life: acoustic & amplified

poetry, quotes & thoughts about life

Archive for the category “connection”

28 Apr 2016

risk it all  


We are here essentially to risk ourselves in the world. We are a form of invitation to others and to otherness, we are meant to hazard ourselves for the right thing, for the right woman or the right man, for a son or a daughter, for the right work or for a gift given against all the odds. And in all this continual risking the most profound courage may be found in the radical and simple willingness to allow ourselves to be happy along the way…

😄

LONGING by David Whyte


It’s not how we leave one’s life. 

How we go off the air. 

You never know do you. 

You think you’re ready

for anything; 

then it happens, and you’re not. 

You’re really not. 

The genesis of an ending, nothing but a feeling, 

a slow movement, 

the dusting of furniture 

with a remnant of the revenant’s shirt.

Seeing the candles sink in their sockets; 

we turn away, 

yet the music never quits. 

The fire kisses our face.

O phthsis, o lotharian dead eye, 

no longer will you gaze on the baize of the billiard table. 

No more shooting butter dishes out of the sky. 

Scattering light.

Between snatches of poetry and penitence 

you left the brumal wood of men and women. 

Snow drove the butterflies home. 

You must know how it goes, 

known all along what to expect,

sooner or later … 

the faded cadence of anonymity.

Frankly, my dear, frankly, my dear, frankly

💞

Only the Crossing Counts by C. D. Wright


Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down

You could stand me up at the gates of hell

But I won’t back down
Gonna stand my ground, won’t be turned around

And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down

Gonna stand my ground and I won’t back down
[Chorus:]

Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out

Hey I will stand my ground

And I won’t back down
Well I know what’s right, I got just one life

In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around

But I’ll stand my ground and I won’t back down
Hey baby there ain’t no easy way out

Hey I will stand my ground

And I won’t back down

No, I won’t back down

This day maybe be rough and bloody and heartbreaking but it is here and it is now and it is bursting with untold potential and possibility and our response to it is of utmost, urgent importance.

       – Rob Bell

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Choice, connection, courage, determination, do, Encouragement, find art at pinterest, fun, Letting Go, Life, Passion, risk, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
26 Apr 2016

the art




When they say 

Don’t I know you?

say no.

When they invite you to the party

remember what parties are like before answering.

 
Someone telling you 

in a loud voice 
they once wrote a poem.

 Greasy sausage balls on a paper plate.

Then reply.

If they say 

We should get together

say why?

It’s not that you don’t love them anymore.

 You’re trying to remember 

something 
too important to forget.

Trees. 

The monastery bell at twilight.

Tell them you have a new project.

It will never be finished. 

When someone recognizes you in a grocery store 

nod briefly 

and become a cabbage.

When someone you haven’t seen in ten years

appears at the door,

don’t start singing him all your new songs.

 You will never catch up.

Walk around feeling like a leaf.

Know you could tumble any second.

Then decide what to do with your time.

🐧

The Art of Disappearing by Naomi Shihab Nye


there is terrible beauty in every human heart 
tell me a story that will live with me forever
love always shares grace always wins
you can’t miss if you show up
pay attention…
the message is always revealed at the appointed intersection 
letting go brings the right miracle
at the right time the song playlist repeats 
crazy love flows into mystic waters
deep calling to deep
honor chooses to say yes to the best invitations
making the call brings me the messages I need to build the new bridge from the friend bench of this manna-filled moment
there is always more than enough to share
gratitude buckets fill and overflow
removing scales from blurry, tearful, kaleidoscope eyes 
as perfect peace falls into rightful place
color shards blooming into new masterpieces of never before seen glory
diamonds dance on the water
flaming beauty evolves, drives me to my knees,
shedding shoes, and fear, 
as we talk 
I lift my face to the sun and free soar 
full wing, open soul, with the gulls,
who always fly in trust, never a shadow of doubt, that they are loved to the sky 
right here, and in every tick of time,
in, and in between, every click of the second hand,
around the bend of eternity and back again

🐧

AL

Posted in attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, Choice, confidence, connection, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, forgiveness, Letting Go, Life, Love, Party, Reality | Leave a comment
25 Apr 2016

just pay attention  


a poem can write itself in a moment –

a snapshot written in the soul –

a worded,

or wordless,

recognition of beauty,

the endless evolution

and creation,

which surrounds our steps

and walks with us

as we dance through our lives. 

