i like for you to be still

i read this as a love poem.

not a love poem

that a person might share with someone else.

a poem that you might choose to share

with the allness of everything.

i like for you to be still

it is as though you are absent

and you hear me from far away

and my voice does not touch you

it seems as though your eyes had flown away

and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth

as all things are filled with my soul

you emerge from the things

filled with my soul

you are like my soul

a butterfly of dream

and you are like the word: melancholy

i like for you to be still

and you seem far away

it sounds as though you are lamenting

a butterfly cooing like a dove

and you hear me from far away

and my voice does not reach you

let me come to be still in your silence

and let me talk to you with your silence

that is bright as a lamp

simple, as a ring

you are like the night

with its stillness and constellations

your silence is that of a star

as remote and candid

i like for you to be still

it is as though you are absent

distant and full of sorrow

so you would've died

one word then, one smile is enough

and i'm happy;

happy that it's not true

pablo neruda

the sun

that i exist is a perpetual surprise,

which is life.

rabindranath tagore

~

light.

at this time of year

sunlight

is a gift.

i look for it

tucked away in the flare

of a sunset.

in the tangerine wash

of a glowing snowdrift.

~

the sun gives without condition

its gift is received and used

in every way imaginable . . .

imagine what can be learned from such benevolence!

a stone which has become a ruby is filled with the qualities of the sun.

no stoniness remains in it.

if it loves itself, it is loving the sun.

and if it loves the sun, it is loving itself.

there is no difference between these two loves.

jelaluddin rumi

little red flowers

i think i was in high school when i first got plants in my room.

english ivy, some cactus,

plants that would thrive on the limited care

that a distracted high school student would almost certainly provide.

since then i have had plants wherever i have gone.

i love their simple complexities.

they need sustenance in the form of water, air, and sunlight.

some like soil, some seem to thrive in water alone.

as with my gardens,

i have very little idea what they are

and i don't really care to know

because i am really more interested in what they look like

and of course that they live long comfortable lives.

our home has plants scattered everywhere.

miraculously, they seem content here

living on drinks of water

and the comments i make to them.

yes i spend time beside my plants.

sometimes i talk to them.

sometimes i touch them.

sometimes i smile when i look at them -

because they are so amazing.

i love the little surprises -

like the christmas cactus that flowered at christmas

and then again in june!

the plant that seemed destined for

the compost heap and yet . . .

it found its form and returned to become

miraculously robust and very present.

i love the little plants

who bravely leaf

and that's all.

there's one plant that flowers periodically.

here 'tis . . .

there is something so perfect

and "there" in a flower

that doesn't leave

even

when the flower starts to change colour

and then fades

and dries up.

it brings me to think of a beautiful piece of writing by robert aitken . . .

everything

just as it is,

as it is,

as is.

flowers in bloom.

nothing to add.

robert aitken

you nailed it my brother robert . . . there's nothing to add.

prairie grass

there was a time

when this area was covered

with a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees.

there was a time when the spaces in-between,

where the woodlands hadn't taken hold,

were covered with prairie grass.

great waving meadows of grasses taller than tall.

people are starting to take back

(or is it give back)

portions of their properties

to what used to be.

and so in our backyard,

under the deepest blue of blue skies

the prairie grasses' golden hair

grasps at fronds of cloud

just like it once did.

something like the sound of a far off voice

i took these pictures in the late spring of this year at a conservation area

where i had taken my class for a day in the woods.

many of the children i teach have little or no contact with woodland

so they are initially overwhelmed

and then run wild down the trails.

you can hear them laughing and yelling from quite far away.

if the opportunity presents itself,

i take pictures of the little details of the place

so that they can look later and enjoy the magic of recognition,

or wonder that they missed it!

deep in the mountain wilderness

where nobody ever comes

only once in a great while

something like the sound of a far off voice,

the low rays of the sun

slip through the dark forest,

and gleam again on the shadowy moss.

wang wei

sunset petals

when the sun sinks low on the horizon,

a special quality of light

passes through the atmosphere.

a glowing, gentle light that says

"i'm almost done...but i'll be back in the morning."

i love that light.

petal upon petal

world within world,

star within cell.

