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Jun 2020 · 83
Four Riders
CharlesC Jun 2020
1st..the Plague
Swiftly running..jumping
Borders and seas..
2nd..Transparency
Many cellphone eyes
Recording savage news..
3rd.. Supremacy among races
History's brutality crying
New awareness enflamed..
4th.. Famine and survival
Scourges of worry and fear..
These Four:
Riding together
Through leaderless land..
Will they awaken us
From our fretful Dream
To a New Dawn...?
Jun 2020 · 35
What is the ego..?
CharlesC Jun 2020
Responding to this question
Determines our identity..
Separation is insistent
To which most seemingly
Succumb..the appearance
Of things..argues for our
Conditioned assumption of
Separation..until we relax
Into that of which I Am...
Jun 2020 · 80
I Am (IS..!)
CharlesC Jun 2020
These simple words
Mark the nexus between
East and West..
This is the universal gospel
Burdened sometimes with
Too much commentary..
This gospel is available
To everyone everywhere
At all times..
Just sitting quietly.. proceed
Directly to recognition of
The vastness of..I Am
Without all of the
Encumbrances which usually
Attend...
Jun 2020 · 35
Statues crumbling..
CharlesC Jun 2020
One after another
Representing a history
Now detested..crumble..
Crumbling before forces
Of systemic purging..
These symbols of ego
Rising in past eras
Are seen in their
Disregard for what
Is most valuable in
What We are in this
Moment..We ask:
Should all
Statues of persons
Be allowed to fade..
Allowing the fires we see
To consume the vestiges
Of glorified separation...?
Jun 2020 · 79
Systemic things
CharlesC Jun 2020
To change them
The old paradigms
Anachronisms..
To enter a gate to
All things new..
An inflexion point
And portal to a more
Welcoming World..
A point of Enough..
Is it coming..? Or are
We already There...?
Jun 2020 · 43
likely a weed
CharlesC Jun 2020
small and green
likely a ****
appearing in a bed of rocks..
standing out and inviting
two different paths..
a pulling to restore
the rockbed purity
or..imagining a life
with struggle arriving
reflecting this morning sun..
we are all such a ****
needing recognition as
Sunlight reflecting
Sun...
Jun 2020 · 67
Systemic things
CharlesC Jun 2020
To change them
The old paradigms
Anachronisms..
To enter a gate to
All things new..
An inflexion point
And portal to a more
Welcoming World..
A point of Enough..
Is it coming..? Or are
We already There...?
Jun 2020 · 36
Preposterous..?
CharlesC Jun 2020
To our conditioned selves
The proposition of our
Thoughts originating beyond
Our limited body and brain
Seems..well..preposterous..
It remains preposterous
Until life circumstances
Render a new Recognition
Slowly or quantum quick
Of What we are...
Jun 2020 · 39
waiting for our own voice
CharlesC Jun 2020
words
will be made
available as needed..
when understood and
experienced..this is
our unique voice..
trust and silence
in this moment..will
bring fresh words or
fresh patterns..
true artists know this
and are grateful for
their teachers..but know
they have graduated...!
Jun 2020 · 55
a poem just Now written..
CharlesC Jun 2020
a poem enters
is recorded and exits..
recorded Now..and
in readings afterward
the reading colors the Now
but not in the colors
of the recorded poem..
yet both the
writing and reading
express the
ever-present Now...
Jun 2020 · 37
Pain and Suffering
CharlesC Jun 2020
First the suffering which
Is our many disguises is
Hiding our Self..
It is Grace attempting
To Awaken our Self
To our true Identity..
Grace in the circumstance
And in the conditioning
And in the distress
Calling us home..
Jun 2020 · 129
The lion's den
CharlesC Jun 2020
A king's experience
Of Self discovery..
In a waking.. perhaps
A sleeping dream..
That doesn't matter..
His dream character
Daniel announced in
The midst of the king's
Anguish..of living forever..
The king's real Self
Recognized..with the
Dissolving of the lions
And the den and Daniel...
Jun 2020 · 73
In our time of need..
CharlesC Jun 2020
the words will come is
the biblical promise..
a promise which beliefs
lodged in appearances
often block..
there is trust that must
come from experience:
lingering as already Now..
what of words..?
Now..which we are
stands ready to Express...
For the poet..!
Jun 2020 · 109
Protesting!
CharlesC Jun 2020
And powered resistance..
The clash of separation
Which we view as
We always have viewed
Thru our fallen lenses..
Ongoing dark turmoil to
Bring at last..humility
And clarity to our
Convincing and clinging
...Fallen lenses...
May 2020 · 273
Pentecost
CharlesC May 2020
A Reddish Day
Of one tradition.. which
Reported a story of One
Placeless place:
Tongues of fire burning
Separation beliefs away..
Languages and nations
Expressing in limited ways..
Many recognizing the Spirit
Of each of us..allowing
Each to vision and dream
As did one named Joel
Of a tradition long ago...
May 2020 · 100
Polarities
CharlesC May 2020
Polarities
Determine our identity
In each simple moment..
I am a polarity..is where we start..
The inners and outers
Of our self and world..
Polarities abound..and any set
Of opposites convinces as
Our personal view..until
We discover these are merely
Actors appearing on our
Stage of Light...
May 2020 · 40
Happiness
CharlesC May 2020
Is
The Recognition of
Our true Identity..
An Identity
Which does not
Depend on anything
External to that
Which precedes and
Penetrates all that we
Know and do...
May 2020 · 43
Memorial Day..2020
CharlesC May 2020
In which
We perceive the divisions
Reinforcing our lifelong
Beliefs in separation as
The reality of our lives..
Flowers on gravestones
Solemn speeches in
Patriotic fervor..marking
Wars by participants who
Assumed without question
These same beliefs..