A few examples:

the way a weeping cherry tree delicately drapes pink branches 

against the blue sky. 

the way a jagged cut tree stump

covers itself with luxurious moss 

and pours out green English ivy all over the ground around it. 

the way the tires of a bulldozer 

make such interesting patterns in the sand

on the way to the salt water. 

the way dandelions keep on

cheerfully spreading wishes

and polka dot sunshine

no matter how many times they get labeled weeds.  

the way the smell of an orange 

colors your hands,

long after the fruit is consumed. 

the way a great conversation, 

of kith and kin,

on any ol’ friends bench,

can take you miles and miles

around the moon 

and back again

changing the course of your day,

sometimes, 

even your life. 

yes, poems are born

in the senses. 

no need for pen or paper, 

poems are created 

while paying attention, 

in the heart of 

our ordinary,

extraordinary,

living of life. 

🍊

AL


We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

📖

   – Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society 


Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Choice, connection, create, Dancing, find art at pinterest, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Poetry, soul and spirit, www.pinterest.com | Leave a comment
24 Apr 2016

grateful 


Thank you whoever tuned the radio

to rain, thank you who spilled

the strong-willed wine for not

being me

so I’m not to blame. I’m glad

I’m not that broken tree

although

it looks sublime. And glad I’m not

taking a test and running out of time.

What’s a tetrahedron anyway?

What’s the sublime, 3,483 divided by 9,

the tenth amendment, the ferryman’s name

on the River Styx? We’re all missing

more and more tricks, losing our grips,

guilty of crimes we didn’t commit.

The horse rears and races then moves no more,

the sports coupe grinds to a stop, beginning

a new life as rot, beaten to shit.

Whitman grass stain,

consciousness swamp gas,

the bones and brain,

protoplasm and liver,

ground down like stones in a river.

Or does

the heart’s cinder wash up as delta froth

out of which hops frog spawn, dog song,

the next rhyming grind, next kid literati?

Maybe the world’s just a bubble, all

philosophy ants in a muddle,

an engine inside an elk’s skull on a pole.

Maybe an angel’s long overdue and we’re

all in trouble. Meanwhile thanks whoever

for the dial turned to green downpour, thanks

for feathery conniptions at the seashore

and moth-minded, match-flash breath.

Thank you for whatever’s left.

💦

Spring Reign by Dean Young


on the edge of flying

the verge of breaking through

standing in the pouring rain

hoping to find you

somewhere in the darkness

of this dark and stormy night

questions with no answers

crashing through my soul

bloody battles all around

as I stand within my pain

holding on to faith in something

in the middle of this night

at the end of living

not knowing what to do

tears, they match the weather

flooding from my soul

release me for a moment

there’s work for me to do

💧

AL



find photo sources at http://www.pinterest.com

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, beauty, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, Prayer, Reality | Leave a comment
22 Apr 2016

love came calling

 

 
Love came to tell me,

‘there is nothing that does not include me…

from your breath

to the neighbor 

who is hard to ‘tolerate.’

Everything is love

it’s all connected

it’s all life’s about

So, Love came to call,

to tell me,

to make sure I truly understood, 

what love looks like. 

The real thing

is costly,

is all powerful,

all encompassing. 

Yes, love came 

and stayed,

whispering in my ear,

every damn day

reminding me,

‘There is nothing

that does not include me…

nothing’

😘

AL

 

 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, compassion, confidence, connection, Faith, find art at pinterest, grace, Hope, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment
20 Apr 2016

goodness runs wild everywhere 


Too bad you weren’t here six months ago,

was a lament I heard on my visit to Nebraska.

