Never more so than today
I see me in you and listen

I understand now why it’s so hard
When not even you can withstand

In the crackling dryness of your stems
I see nothing but rigidity and death

But at my feet a ****** reaches for heaven
Naked and pure even as the rain spits on her delicate face

The mightiest ground to dust, the solid made weak
The weakest cracking rocks and the ice crushing all

The sun, the moon, the waves, they dance
Their joyous frivolity that teases the air

Even as darkness engulfs me
I know the dawn will bring hope

I nurture your weakness as you give me strength
I cherish you for your gifts, challenge and sight

You are and I am, I am you also, we are
And that makes me smile, itself a gift to all…

I see you now
Unraveling the past in my future

On days when my mind is like a bramble brier
I’ll find sanctuary in a single bloom on your jagged stem

Patterns of attention
Fractals of thought

In the storm, Each wave greater than the last
Until calm and the terror of the doldrums

Turn off the world
Retreat into the sanctuary of bliss

What a perilous gift this is
The power to write and to speak
But what choice we have
These precious days

To snarl and bicker like fractious dogs
Or to make such sweet harmony
That life itself seems too good to waste

The depths of fear and pain and terror
Are as real as the tombs of living souls
Yet one smile on the face of innocence
Is all it takes to enter heavens door

My path is clear
Each day to be lived