Poems of Unalome

  The Journey, by Mary Oliver The Journey One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice– though the whole house began to tremble and you felt the old tug at your ankles. “Mend my life!” each voice cried. But you didn’t stop. You knew what you had to do, though the wind pried with its stiff fingers at the very foundations, though their melancholy was terrible. It was already late enough, and a wild night, and the road full of fallen branches and stones. But little by little, as you left their voices behind, the stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own, that kept you company as you strode deeper and deeper into the world, determined to do the only thing you could do– determined to save the only life you could save.

Dedication of Merit By  One Earth Sangha   The Extended Version May all places be held sacred. May all beings be cherished. May all injustices of oppression and devaluation be fully righted, remedied and healed. May all who are captured by hatred be freed to the love that is our birth right. May all who are bound by fear discover the safety of understanding. May all who are weighed down by grief be given over to the joy of being. May all who are lost in delusion find a home on the path of wisdom. May all wounds to forests, rivers, deserts, oceans, all wounds to Mother Earth be lovingly restored to bountiful health. May all beings everywhere delight in whale song, birdsong and blue sky. May all beings abide in peace and well-being, awaken and be free.

  Mind Wanting More BY  HOLLY J. HUGHES Only a beige slat of sun above the horizon, like a shade pulled not quite down. Otherwise, clouds. Sea rippled here and there. Birds reluctant to fly. The mind wants a shaft of sun to stir the grey porridge of clouds, an osprey to stitch sea to sky with its barred wings, some dramatic music: a symphony, perhaps a Chinese gong.   But the mind always wants more than it has— one more bright day of sun, one more clear night in bed with the moon; one more hour to get the words right; one more chance for the heart in hiding to emerge from its thicket in dried grasses—as if this quiet day with its tentative light weren't enough, as if joy weren't strewn all around.

“Fire” by Judy Brown What makes a fire burn is space between the logs, a breathing space. Too much of a good thing, too many logs packed in too tight can douse the flames almost as surely as a pail of water would. So building fires requires attention to the spaces in between, as much as to the wood. When we are able to build open spaces in the same way we have learned to pile on the logs, then we can come to see how it is fuel, and absence of the fuel together, that make fire possible. We only need to lay a log lightly from time to time. A fire grows simply because the space is there, with openings in which the flame that knows just how it wants to burn can find its way. Judy Brown , from  The Sea Accepts All Rivers

  We Remember Them’ by Sylvan Kamens & Rabbi Jack Riemer At the rising sun and at its going down; We remember them. At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; We remember them. At the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring; We remember them. At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; We remember them. At the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of the autumn; We remember them. At the beginning of the year and when it ends; We remember them. As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as We remember them. When we are weary and in need of strength; We remember them. When we are lost and sick at heart; We remember them. When we have decisions that are difficult to make; We remember them. When we have joy we crave to share; We remember them. When we have achievements that are based on theirs; We remember them. For as long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as, We remember them.

  Right Here DANE ANTHONY Stop moving. Stand in one place – this place. Breathe slowly; in, then out. Repeat. Repeat again. Let your shoulders sink and relax. Unclench your jaw; slowly close your eyes. Listen for your heartbeat; really listen. Feel it pulse in your fingertips. Lessen expectations. Under-do all your efforts. Requisition the time for your soul to catch up. Lean into the wind; feel it like a tree and test the ground. Learn to trust the resilience. It would be treason to move quickly – left or right – from this place. It is alright to be exactly what you are, who you are, where you are. Right here, right now.

  Lost DAVID WAGONER Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known. The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows Where you are. You must let it find you.

 Gift ~ by Czeslaw Milosz A day so happy. Fog lifted early. I worked in the garden. Hummingbirds were stopping over the honeysuckle flowers. There was no thing on earth I wanted to possess. I knew no one worth my envying him. Whatever evil I had suffered, I forgot. To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me. In my body I felt no pain. When straightening up, I saw blue sea and sails.

Begin with Boldness Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.  Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now. Text  Commonly attributed to Goethe

It's All Right by William Stafford Someone you trusted has treated you bad. Someone has used you to vent their ill temper. Did you expect anything different? Your work--better than some others'--has languished, neglected. Or a job you tried was too hard, and you failed. Maybe weather or bad luck spoiled what you did. That grudge, held against you for years after you patched up, has flared, and you've lost a friend for a time. Things at home aren't so good; on the job your spirits have sunk. But just when the worst bears down you find a pretty bubble in your soup at noon, and outside at work a bird says, "Hi!" Slowly the sun creeps along the floor; it is coming your way. It touches your shoe.

  Mountains by Sangharakshita Golden in laughing sunlight, Silver in mist and rain, I see thee, mighty mountains. Tower heavenward from the plain. And pray my heart unmoved by Sweet joys or sufferings dire. Like thee through cloud and sunlight May upward still aspire.

Dedication ceremony (morning dedication) For the benefit of all beings For the happiness of all beings With body, speech and mind, I dedicate this day. Abandoning harmfulness, To kindness I dedicate this day. Abandoning selfishness, To sharing I dedicate this day. Abandoning indulgence, To contentment I dedicate this day. Abandoning false speech, To truth I dedicate this day. Abandoning intoxication, To clear awareness I dedicate this day. To Buddhahood, To Dharma, To Sangha, With the blessings of the Bodhisattvas, For the benefit of all, I dedicate this day. (from  https://thebuddhistcentre.com/project/text/exercises-and-reflections-monday-working-reminders-remembering-remember )

Five Vows By Joanna Macy I vow to myself and to each of you: To commit myself daily to the healing of our world and the welfare of all beings. To live on Earth more lightly and less violently in the food, products, and energy I consume. To draw strength and guidance from the living Earth, the ancestors, the future beings, and my brothers and sisters of all species. To support others in their work for the world and to ask for help when I feel the need. To pursue a daily spiritual practice that clarifies my mind, strengthens my heart, and supports me in observing these vows.

Take Care From Reconciliation: Healing the Inner Child, by Thich Nhat Hanh Go back and take care of yourself. Your body needs you, your feelings need you, your perceptions need you. Your suffering needs you to acknowledge it. Go home and be there for all these things. https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/9814155-go-back-and-take-care-of-yourself-your-body-needs

Meditation on a Grapefruit  By Craig Arnold To wake when all is possible before the agitations of the day have gripped you                     To come to the kitchen and peel a little basketball for breakfast               To tear the husk like cotton padding        a cloud of oil misting out of its pinprick pores clean and sharp as pepper                              To ease each pale pink section out of its case so carefully       without breaking a single pearly cell                     To slide each piece into a cold blue china bowl the juice pooling       until the whole fruit is divided from its skin and only then to eat                   so sweet     ...

Sometimes, I Am Startled Out of Myself BARBARA CROOKER like this morning, when the wild geese came squawking, flapping their rusty hinges, and something about their trek across the sky made me think about my life, the places of brokenness, the places of sorrow, the places where grief has strung me out to dry. And then the geese come calling, the leader falling back when tired, another taking her place. Hope is borne on wings. Look at the trees. They turn to gold for a brief while, then lose it all each November. Through the cold months, they stand, take the worst weather has to offer. And still, they put out shy green leaves come April, come May. The geese glide over the cornfields, land on the pond with its sedges and reeds. You do not have to be wise. Even a goose knows how to find shelter, where the corn still lies in the stubble and dried stalks. All we do is pass through here, the best way we can. They stitch up the sky, and it is whole again. https://gratefulness.org/resour...

Daily Lens by Nicoletta Baumeister Gratefulness thoughts in the morning light are about the setting of the daily lens. What will we take in, what will we seek and what is today's sense of self