A Leaf Falls - A Poem

A leaf falls, a river must rise
A crow caws, and I surmise
The report reaches deep the sky

A log splits, yet something remains
A sound emits hearkening pains
Yet in such losses are made gains

A short season in the span of life
Of dread and pain and measured strife
Knight a man and crown his wife

The dome the beach pebble disturbs
The gnat here, there the sky perturbs
A spirit there, here a clutch of words

Lovely equilibrium of sparkling worlds
Eternity through ages slowly unfurled
Light from center through darkness hurled

Light reflecting through corridors of ages
Wisdom whispered from Sage to sages
Experience meted out in stages

How can such be?
Managed so wonderfully?
Squandered so wantonly…..

This year at Wesselman's Nature Preserve, we attended the Sugar Maple Festival. During this outing, we learned how the Sugar Maple trees are tapped for sap to make syrup. We were treated to a pancake breakfast with maple syrup distilled straight from the trees along with sausage and orange juice, live Celtic music and the company of some wonderful people. In this picture, the ranger shows Dylan, Gracie and Wes, my son, niece and nephew how to tap the tree and let the sap drain into a bucket. All three got to tap a tree and taste the sap straight from the trunk, (as did I!)

Afterward, we went for a walk in the preserve, the largest old growth forest in Southern Indiana.

Ashes - A Poem

There was a river peaceful
I came across when young
That had I drunk of its depths
I would still be that same youth

No disease to rack my bones
Vigor, strength, no weaknesses
Would have been mine forever
Fully potent evermore

From across the bank I stood
A young lady appeared
Beckoned me to swim across
Waiting with pale arms open

I dove in and made my way
Across the cold deep pool
And realized she had vanished
When I made the other bank

Opposing an old man stood
With long grayed hair and beard
Locking gaze, I asked the man
What it meant that just transpired

‘You’re heart knew you’d be lonely
Though immortal young and strong
Choosing Death, you found your life
Now go, be happy, live long’

Life and Death, Death to Life,
Mere matters of opinion,
One on one side, the other across
While in between, a river flows on

Seeking

At forty two, I need to call in the towell. I'm not going to find what I seek. I've looked high and low, from breadth to breadth, and it ain't there. The perennial philosophy states it's immanent and transcendent, inside and out, and I know it's there, but I've yet to find it. More subtle than can be measured, perhaps; such a fine, rarefied substance I can't perceive it with my earthly eyes, but on some level I know I've already encountered it, held it in my hands, but it slipped through like sand through glass.

The strange thing is, I'm not perplexed or disappointed. The Quest for me has not been about possession, but the Quest itself. 'The Joy Is In The Journey' the kind folks say.

And Journey I will, continuing to seek, perhaps even to ignorantly find only to lose again, and then be seeking again...

That Beach Was Haunted - A Fun Little Poem

We went to the beach
The pictures came back
There were Spirits flying
All through the skies

There were undines in water
And gnomes in sand
There were sylphs in air
And Dragons in the sun

Where we swam sharks
Circled round menacing
Stingrays lay beneath us
As we lolled on the beach

That beach was haunted
And we brought home ghosts
Our house full of sea
And our heads full of sand

Ocean bright in landlocked land.

It's Raining - A Poem

It’s raining, no need to face the stars,
Magnificence staring me in the face
Reminding me I’m less than an ant
and truly smaller than a speck of dust.

If I travel higher than five floors,
I need to get my feet back on ground
Like I’ve been on a spaceship flying
through skies to some foreign planet.

This star burns bright enough for me
I don’t need to traverse space to escape
I’ll just stay right here on dirt and dust
Escaping waters and skies is not for me.

For now it’s raining and I’m happy still
No need to call the sun through clouds
The mist on my face makes me smile
My secrets come from beneath the moon