Leaping Fences
When I saw
two fawns,
still glistening,
still trembling,
from birth,
I wondered:
Do these
Little Ones
know they were
born able,
soon enough,
to soar over the
neighbor’s fence,
like dancers,
and dine on
azaleas?
Do they know
they won’t always
need to be
so closely
guarded by
Mama Doe?
Then
I wondered,
again:
When I
sometimes
pray,
desperate to be
closely guarded,
have I forgotten
I was
born able,
soon enough,
to leap fences?
The Coffee Shops of Mystery
Where do you drink
your first
cup of coffee
in the morning?
I have an idea
for you:
Consider
thinking of
that place
as one of
The Coffee Shops
of Mystery.
I can hear you
asking:
“Why would I
think of
my desk as a
Coffee Shop
of Mystery?”
Because you can.
They’re everywhere.
They contain
entire Universes
of
what makes you
gasp in awe and
liberates
your soul
to go
wander in the
galleries and
theaters and
dancehalls and
Show Boxes of
music in
the Mystery.
So, fill your
Special Cup
even if it’s paper
and just for Now.
Welcome to
The Coffee Shop
of Mystery.
(Photo by Priscilla du Preez, UnSplash)
Wonderland
Look at You
looking at you.
What do you see?
A work-in-progress.
A log book
annotated with
failure
to live up to
your promise
to yourself.
Wait.
That You
doing the looking,
that Self,
has never broken
a promise or
anything else.
Some morning,
soon, or
maybe
right this minute,
try moving
into your
Self.
You’ll slip
back out,
of course.
Move back in
when
you are able.
It’s a
wonderland
in there.
(Photo by Simon Berger, UnSplash)
Improv
Let’s start an
improv troupe,
you and I,
and see who
wants to
join us.
You’ll be you and
I’ll be me and
they’ll be them.
At the drop of
a figurative hat
we’ll start
acting.
You do
what you do,
I’ll do
what I do,
and they’ll do
what they do.
Let’s be as
imaginative as
we can be.
Do some weird,
hilarious, sad,
angry,
beautiful,
over-the-top
playful
stuff.
And we’ll
always be
open-ended.
That’s when the
good stuff
happens.
I wonder if
that’s what
we’ve already
been doing.
But I’m just
waking up.
This could
get
interesting.
(Photo by Suhendro Winarso, UnSplash)
Road Noise
Take your Divine Self
out for a spin.
Put the top down and
plug in your
“All You Need Is Love”
playlist.
If you listen
through headphones
and turn it up
a touch
you’ll be able to
drown out the
road noise.
You know,
the Voices and
the Noise.
The Puritan
road crew
butchering the
lyrics to
“Work for the
Night Is Coming”
while they put up
road signs
warning travellers
that they’re on
the Broad Way to
Perdition.
The intermittent
blare of
disaster sirens
being tested
in case of
spiritual emergencies
of an indeterminate
nature.
Road noise.
It’s just road noise.
Your Divine Self
has seen and heard
it all before.
You’re safe.
Crank up
the volume.
(Photo by Neonbrand, UnSplash)
Identity Theft
There is
an identity theft
that doesn’t threaten
your credit rating
or reveal your
Social Security
number to the
warlocks of the
Underworld.
It’s far worse.
It’s when you
believe that you
begin and end
with your
birth and death,
a blip on the
oscilloscope
of eternity,
a chart that
measures your
shortcomings
against some
standard range of
expectations for
people of your
height and weight
and advancing age.
I suggest you
change your
password
from DateOfBirth
to TheDivineMe,
and regain access
to mornings that
begin with
something delicious
dancing in your
viscera,
something that
transcends
your broken
To Do List,
something that’s
more You
than what’s trapped
in your mirror.
All you
have to do is
stop stealing
Yourself.
(Photo by Bermix Studio, UnSplash)
Unabashed
Let me ask you something:
Are you the one
in the circle
not saying
anything,
the one at the
Ice Cream Shoppe
silently digging out
the chocolate chips
with a spoon and
arranging them
to say
“Help me”
across the scoops
of vanilla?
While the others
are laughing and
interrupting
each other with
loosely constructed
opinions about
the final episode of
“Game of Thrones”
or the benefits
of hot cycling?
I know you think
this “why are you
always so quiet”
moment
marks a defect,
a connectivity error,
but it doesn’t.
If you have the
courage to be
unabashed
in your silence
you might just
find a previously
unopened
entrance to
The Mystery
that will open
itself to you
while you
absent-mindedly
rearrange the
chocolate chips to
say
EUREKA!
(Photo by Steven Lasry, UnSplash)
Spoiler Alert
When’s the last time
you listened to
the demon
say
you’re not
enough?
Not friendly enough,
not kind enough,
not helpful enough,
not enough of a
hard worker,
not enough of a
lover.
Listen to this:
You must decide.
The decision
that bears the weight
of every other
decision.
Are you,
right now,
in this moment –
sitting on your ass
at the saggy end
of the couch,
reading
your phone or
watching
Seinfeld reruns –
Are you,
right now,
in this moment,
Enough?
Spoiler alert:
Yes
you
are.
Followup Question:
When’s the last time
you made someone
feel like
they’re not
enough?
(Photo by Nik Shuliahin, UnSplash)
The Trick Is To Remember
When you agreed to
play the character
that is you,
and read the script,
you loved your part.
You hugged
the director
and praised
the playwright
and danced around
with such delight
about the laughs
you’d get
and the tears
you’d feel,
so real you
wouldn’t have to
fake them.
Now the trick is
to remember
it’s an art:
You are not
your part.
You are the
pure heart
that will know
precisely when
to improvise.
(Photo by Sebastian Kurpiel, UnSplash.com)
Sometimes I Imagine
Sometimes I pray,
like this morning.
Sometimes I imagine
I hear answers:
“Why do you see
yourself
as a criminal?
“Who told you
I keep track of
your sins
of omission
and commission?
“As if I need
a CPA or I
keep a prosecutor
on staff, or I
spend my days
on the bench
wearing a black robe
and dividing
sheep from goats?
“I’m more into my
Parties for Prodigals
Program, my
Rags-to-a-Robe-
and-a-Ring
thing,
my Sit At the Head
of the Table,
This One’s for You
Banquet.”
Sometimes I’m not
sure where to
draw the line
between what
I imagine and
what I hear.
(Photo by Anthony Delanoix, UnSplash.com)