You could have seen the astonishing spectacle

of the sandhill cranes,

thousands of them

feeding and even dancing

on the shores of the Platte River.

There was no point in pointing out

the impossibility of my being there then

because I happened to be somewhere else,

so I nodded and put on a look of mild disappointment

if only to be part of the commiseration.

 

It was the same look I remember wearing

about six months ago in Georgia

when I was told that I had just missed

the spectacular annual outburst of azaleas,

brilliant against the green backdrop of spring

 

and the same in Vermont six months before that

when I arrived shortly after

the magnificent foliage had gloriously peaked,

Mother Nature,

as she is called,

having touched the hills with her many-colored brush,

a phenomenon that occurs,

like the others,

around the same time every year when I am apparently off

in another state,

stuck in a motel lobby

with the local paper and a styrofoam cup of coffee,

busily missing God knows what.

☕️
The Sandhill Cranes of Nebraska by Billy Collins

On vacation I witnessed
birds and whales

that had traveled farther than I.
They take with them

their memories, their songs

and the sacred longing
that guides their migrations,

that leads me

in all my rambling,
the silent knowing

that seems like hunger,

seems like not knowing,
the sure desultory path

that is life, the way

that is the blessing,
the holy wandering

to life that awaits,

always toward you.
__________________

Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Blessing, Choice, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, Freedom, Gratitude, Habits, Happiness, Love, Miracles, mystery, nature, Poetry, Reality | Leave a comment
19 Apr 2016

go your own way

 

 a thousand miles
in silence 

a thousand miles 

alone

a thousand miles

to get here

a thousand miles

to go

a thousand smiles

to cheer me 

a thousand more

to know

a thousand miles

of learning 

a thousand more

I’m home

🏡

AL

 

 The path of the spiritual warrior is not soft and sweet. It is not artificially blissful and feigned forgiving. It is not fearful of divisiveness. It is not afraid of its own shadow. It is not afraid of losing popularity when it speaks its truth. It will not beat around the bush where directness is essential. It has no regard for vested interests that cause suffering. It is benevolent and it is fiery and it is cuttingly honest in its efforts to liberate itself and humanity from the egoic ties that bind. Shunning strong opinions in the name of spirituality is anti-spiritual. Spirituality that is only floaty-soft is a recipe for disaster, allowing all manner of manipulation to run amok. Real spirituality is a quest for truth, in all its forms. Sometimes we find the truth on the meditation cushion, and sometimes we find it in the heart of legitimate conflict. May all spiritual warriors rise into fullness. This planet is lost without them.
    – Jeff Brown

  

 

 

Posted in action, Adventure, attitude, awareness, Becoming Yourself, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, home, Life, Love, music, mystery, power, Prayer | Leave a comment
17 Apr 2016

again and again

  
This world doesn’t improve by demanding perfection. It improves when we reach through our armor and touch another with tenderness. It improves when we bust through the walls of our conditioning, and try a new way of being on for size. It improves when we work through our unresolved shadow and share what little light we can find. It is the small, positive steps that we take when we are at war with ourselves that change the world.

   – Jeff Brown 

awe…

examination…

it keeps appearing 

again…

I delete…

and again…

I delete…

and again

haven’t I already written this poem?

haven’t I already done that before?

What is left…

that I don’t know…

that I haven’t taken out…

haven’t examined properly?

There are always more layers

An onion…revealing more onion

layers…

upon layers…

illusions,

shadows,

truth left to excavate,

healing to be won,

motivations to uncover,

mystery to be discovered,

always more. 

God keeps getting bigger

as I examine,

I reduce,

I open. 

help me to stay in this mode of learning…

growth…

humble me…

soften me…

my best self emerges within this process

send it again…

remind me again…

💞

AL

   
 
  

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, connection, courage, find art at pinterest, healing, inspiration, intimacy, Letting Go, Love, mystery, Patience, power, Prayer | Leave a comment
07 Apr 2016

pieces & parts 

 

The teacher asks a question.

