Sunday, May 31, 2020

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  

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