(excerpted from) "the rose" by kathleen raines

rain drops

it's a rainy day outside . . .

the view out the front window is a bit blurry . . .

the melody in arid drifts of rain,

is the visible, serene and fictive air

of inspiration rising as if in prayer.

from "afternoon of a faun" by stephane mallarme

the hostas are happy about the rain

so are these little plants

and so am i!

i love to walk in the rain,

i always have.

sure it finds its way through clothing,

d

o

w

n

warm backs,

even down warm tummy's!

then some of it finds its way from my forehead,

along my nose,

and drips onto my outstretched tongue.

that's right a fifty-two year old man walking 'round with his tongue stuck out to catch raindrops.

(i do it in the winter when it snows as well!!)

could one drop taste better.

could i treasure one drop of water more?

one little drop

that began its journey who knows where?

i love what santoka taneda says about rainy afternoons~

just as it is —

it rains,

i get wet,

i walk

yes i do!

in my mother's garden

a few days ago i biked down to my mum's home in cobourg.

it's a beautiful ride.

around 55 km.

i took photographs of my journey the last time i biked there.

if you'd like to see them then have a look right here.

the day i rode down, the humidex was 42 c.

for my american friends that's 107 f.

it was really hot!

so you can imagine how glad i was to walk into my mother's home.

there was lovely music playing,

a cold english beer waiting,

and of course a good hug!!!

my mum told me that she'd been doing a lot of work in the backyard.

so i had to see what she'd been up to.

~

come with me for a walk 'round my mother's garden.

come on!!

i love gardens in which there is a blend of dappled greenery . . .

and splashes of colour . . .

a place to wonder at the incredible complexity that is a flower . . .

and a place to acknowledge the all of everything and nothing . . .

and best of all, a space to enjoy the unconditional gift that is nature . . .

all of this and more can be found in my mother's garden!!

water over rock

i'm still overwhelmed by yesterday.

truly deeply overwhelmed by the incredible, powerful, emotional, spiritual,

hilarious, sad empowering, reminding, affirming writing and images

that i spent much of my day immersed in.

i had no idea.

no idea at all that that is what would happen.

thankyou to each of you

from my heart

for your generosity of spirit.

i know that visitors were absolutely blown away.

i was!!!

so for today, as a natural transition from the noise and fireworks,

(oh and a big thanks to whomever sent

the lovely canapes and champers),

i'm offering a little bit of a peaceful place.

yes, it involves rocks and water.

they appeared in my post yesterday.

but

here they are

in a

kinder,

gentler,

beautiful in a different way

kind of form.

the sound of water falling over rocks

and deep colour among pines.

gently green floating water-plants.

bright the mirrored reeds and rushes.

i am a lover of true quietness.

watching the flow of clear water

i dream of sitting on the uncarved rock . . .

wang wei

a stream over rocks john singer sargent

love and peacefulness to all of you!!!!

travelling light

here's one pair of my wheels.

a carbon fibre road bike made right here in peterborough.

it's first owner was hockey player john druce.

john put the bike to good use as one member of a team of riders

fundraising to help find a cure for cancer.

i've been doing quite a bit of bike riding this week.

my body is carrying an ambient ache about it that wakes me up in the night.

but i feel amazing!

on wednesday night i went out on a club ride.

hmmmm . . . i always bike alone. so this was a stretch for me personally.

to share a place that my friend lorenzo - an ojibway elder - describes as my place of meditation.

"some people sit still, you sit still on wheels!" this accompanied by his right-from-the-belly-button laugh!

i discovered that riding with other people has rules, expectations, ways of relating . . .

one guy chirped at me; "you need to become more predictable!" okey dokey!!

now there's a learning opportunity for me!!!

but i have to tell you that even though there's all sorts of compromise, it's also a major rush!

there's something really magic about linking in with a chain of people - mmm hmmm a chain, in which each rider takes turns at the front breaking the air and carrying the other riders in a slipstream. when you get tired you slip back and someone else picks up while you get sucked along. it flies along at fourty to fourty five km/h - travelling over sixty kilometres in two hours. i can't do that on my own.

biking is filled with life metaphors.

working with other people involves compromise.

so how to turn that compromise into something that works for everyone?

what does that look like?

what does that feel like?

what is the price tag for the compromise?

