Present

Words lose their meaning
Thoughts become intentions
Mind merges with heart
Silence is prayer

Each second a lifetime
Empty and full
Breath and spirit
Are the same

On the trees
On the mountains
On the seas
They are the same

A world lives and dies
On the breath of the wind
The spirit moves in all
Everything is one

A Scented Recollection

I’m not too fond of roses

but I have a memory

of the pale pink kind

growing near our kitchen door

and how, on a summer evening

when I took the dog out for

his last pee of the day

that pale pink scent would creep,

wisp-like, around the gable end,

carried on a soft breeze,

and enfold me; and it seemed

in the stillness of that moment,

that a corner of my heart

would be filled

with a sense of peace

Living

If I can 
see the dawn
even in pain
then all is 
well and I have 
received a gift

If I can
go out 
and feel the breeze 
on my face
then I have received
a gracious gift 

If someone 
knocks
on my door
and is welcomed in
then for me this is
a wonderful gift

If I wake up
tomorrow 
and I can breathe
then this 
is the gift of life
to be cherished

Overpass

Overpass

Like a crown of thorns in yesterday’s light

Like a whisper to the future

In the dawn of each new day

Comes the warning: this is not all

A murmur turns into a roar

As the beast of beasts relinquishes

Till the forty days run their course

Till the new dawn of the new day

A sigh is now a shout of joy

For it is done. It is all done

Just as it was foretold of old

And the thorns are now blossoms

Like mirth returning to a saddened world

At once the word is understood: Rejoice!

The Blossom Is More Than The Seed

Acquiescence

I thought I understood

but I was miles off

You were so completely certain

and yet –

I tried to think it through

taking into account your views

but along that track

somewhere

I got completely lost

puzzled

confused

So I came to a conclusion

that put my mind at ease

That if I am not sure

about anything

and you are

then I must be wrong.

Muse Elusive

Retrospect

 

 

 

 

Retrospect

 

I built my dreams around you

not seeing

that you had your dreams too;

they all crashed together

and we couldn’t see each other

for the debris

and the dust like a fog;

and in the rubble that was left

like an obstacle course or test

we could only stumble around

as though we were blind

 

CM

Day of Wonder

Day of Wonder

It’s the day

of the rising

and the leaving

and the emptiness

with first

the disbelief

and the shock

and the fear

and the helplessness

then the wondering

about the how

and the what

and the what next

and the speculation

and the circling

round it

and round it

with the argument

and the discussion

and gradually

the waiting

and the silence

and the waiting,

and the wondering

and the waiting

and the nearly

despairing

until

the meeting.

ThenUnknown

In my temporary isolation
I find myself thinking, wondering,
the kind of thoughts
a child might have
about the state of things
and about nature

If I sniff my indoor plants and flowers
will they hold on to the virus?
Does the grass breathe?
If someone coughs or sneezes
nearby will it be affected?
What about the newly budding
leaves on the trees?

We’re given guidelines about
paper, cardboard, plastics, cotton
but nothing about the more organic things
Lying here I muse about this possible
“Worst case scenario” – what if:

the grasses, trees, rivers, seas,
the very earth itself were to receive,
harbour and hold this infection
would there then be an end
that is not inevitably final?

CM 2020