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933 · Feb 2013
holding in Tension
CharlesC Feb 2013
So much heartbreak
with strained attention
outside..
what's out there
strikes cords within..
some cords long ago
entrained
with out there..
perhaps less trauma
when we expect
contradiction out there
humility finds half-truths
halves in communion
beauty between..
holding in Tension..
power and joy
within...
932 · May 2012
intention
CharlesC May 2012
sandwich and bananas
shopping chore
wondering how
intention arose
927 · Dec 2012
The I am Connections
CharlesC Dec 2012
These Connections
join our I
to our me..
standing alone
me multiplies with
colors and pain..
I alone is
blinding light..
Connections make
a homeplace:
light and color
with pain
and joy...
(prompted by Mae's posting of Call me by My True Names by Thich Nhat Hanh.)
916 · Jul 2013
The AA Secret
CharlesC Jul 2013
AAA works too..
ubiquitous battery
teaches much more
reaches far beyond
a trusted flash-light..
this small cylinder
plus on top
minus below
gold over black..
opposite poles in
lasting conversation
each with the other..

In the conversation
Sage's parables reside..
remember the prodigal..
Buddy left early
took his pouch
a descent to AA's
darkened pit..
but gold above
finally grabbed his
scattered attention..
return to AA's
gold we don't
need to mention..

Lessons profound
from our humble AA:
gold or black
are never alone
cosmic conversation
neverending..
we name
many poles:
heaven and earth
light and shadow
creator and creation
good and not-so-good..
polarity in Oneness
the Secret..
at last we
Awaken...!
thanks to Duracell for their
gold and black battery.. !
912 · Jul 2012
aftermath
CharlesC Jul 2012
a mountain firestorm
suddenly attacked..
terrorized a city's
mountain shadowed
edge..
home destruction abounds
insurance assures and
eases much pain..
might humility now also
give voice..
please allow fire
a path...?
905 · Jun 2013
Wild eye
CharlesC Jun 2013
a fortunate photo
towhee up close
sentimental bird..
red eye warns
nature's wild
constricted point..
seeing here
what one sees
in restless tiger's
fearsome eye...
895 · Oct 2012
The Old Halltree
CharlesC Oct 2012
much life observed..
its mirror
has reflected
over a century of faces..
a covered wagon
climbing Allegheny gaps..
arriving now
in its present station
decorated each season..
now dressed awaiting
costumed children
with their bags
of treats..

it has not always
reflected
joy and celebration
undoubtedly many sorrows
its mirror was shown..
taken for granted
many stored muddy boots
hats soaked with sweat..
a chair holding
warm garments
during cold winters past..

a mirror
must have a
dark back side
for its job of reflecting..
this mirror's darkness
composed of
wet mud and dry dust
the wood encrusted with
deposits of earth..
sorrow and pain
those layers are there..
darkness and glass
formed the mirror
we see..
reflecting
the sun of mornings
as wagon wheels turned..
and quite soon
the laughter of children
on this Halloween..
polarityinplay.blogspot.com for photos....
893 · Oct 2012
Destinations
CharlesC Oct 2012
Much in doing..
all the trip planning
detailed itineraries
of course, maps
without which
we are surely lost..
distances and times
contingency insurance..

What of all this
preparation..?
much effort dedicated
to here and there..
if we could
locate ourselves
on the roads between..
there we find
no places and times..
freedom arrives
ourselves the
destinations...
893 · Mar 2019
Fox and Hen
CharlesC Mar 2019
thoughts these are
of fox and hen..
predator and protector..
these are images of
our inner separation
the suffering we endure
as we identify with
these old beliefs..

