uphold the integrity of the quest – spoken @ Infusion Cincinnati
A GLIMPSE
The beauty of the imagination is that it can discover such magnificent vastness inside a tiny space. Our culture is dominated by quantity. Even those who have plenty hunger for more and more. Everywhere around us, the reign of quantity extends and multiplies. Sadly the voyage of greed has all the urgency but no sense of destination. Desire becomes inflated and loses all sense of vision and proportion. When beauty becomes an acquisition it brings no delight. When time seemed longer and slower, the eye of the beholder had more space and distance to glimpse the beautiful. There was a respect for the worlds that could be suggested by a glimpse.
☄
John O’Donohue
Excerpt from BEAUTY
I steal glimpses of beauty,
in all she is –
this moment,
sky in my rearview.
A huge bowl of rainbow sherbet
my favorite-color-kind
with raspberry, orange & lime
swatches of lemon, indigo & periwinkle
float like barges –
in, out
&
around.
Framing.
Dancing.
Living.
At one point tangerine fills the top of the hilly crest,
headlight stars
blaze brilliant against the backdrop.
Indigo stretched above, framing this momentary masterpiece.
At times I find it hard to keep moving forward
into the matt gray of drudgery ahead.
With so much loveliness going on
right behind me…
how can I keep heading away from it?
How can I not be a part of this splendor?
Eventually, midnight blue seizes its moment of glory,
then night falls over all,
and I am left,
aching with the beauty,
the majesty,
the extravagant display,
of this wonderful world.
I go to wondering
if this longing in my heart
will ever be answered?
If my whole life I will wait
for a moment which will never come?
Will it never be realized under this piece of sky?
Will it always be this whisper?
The magic of hope,
this thing with wings,
hovering over my heart
for another 50 years,
echoing on into eternity.
🌄
AL
life: acoustic & amplified 