bathe the garden
daytime dream
bleeds into night