How do the beliefs fare
In this time of infection..?
In which we see a
Disregard of separation
By boundaries or race..
Is there a crack
Beginning to open..?
Exposing a newfound
Eternal Memorial
Of Peace and
Light...
May 2020 · 205
Acceptance
CharlesC May 2020
Is the key
To Peace and Joy..
To accept what's here
And now..but then
To attend to rising
Regrets and wishes
With the recognition
These are also made
Of Acceptance...
May 2020 · 103
Showtime in Grey's Anatomy
CharlesC May 2020
The flow of blood
Bears the oxygen from
The lungs..to our
Extremities...delivering
Sustenance to extend the
Lifetime of each organism..

Or..is this a flow within
Consciousness..an activity
Made of Consciousness..
Our conditioning most often
Selects the first option
Overlooking this One..

So..our new paradigm of
Consciousness-only
Suggests both options
Simultaneously..rendering
The flow of blood and
Oxygen delivery as
Appearances within
Appearances..Showtime
In Grey's Anatomy..!

Freedom at last
From grasping illusions..
May 2020 · 69
Peak and Lilac
CharlesC May 2020
There is a
Seeming permanence in
Pikes Peak..we see photos
From a century past and
What stood then stands now..
Yet..geologically we are told
The Peak is doomed to crumble
Rendering it's permanency
As temporary..and taking a
Place beside the Lilac..
Readily known as short-lived..
But Nature Herself stands
Proclaiming Her Silence
Within which Peak and Lilac
Enter and depart..
May 2020 · 68
Unpleasantries
CharlesC May 2020
Simply asking for
Our attention Inward..
This the purpose of
Those unpleasantries we
Are right now confronting..
These are both major and
Subtle..It is the pull of
Grace..which has been
Pulling since we were cast
In the dream of separation...
May 2020 · 49
Attractions
CharlesC May 2020
We are attracted to stuff
Because of their stealth
To make us happy..alas
A happiness short-lived..
One day after many tours
Many failed promises
We stand still and a Vastness
Of happiness drops upon us
From nowhere at all..and
We know it has ever been so..
We recognize that all of those
Early ventures were also this
Vastness gently coaxing...
May 2020 · 44
No path..
CharlesC May 2020
Finding
No path..is a signal
To pause where we are
Allow the silence to surround
And inform..and to realize
There is no path to
Where we really want to
Be...
May 2020 · 70
Aspen leaves
CharlesC May 2020
Arriving again
Fresh and green and small..
This Dependability is
Our signal that
There is a Source
Remaining when these
Small leaves wither and
Depart after their time
In the sun...
May 2020 · 44
Twilight Chirping
CharlesC May 2020
It is about sundown
With a blend of sounds
From distant trees..
Stepping back..however..
I find chirping and
Hearing as One..
Chirping modifies
Hearing in the moment
Then..silent hearing
Resumes..Peace...
May 2020 · 46
Clutter
CharlesC May 2020
We like to remove what seems
Blocking our view..clutter..
Moving one thing aside so
To better see another..
We exercise this preference
And reinforce our belief
In life's separations..
Bringing ancient suffering..
Until a dawning recognition:
Suffering is a hint from
Grace..a gentle prompt:
See that your Seeing
Is always uncluttered...
May 2020 · 34
Transparency
CharlesC May 2020
Monet painted it:
A diminishing power
Of objects to claim
Our attention..
Our outward attention
Has reversed course
As paint colors fade
And wispy clouds
In the sky gain their
Seeming equality..
We experience waiting
For the colors and forms
To further diminish
Revealing finally the
Living Truth of
Transparency...
May 2020 · 41
Gateways
CharlesC May 2020
Are inviting
And seem to lure us
To the other side..
The luring comes from
A well conditioned sense
That there is always
Something new to explore..
History tells us that
This is so..and is
Apparently the intent
Of many each morning
To add a new chapter..
That is..until we discover
That where we were
On this side of the
Gateway..offered as much
Sufficiency and Peace
As that other side..
Apr 2020 · 35
Virus Finds Free Will
CharlesC Apr 2020
The virus
Is a display
Of interconnectedness
Seeming to be everywhere
In quantum quickness..
The glaring question is
What now of free will..?

