Poetry Pages
Poems will be shared regularly with a writing prompt to encourage you to consider the content of the offering and how you might relate to the images and words in your own life. Each poem is a gift from me to you, from one wanderer to another. If you would like to listen to the poems... please scroll down and click the links. To get updates when poems are added, please subscribe. Enjoy!
Urim and Thummim
They came from the King
to show the way
to the boy
who would find the Alchemist
who would find his own Gold
(or was it his own God?)
right where he left it
under the tree
his heart knew all along
or so the story goes.
The elders tell us that life
is not right or wrong
yes or no
yet here lie these
stones
deep in my pocket
waiting to tell me
black or white
to allow the mystery to speak
the omens to be fulfilled.
The morning star
guides us to be last
in order to be first
to die to this life
to be rebirthed in another
Constant letting go
before grabbing on
waiting
trusting
for the outstretched hands
to reach us.
Urim and Thummim Prompt:
What question are you waiting for an answer for?
How do you know if you are going in the direction you are called in life?
What is right in front of you that you are not able to see (yet)?
Joy Lives Here
Joy lives here.
Sometimes she will take a nap
in the middle of the day
to rest up.
On Sundays she goes to church
mostly to sing.
Sometimes God leans over and says,
“I’ve missed you.”
In the early morning
she lets the dog outside to run about the place
feeds the birds what the mice have left
holds the rabbit.
She sits with her coffee
at the kitchen table
packs the lunches, clears the dishes
lights the candle and waits.
Sometimes Joy writes things down.
She plays with phrases on the page
chasing down words like catnip bubbles.
She mostly likes to laugh.
In the evening
she asks about the days
and listens deeply
in case there is some pain that grew inside.
She goes to bed
once the children are asleep.
She snores along with the train whistles
but wakes at the sound of a deep sigh.
When the dream people visit
she turns on the light to see them better.
She scribbles down what they say
on little pads of paper by the bed.
“Today will be good, “she thinks.
As her feet reach the soft wood, she hums.
She stands again steady, ready
for the First Step.
Joy Lives Here Prompt:
What brings you joy?
What makes your heart sing?
Is there someone who would love to hear your voice?
Consider creating a gratitude list today and adding to it each day.
Storeshop Candle
Here you are
from dreamland
fake and fresh,
mass produced
garish and yellow
“Ganesh, remover of obstacles”
printed on the back
for the likes of me.
Here sits my answer
as I yelled to the heavens
“What do you want from me?”
after being dragged
to the mountaintop
behind my life
running to catch up.
The answer appears
in the bright blue backdrop
of a summer sky
as this half man
half elephant.
“What help is this!”
I dream scream.
Turning the candle
around in my hand
I feel like a fool
having not recognized him earlier,
but this was how it would be,
dream world,
meet real world.
I did not know
of his mother Parvati, or
of Shiva’s rage,
that this God would be
spawned from jealousy,
destroyed by anger,
reborn through love.
No more beautiful
could he have become
in his brilliant yellow suit
my elephant-headed deity
with his one brave tusk
greatest of the gods
carried by his Rat confidante.
This unlikely partner now
stays with me
charging down
ignorance, judgment.
We sit together
despite fickle moods and brash egos
that could separate us.
We ask trusted Rat
to come with us
to find the riches
hidden under the soil
on that dream mountaintop
where we first met.
I turn to Ganesh and ask
now in a much quieter voice
“What do you want from me?”
We laugh at the ridiculousness
of this question
as now we both know
the answer.
Rat, too, smiles and nods.
We three sprawl out on our spoils
soaking in the heat
of another day
made just for us
it seems,
to dream.
Storeshop Candle Prompt:
Consider the obstacles in your life at this time. What is holding you back? What is in the way.? How might time devoted to a spiritual practice help you to refocus? Where do you find your sustenance and strength? Who is your Ganesh? Who is your Rat?