Spiritual
One of Us
Someday, the light will shine like a sun through my skin & they will say, What have you done with your life? & though there are many moments I think I will remember, in the end, I will be proud to say, I was one of us.
Old Spirit
The feel of his spirit was too old for most people to understand & when he walked by they would look up & say O, the sun went behind a cloud, or, the moon must be full & so he walked for a long time by himself with no one to talk to.
Nothing More
Often, I write all day long with white ink on white paper, late into the night, until it is all I can do to feel the letters curving to earth from the tip of the pen & then, I fall asleep. Dreaming of running, or maybe driving in a car the color of water & I wake the next day remembering nothing & I gather the stack of paper & a pen of black on the desk in front of me & the words begin to dance over the page like long legged insects across a still lake & the words in white whisper behind & underneath the new day. If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. & there is nothing more to it than that.
No Regret
I sometimes wake in the early morning
& listen to the soft breathing
of my children & I think to myself,
this is one thing I will never regret
& I carry that quiet with me all day long.
No Rush
this is the center of the universe at this moment
unless you’re looking in another direction,
or are thinking about something from a long time ago,
in which case it will wait quietly right here until you return
Living Memory
I carry you with me into the world,
into the smell of rain
& the words that dance between people
& for me, it will always be this way,
walking in the light,
remembering being alive together
Lifetime
We’re here to end it, I said & she said, No, we’re here to begin it & then she turned & opened her arms & everywhere I could see, there were people, like bright birds, calling with a thousand voices & suddenly I understood. Here is where it begins with all of us, together giving our daughters a world worth loving for a lifetime to come.
Legacy
I promise you not a moment will be lost as long as I have heart & voice to speak & we will walk again together with a thousand others & a thousand more & on & on until there is no one among us who does not know the truth: there is no future without love.
In The Heart of The World
In the heart of the world there is a place that holds the secret names of the rocks & the trees & all the children of the earth & around it gather women & men who hold it dear & each night they stand together to keep it safe for as long as it takes till morning comes & no matter what you have been told, this will always be so, in the heart of the world.
Imagining World
In my dream, the angel shrugged & said, If we fail this time, it will be a failure of imagination & then she placed the world gently in the palm of my hand.
Hidden Twin
He was always a twin but he kept the other one hidden under his Stetson to protect her from the sun & the wind & the stares of startled people.
High Places
He carried a ladder almost everywhere he went
& after awhile people left all the high places to him.
Heaven II
She said you know what heaven is like? & I said I wasn’t sure & she laughed & said grown-ups didn’t know much at all about important stuff & I said I had to agree with her even though I was one of them myself.
Hard to Impress
hard to impress because she’s already seen the sun rise today & it doesn’t get much better than that
Glow World
this is a world filled with love & other things that have the sense not to waste time talking about everything under the sun & see how it glows with no help from us whatsoever
God Business
In the god business mainly because he’s always liked to mess with fire, even from the time he was little & not nearly so all-powerful.
Goddess
I do much better as a goddess, she said, since my secretarial skills have always been limited
Funny World
He told me about Jesus & Arizona & the best way to make beer & I said you’re a funny kind of preacher & he said it’s a funny kind of world & I still remember his eyes clear as a desert morning.
Future Lives
Anybody can make up past lives, she said. The real trick is to make up future lives & not forget you did it.
Free Time
King of Hearts idly playing a game of people