We are now in lockdown
Against the preferences
Of most of us..
Responsibilities are now
Not local..and our confinement
Does not appear to be ending..
Our only choice veers Inward

To recognize..at last
An infinite measure of
Free Will..
Apr 2020 · 63
The Snapshot
CharlesC Apr 2020
Pretends
To be evidence of
Permanence..after all
If we return to the scene
On the day following
We might see and agree
With the snapshot's claim..
It seems there is continuity
In the world out there..

We allow the appearance
Of fixity of the Snapshot
To detract from the Truth
That the Permanent resides
Without appearance and
Eternally within...
Apr 2020 · 33
Shadows of Evening
CharlesC Apr 2020
Distinct and lengthening
Shadows of evening
Allow a discernment of
What by habit we notice
As separate:  we and shadows
And an external fading light..
Herein lies an evening insight:
We seem to live as shadow
Not recognizing that we are
Not formed without Light
And we..as shadow..are
Only shading of Light...
Apr 2020 · 51
Solitude
CharlesC Apr 2020
Does not depend
On the absence of clamor..
But first appreciation
Seems borne by silence..
Carrying a recognition
Available to each of us
That Solitude introduced
May be a portal to
Our Self...
Apr 2020 · 40
Our Fallen Dream
CharlesC Apr 2020
Is
The Dream our Self
Has entertained for
Eons..brought on by
Beliefs in separation..
Our  inevitable fall..
Thus..
Our Self remains asleep
As separation maintains
Its persistent persuasion..
Oppositions play..
Yet..
We are treated in moments
Waking as I Am..
Yet..
We sink soon
Resuming the fall...
Our Fallen Dream...
Yet..
Are there not signs
In these stressed times
Of a new Morning...?
Apr 2020 · 41
Wandering off the path..
CharlesC Apr 2020
Creating a new path which is entirely
Your own..there was curiosity and perhaps
Some fear..you claim this path has never
Been tread before..then you are startled:
You have forever been walking New paths..
CharlesC Apr 2020
Stands as we stand
Framing this story
In time and place..
And asking questions
With no answers
Then or now..
What's the buzz..?
To know who he was
We need only
Know who we are..
Each must sacrifice
Our outward beliefs..
Turn inward to recognize
a Superstar...!
VOICE OF JUDAS

Every time I look at you I don't understand
Why you let the things you did get so out of hand.
You'd have managed better if you'd had it planned.
Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land?
If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation.
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication.
Don't you get me wrong.
I only want to know.

CHOIR
Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ,
Who are you? What have you sacrificed?
Jesus Christ Superstar,
Do you think you're what they say you are?
Apr 2020 · 53
The Forest Never Sleeps
CharlesC Apr 2020
The forest dresses in
Towers of darkness
Veiling light which birthed
Its many beginnings..never
Sleeping..Knowing of this...
Apr 2020 · 92
Fallen But Not Forgotten
CharlesC Apr 2020
Observing a fallen tree..
Such is the appearance of death
And such will be ours as we
Remain in the grasp of the fall..
Yet the fall is only appearance which
Begs for our remembrance of All...
Apr 2020 · 35
Resilience
CharlesC Apr 2020
Covid-19
Has gained our attention
Attention in terms of
Dread..anxiety..boredom..
An unexpected lifetime
Experience which has a
Global sameness..of sorts..

Restrictions and constrictions
Imposed from without and
Within..responding to an
Unpredictable dark force..
Resilience is oft cited as
Our need to recover the
Size and shape of our
Lives before..