You know the answer, 

you suspect

you are the only one in the classroom

who knows the answer, 

because the person

in question is yourself, 

and on that

you are the greatest living authority,

but you don’t raise your hand.

You raise the top of your desk

and take out an apple.

You look out the window.

You don’t raise your hand and there is

some essential beauty in your fingers,

which aren’t even drumming,

 but lie

flat and peaceful.

🙏🏻

The Hand by Mary Ruefle

 

 I try to clean up
pick up pieces of myself

from all over the frozen ground

Who knew hearts can turn into

Slivers of glass

dangerous to handle

Slice my fingers

I rub tears from my eyes

and find toxic rivers

Red flows 

Staining all of life

Small killing shards everywhere

Thousands

Maybe millions

They stick to the inside of my chest

My throat

Puncture my lungs

Settle in my stomach 

as I try to eat breakfast 

It’s getting harder and harder to speak

To breathe

To stand

I fall face first into a pool 

Of freezing water

The glass becomes ice 

Eventually I crawl out of the water

but the ice remains 

a solid block I live with

for 9 years 

Containment my highest priority

Walking dead 

until that box breaks open

I begin to grieve

and begin slowly melting 

Fusing shattered pieces

absorbing them into 

the fabric of my living

Im still working on it

Still looking for the fire of love

to refine the gold

Scars show the hearts broken places

for glimmers of light to shine through

As grieving does it’s healing work

And I become human 

Once again

❤️

AL

   

   
  
  

 

Posted in attitude, awareness, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, Change, Choice, connection, courage, Faith, find art at pinterest, Freedom, friendship, Grieving, Growth, healing, Letting Go, Life, Love | Leave a comment
06 Apr 2016

sometimes on a greyhound  

 

 A life without love is a waste. “Should I look for spiritual love, or material, or physical love?”, don’t ask yourself this question. Discrimination leads to discrimination. Love doesn’t need any name, category or definition. Love is a world itself. Either you are in, at the center…either you are out, yearning.
❤️

~ Shams

  
to learn to trust

we must be trustworthy. 

trust is a choice. 

not an easy choice. 

but the best choice. 

trust is not naive 

trust is 

brutal 

reckless

ruthless

courageous 

strong

brave

trust takes the teeth out of insanity 

trust allows us to make good choices 

trust gives us the ability to know wisdom

trust opens the door to love

trust brings healing to our lives

trust is a gift

that must start with yourself 

just trust yourself a little bit

learn to be trustworthy to your soul

soon you will be able to give some to others

then, maybe, even the world

💞

AL

  
Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. The one who looks outside, dreams; the one who looks inside, awakens.  

❤️

    -Carl Jung

  
I want to both awaken and dream, to see all that is in my heart (and yes, that means the dark gunky stuff as well as the wonderful shiny stuff) and see the world in a way that helps me contribute to dreams of sustainable peace and justice. And here it is- the gift of another day to begin again. 

❤️

  – Oriah Mountain Dreamer

  

The surface is always blank.

The real, submerged. 
Look down into that sky,

where beneath a vague cloud flashes,
—is it above or below?—

created, given, waiting.
There is another way,

another side of your little boat.
Beneath your dreary, fruitless nights

something graced awaits,
abundance exceeding your capacity, blessing

at which you laugh in wonder and fright,
a gift that bears you to the breaking point,

a net swelled with light and glory,
and not by luck, but given in love: a presence, 

a companionship you hadn’t recognized.
Heaven is offered, hearts are restored

in something as simple as a broiled fish, shared.
But first you learn a new way,

another side, the unrecognized friend.
And then, after the gift, the revelation,

you learn a new way, another side.
The Mystery doesn’t leave you.

It leads.

__________________ 
Steve Garnaas-Holmes

Unfolding Light

http://www.unfoldinglight.net

  
find photo sources at http://www.pinterest.com

Posted in awareness, balance, beauty, Becoming Yourself, beloved, connection, courage, create, find art at pinterest, Life, Love | Leave a comment

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