AWAKENING

Oh these days in May

how endless and fleeting are they,

the present moment

of virus time married as it is

to the spring awakening, 

such a precious season to 

revel in the now: yellow and

red fleshed

flowers and pink trees

falling like gauzy ballet skirts,

tiny purple violets in the lawn

sky blue forget me nots

and clusters of white buds on pear trees,

and bleeding heart

and grass so green

the color sinks right through your eyes

into your soul.

OH we still don't know

when OH WHEN OH WHEN

will we have the 

world made whole again,

our lives, our loved ones

who have sunk into videos

as they shelter away.

Here and there, and feeling scared

we tiptoe outside and meet loved 

ones at three arms of distance. 

Meanwhile, all around 

is the message:

be mindful,

and so I am,

especially in meditation

and yoga,

I bend in triangle pose

and breathe deep

I keep staring outside

the window and soon

comes joy in the

form of hummingbirds 

the birds’ wings a buzz

they hardly land in the blur

of sipping the sweet nectar

on the run and sporting their

ruby throats.

Ah and on the lawn is a plainer

house finch, gathered pink

at the crown and nibbling

and pecking the grass seed we had

thrown.

And yesterday, during meditation,

the splendor of a bird the color 

of a ripe blueberry dancing 

across the meadow and 

sweeping up into a pine tree. 

The world has slowed

even as it is 

so trembling and alive.

What might be commonplace

those limestone boulders

outside the window

becomes fascinating now

that we are belted into

our houses.

The irony of this mindful

time is this tricky business 

of not thinking:

so frequently the paying

keener attention takes you very

squarely out of your mind

and into your mouth

the inside of the cheeks

the tongue

all over the body, bare yourself

feel the air there

stand naked in the dark

staring at the stars!

Cool? warm? let it all swarm 

everywhere over your tender 

skin. And even

when your hot steaming

shower splashing your shoulders

is finished keep staying in your limbs

feel blood running in your fingers and toes

and most of all BE ALIVE

pulsing in the right now, 

see how slow you can 

GO

BE AWARE 

look closely at what is in your vision

BE AWARE