Yet..might we stand back
From imposed constrictions
Recognizing ourselves as
Witness..The calm face of
Resilience..and allow the
Constrictions to uncoil
In their own time as
They must and will...
Apr 2020 · 168
A man at roadside
CharlesC Apr 2020
This seems long ago
But not so long I guess..
There was a man
Of rugged countenance
And flowing hair
Seated at roadside
Relaxed in his being
At the beginning of
My ascent on a
Sunny park trail..
No word was spoken
Yet more than words
Were the eyes
Making brief contact..
A gaze really
A knowing gaze
Not to be forgotten
After these years...
Apr 2020 · 68
Resurrection
CharlesC Apr 2020
The experience of
"I Am" ..alone
Without encumbrances
Indeed is.. the
Resurrection..our
Encumbrances are shed
In the experience of
Crucifixion..wherein
An eternal flame
Consumes all beliefs
In separation..
Allowing our walking
Walking Free today
And in all our days...
Apr 2020 · 76
A Stretch of Land
CharlesC Apr 2020
When our mind is aware
Of a stretch of land
A map comes forth in
Many variations
Of measurement and
Enumeration..
Maps are masks which
We do not recognize
Until a nagging something
Asks what can be known
By removing the mask...
Apr 2020 · 35
Shadow of Doubt
CharlesC Apr 2020
The lesson now for
All traditions
Religious and not..it seems..
Is that beliefs and practices
Which you have fostered
So long..always carry their
Shadow of Doubt..

Our own experience tells us
Why this is so..
Beliefs and practices live
In the realm of our minds
Cast in separation modes..
Replacing mind with Mind
Yes..Drops the shadow...
Apr 2020 · 55
Quarantined Joy
CharlesC Apr 2020
The possibility lives
That we might Recognize the reality
Or better..the Reality..of our lives..
While in restriction..in cells..
Quarantined..
Some find their Reality
A Reality of Happiness..of Joy..
When the material universe outside
Is denied..attention hesitates but
Reverses in a way not before
Experienced..to find the Treasure
Of all our searching heretofore...
In Cell 54, I could only be my own companion, day and night, and it was only natural that I should come to know that ‘self’ of mine. I had never had such a chance before, preoccupied as I had been with work in the army and with politics, and hurried along by the constant stream of life.

Now in the complete solitude of Cell 54, when I had no links at all with the outside world—not even newspapers or a radio—the only way in which I could break my loneliness was, paradoxically, to seek the companionship of that inner entity I call ‘self’ …
~~Anwar Sadat
Apr 2020 · 40
Entanglement..
CharlesC Apr 2020
These are days
Of pungent experience..
A virus in shadow makes
Fearful appearance in
Our perceptions and
Imaginations..these
Appearances have gone viral
And fill our days..
Until..we stand back
Witnessing our entanglement..
And as we disentangle for
Just one moment..to Recognize
OurSelf as..Unentangled...
Apr 2020 · 41
In a darkened crevice..
CharlesC Apr 2020
In a darkened crevice
Between rugged rocks
We sometimes find
An emerging voice..
Light and shadow
With fragile connection
Seem to claim the
Story of difference..
And if we stay with
The story..as we depart
Walking away from the
Crevice..we may be
Hailed to return..
Return to an inner place
Which dissolves the
Difference..and reveals
The Beauty we missed
As we walked away...
Apr 2020 · 47
Religions of habit..
CharlesC Apr 2020
The simplicity
Of the Teaching
Amazes and brings
Skepticism..
Why..it is asked
Was this not found
many eons ago..?
A legitimate query
From our habitual
Reference..
Yet..each of us
Might set our habitual
Religion aside
At any time or place
And recognize
Under our habits
What we have sought
For our own eons...
CharlesC Mar 2020
If I do not
Stop writing
The Truth which
I wish to express
Is more and more
Submerged..
Might I stop now
And allow the
Dimming light to
Remain as glimmer..?
Or might a few
Words more
Serve to cleanse
What is already
Said...?
A thorn to remove a thorn..
Mar 2020 · 40
"I"
CharlesC Mar 2020
"I"
Is our sacred name
Which each of us
Without deviation
Call ourselves..
Life's solitary aim
Is to discover what
We mean..by "I"..
Unease as Grace
Creeps in when we
Constrict our meaning
As most of us are
Wont to do..as we
Burden ourselves to
Locate out there the
Why of our unease..
Unending it seems
Until the moment
We unravel as our
Peace...

"I have called you by name; you are Mine!"
(Isaiah 43:1)
Mar 2020 · 44
Veiling
CharlesC Mar 2020
We live our lives
Each day with assumptions
That the "out there"
Reveals what we need to know..
This is the assumption of centuries..
It comes as a surprise
When we are told that
"Out there" actually veils the
Reality which when recognized
Will bring us Peace...
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