so i'll go back again and try and be "more predictable" and i get that 'cause it must be really scary when you're in super close to each other - thirty centimetres off the wheel in front of you - and the nicely tanned, skinny old man (that's me) reefs on the brakes for a corner because apparently (and i didn't know this) when you're with serious riders, you don't brake for corners no matter how fast you're going, even if they are spread with a nice fear inducing mixture of sand and gravel!!

so, speaking of my buddy lorenzo. i decided to take some of my sage up to his home north of peterborough yesterday. lorenzo uses the sage in his smudges.

it's roughly 46 km each way so a round trip of four hours. as you can see from this map . . . basically you head north from peterborough following the otonabee river, go across country, ride around the top of chemong lake and then down a long point that pokes into the lake - right to the end of the point where the village of curve lake is located.

~

it was a hot hot day.

i used three litres of water.

not bad mileage - 31 km/litre!!

riding beside rivers and lakes is filled with magic and beauty. breezes too!!!

the stunning campus of trent university. where i did my undergrad learning.

a moment of reflection.

the otonabee river just south of lakefield.

an island unto itself.

around the top of chemong lake.

there!

thanks for coming along!!

lone yellow flower

in the middle of the back garden, a tiny dot of yellow.

i almost had to be on top of it to see it, but there it was.

tiny, improbable.

entirely alone.

lone yellow flower

waves in the open fields

bowing according to the tune

among the sea of green;

lone yellow flower has no one to blame

and it seeks none to praise

for it knows all life comes in

when the conditions are right;

lone yellow flower knows

death comes in like the wind;

lone yellow flower

is never alone

for it is a part of the expression

of the earth and time and the universe;

lone yellow flower sees what is before and around

lone yellow flower observes what is within and about

and so lone yellow flower lives with no delusions

no beliefs of heaven and hell

fears none and does not live or die

to please or amuse or appease;

and lone yellow flower

blossoms and shines

and shrivels and ceases

in harmony

with what actually is;

lone yellow flower

waves in the open fields

bowing according to the tune

among the sea of green

raj arumugam

___________________________________

the golden fish is hosting a meme for the very first time.

"a transformative moment."

share an experience that you knew in that moment - or on reflection - changed you.

let me know if you can share a transformative moment and on the 19th,

i'll post a link to your posting from here so we can all visit each other!

bloggy chums who have signed up - thankyou. i'll post a list sometime later today to let you know where you can visit on the appointed day. those bloggy chums who haven't joined yet are always welcome!!!!!

steven

you're welcome to whatever you need

by the side of the pool we have wild grasses

and right in front of them i planted some russian sage.

my ojibway friend uses the sage in smudges at sacred events.

because of this i watch the sage to see who visits.

sometimes its little birds,

and very occasionally it's a little butterfly.

today this little one visited.

i waited for her to settle but she flew around my head,

over my shoulder,

flew upwind (it was very breezy) and then past me but always with the plan

to settle on the sage plant.

which she did.

she fluttered from flower to flower.

calmly

using the breeze.

leaning in against it when it threatened to push her away.

you're welcome to whatever you need,

is what i told her.

___________________________________

the golden fish is hosting a meme for the very first time.

"a transformative moment."

share an experience that you knew in that moment - or on reflection - changed you.

let me know if you can share a transformative moment and on the 19th,

i'll post a link to your posting from here so we can all visit each other!

stormy weather

stormy times!

there's a ruckus in the air! clouds roiling and moiling every which way!

yester eve was coloured and filled by great rolling rumbles of

thunder and lightning that played across the sky

in the true and full use of the word "play".

in the middle of the night,

as i was settling into a good facsimile of what my fifty two year old body calls a "night's sleep",

there was another game played by the way up there club.

bang!! smash!! flash!! kaboommmmmrrrrrrmmmmbbbbllle!!

truly spectacular!!!

the day unfolded with thick air that has travelled all the way from the gulf of mexico. past my friends in texas, swung over north carolina, over the skies of washington, up and over ohio, 'cross lake erie, over my son alan's head down in london, and then eventually over my head here in peterborough.

so bloggy friends and loved ones.

we have shared the air!!

here's what it looked like by the time it reached us.

passionate cloud kisses.