sleep-dust in your eyes

Field with Poppies, 1890 by Vincent van Gogh.

*

we built a bonfire in the sky

no it was a rainbow 

each color was painted

by the hand of a human being

and each color grew brighter

and more bold 

so did we 

in the end the rainbow was like a bonfire 

and our lives were splashed

across the favor of the sky

*

it is late and I am praying

for all of the things that I want

I want the earth to grow kindness

like trees 

like fruit

I want children to breathe easily

I want the hands of the devils to fall away

from their tiny throats

I want the rain to wash away

the blood from the hands of the killers

I want the stomachs to be full

and the bodies to be protected

by a roof and walls

I want peace to cover the temple

of our collective soul like a shawl

covers the head of a grandmother at mass

I want my arms to grow long enough

to embrace the suffering of this world

I want to ease the pain that rules

so many haunted lives

and I pray for peace

hear my prayer 

please universe 

hear my prayer 

*

Before you go back indoors tonight, look up; I am the last star in an otherwise pitch-black sky, a whisper on the last breath of the breeze. Come over here to the sharpest edge of the river, where the final light is dappled black on the crest of the water. This is my hand in the darkness. This is the gold that sleeps in my heart, the gold that I have saved for you. Take it, sister, take it, brother. I am a star, light-years away, and yet I am here with you. I am the sleep-dust in your eyes when you awaken. I am those dreams that you have never told anyone. One by one, the other stars have flown to heaven, but not me. I am still here, waiting for you.

*

The soul often falls in love with the things at our feet.

The ground by the creek that is so very soft,

Like a cushion for walking.

The worm that crosses the cool sidewalk at dawn,

Making for the grass on the other side.

Damp fog that so tightly hugs the earth.

The thoughts of the mouse that squints up at us.

The ocean when it rolls and roars.

Earthquakes.

The soul loves all of these things.

The mind loves things up high.

Mountains, eagles, sequoia trees.

The idea of heaven, the need of it.

The soul isn't worried about heaven,

Heaven can wait.

Let's take off our shoes and make loblollies in the mud.

We can stomp and splash all we want;

The soul says so.

*

by james lee jobe 

"We're all just walking each other home."

Ram Dass

*

"Why, I'd horse-whip you if I had a horse."

Groucho Marx

*

"What makes the limit of Nirvana is also the limit of Samsara. Between the two we cannot find the slightest shade of difference."

Nagarjuna

*

"Welcome the present moment as if you had invited it. Why? Because it is all we ever have."

Pema Chödron 

Hello. If you enjoy this blog, and I hope that you do, please consider making a donation through the BUY ME A COFFEE button below. 
Thanks! -jlj