Tag: gift

a lifestyle choice

internet image
in the nineteen-seventies someone gave me a silver star pendant
in exchange for a spiritual reading. they told me that was the
only way such a token of power could be obtained: by being
given to one. it could not be purchased in stores. it was inscribed with
various arcane alchemical symbols, & i treasured that star
& wore it for years, feeling quite blessed. many adventures unfolded
during that high time, & life transpired in its storied way of travel
tales & many lessons learned. then, years ago, it came to pass that the
time was upon me to give that inscribed silver star to my youngest
daughter, whose given name is summer star. i had promised it to her.

its time with me was done, & the opportunity to serve next moves
on to my distant daughter in oregon. i hope she wears that star
with a happy heart for the benefit of the whole world. such gifts come
with a responsibility that cannot be ignored. destiny
will certainly see to that! everything comes wrapped in its own birthing
story, & all stories are pointing beyond themselves alone to the
full deep meaning & message. they are like holy guides showing the way.

ah Shiva, so casually are magical treasures passed onward!
how vital it is to be fully aware in order to honor
such a visiting dignitary, who may well appear as merely
decorative, until one can see beyond the visible surface.

it will also come about that all such things will eventually
be put aside, as awareness moves farther past the "thingness" of life.
Shiva, You are here to welcome such deep-seers to join the ever-
growing group of people who bless & rejoice & pray & focus on
the good, the true & the beautiful. it is a lifestyle choice: choose the
way of love, for love itself has chosen us as its own, forever.

full circle

how easily my certainty is swayed! these ups & downs wear on the the body,
which is not intended to be a yo-yo in the capricious hands of the
elemental spirits! it is offered as a gift to You, Shiva, with all
the imperfections which are natural & unavoidable in this realm.

i don't ask for the way to be smoothly easy, Shiva, only that You stay
near me, invisible by my side, enfolding me in Your essence, holding
me close to You like Your child. when i feel You near, i can rest in that knowing,
& i rejoice in opening the heart's door wide for You. the banner of love
is already hanging in its place of high honor. i take my position
standing steadfast by it, & i will not be moved, Shiva, except by You, for
i am Your own distant relative returning after a long wandering
pilgrimage, having come full circle in this chapter of the endless story.

now i am without certainty, which is more fragile than i had imagined.
yet love remains, for it is the solid foundation upon which You firmly
stand established, Shiva. it is this love which i invoke when i ask You to
remain, enfolding me deep in Your Being, deep into Your Holy Essence.

this fleeting human form

Shiva, You reach out to me through everything: through the high blue sky &
through a sudden breath of ambient air, warmer than the surroundings.
You stroke my cheek & my brow with gentle caressing intimacy &
thus i know--oh, i do know!--that You are here with me now, tenderly
murmuring "I love you" in the sweet subtle language You have taught me.

You are the sky pressing softly against me & the wind is Your breath.
You whisper to me that the body is a sacred vessel & that
the personality is loved just as much as a tiny kitten
is loved by mother in spite of its silly antics & accidents.
You lift me up in ways i can't describe & You wrap me safe within
the sky of You as if i am a gift offered to the storied world.

i am a gift: a virgin, holy mother & visionary crone.
i am Yours. All the roles & parts we humans play, we ultimately
give to You, for the gift & the giver are actually one in fact,
just as the deep blue sky is both space & atmosphere. Thank You, Shiva,
for respecting who i am inclusive of this fleeting human form.

the tinsel gifts of crows

i reach out to contact You, Shiva, but i cannot
dent the dense interior coronavirus haze.
i cannot reach You, so i drop into a deep daze.
i sink. i float. i snag upon thorny vasanas,
empty & drained of energy, joy & liveliness.

the body resembles a zombie refugee, slow,
heavy as gravity, composed of mud, meat & bone,
now absolved by unthinking, unfeeling raw dark sleep.
void of intent & organization, there is rest,
a descent & upsurge, a cleansing, a long release.

Shiva, reduced in vitality by a virus,
i look for You behind the moving shadow surface
anyway, for only You give the depth that i seek,
the height that i aim for & the strength to continue.
i am Your own primal kin returning now to You.

i bring poems, offered like the tinsel gifts of crows,
sincerely grateful that You are here to receive them,
these small shiny bright innocent tributes i give now.
OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

called by many names

the time to look within that the pandemic provides
is a healing & integrative blessing, though strict.
i know enough now not to confuse the wrapping of
the gift with the real gift, which i receive gratefully.

Shiva, i see that the sanatana dharma came
to the west as theosophy & esotericism,
telling the holistic tale that bridges cultures & lifestyles.
we are more alike than different, preferring love
over violence, gentleness over cruelty.

we surge forward as a multitude toward the light.
we stray only to learn the true nature of our need.
we are ignited, blazing like a fire in winter,
as we return to You, who are called by many names.
You bring the sanatana dharma, ageless wisdom,
the effulgence of eternal truth in daily life.

the pandemic is the current opportunity
to go within, emerging into Your dear embrace
as we shed our ragged & broken crusty old skins
for the supple skin of a newborn child in this world
as we return to You, who are called by many names.

i know You

i know You in my tears which flow in happiness
from the balm of Your presence, renewing vision.
this vision is of the heart open in blessing
& these tears are an offering at Your altar.

i know You in the blood pulsing through the body,
thoroughly pervading everywhere within me.
You sing the same salty hymn in my own blood as
You sing in the mother, the ocean unbounded.

i know You in the sweet morning dew fresh upon
the bright flowers nodding gently in the garden.
i have seen You winking at me from the rainbows
flashing in dewdrops in the early rays of sun.

i know You in the soft drip-dropping of the rain
as You nourish mineral, plant & animal,
journeying all the way up from the wide ocean
& down to earth again by devas dressed in clouds.

i know You in the stream rushing down the mountain
to quench the thirst & guide to fruitful level ground.
animals eagerly come to Your banks to drink
& many little lives rejoice in Your blessings.

i know You in the river in the raging storm,
flooding over human structures, washing away
the known & certain, casting it aside like straw,
reshaping the borders of our crushed illusions.

i know You in the ocean, vast, rhythmic, surging
in & out swelling, thundering, owning the earth
from horizon to horizon, mother of life.
i am but a wave in the broad ocean of You.

everywhere that i look i see You, i know You!
i disappear in the glory of You, Shiva!
it seems that i do not exist except as an
observer of You, again & again, of You!