we suffer as we search
for a restoration which
we know is near..
the fox and hen
wait to be relieved
as the agents of
our long delusion..
which is promised
with the recognition
of a new identity
bathed in grace...
See..Luke 13:  31-35
892 · Jan 2013
the Voice
CharlesC Jan 2013
through the lace
mirrored reflections
on a tiled floor
morning light variations..
remembering the sun
brilliance beyond
filtered reflections here
on lace and floor..
then I heard
the sun is lace
to a light refined..
and that light...
OSV retreat reflection
January 26, 2013)
891 · Mar 2013
the Torus
CharlesC Mar 2013
we are prompted
in these hours
to find awareness..
awaken in the
dreams we live..
to recognize a
matrix disguise..

the matrix masks
hides our Reality
misleads our senses..
one simple form
of sacred geometry
gifts a key for
sought transform..

a torus in motion
may unclog
life's flowing stream..
the torus connects
light and shadow..
its motion cleanses
exposing new light..

the torus introduces
new energy sources
with-in and with-out
reaching intractable
hunger and pain..
torus is ancient
lost now remembered..

much yet to know
but a Torus may be
creeping into
our morning
meditations...
See the film
"THRIVE"
and much more at
www.thrivemovement.com
887 · Nov 2012
Associations
CharlesC Nov 2012
imaginations
when left adrift
sometimes
lose a grounding
essential to health..
how might these
far flung meanderings
be grasped
and tempered within..?

when we Associate..
delightful similarities found
those differences also..
unities spring forth
somehow easing
anxieties of living..
stress retreats
and released health
trickles in...
886 · May 2013
Battled Years
CharlesC May 2013
Our school days
taught the union
was the prize
from blood and
battled years..
a constitution
survival through
loss unimagined..
but now
this day in
consciousness rise
a hearing and
close listening to
Gettysburg words..
elevating purpose
echoes of equality
teasing new Eyesight
from battled years...
after viewing
"Lincoln"
the movie..
883 · Jun 2012
fires
CharlesC Jun 2012
fires
in colorado
central blazes and
extending fingers..
manitou and other
evacuations
shelters filling
animals retreating
smoke billowing
community responding
air and ground resistance
order and chaos
finding each other..
a summer burden
dry mountains
waldo canyon
others
nine fires now
perfect fire storm
pray for rain...
882 · Sep 2013
Muse
CharlesC Sep 2013
One of nine
Greek goddesses
is the definition..
She rises in finery
adorned in her
Greek duality..
But that other
Muse the verb
is a turning
a meditation of
movement..
This is the
singular Goddess
the presence
which gives life
to our attractive
Greek friend...
Musing with Mae..
879 · Mar 2012
A Day in the Forest
CharlesC Mar 2012
Green forest aglow
Shafts breaking through
dark canopy openings
A friend's lucid journey
of growth and compassion
described to me.
Her forest disturbed
by curtains of vines
Voices calling
and whispered warnings
no-return with your entry
A troubled choosing
departing forest beauty
tinged with joy
and light but
Without hesitation
her decision most clear
quickly parting the vines
A painful sharp sting
unnoticed in passage
Her heart somehow knew
the call of compassion
meant growth and arrival
enchanting sun beauty
green forest aglow
a curtain
and light.

(With thanks to "a friend"
for her collaboration!)
877 · Feb 2012
Filtering
CharlesC Feb 2012
Brightness
radiance
exposing
form and shade
The shutter
trapping the energy
of a moment
A Moment
never to reappear
Creation.
Filtering.
CharlesC Sep 2014
Let yourself not be misled by the notes
that fall to you from the generous wind.

Wait watchfully. Hands that are eternal
may come to play upon your strings.**

Early Journals
875 · Dec 2012
Gestalt
CharlesC Dec 2012
/ge'SHtalt/
"An organized whole
that is perceived
as more than
the sum of
its parts.."

the lordly elephant
is that whole
with all of
those strange parts..
do parts perceive
their life subsumed..?

and of our body
and parts
brother elephant is
our model..
but what of our
body as part..?

or the elephant
as part..?
how strange those
whole elephants
must be
up there...!
874 · Feb 2013
I prefer NOT
CharlesC Feb 2013
My work yesterday
I pursued with fire..
dead letters burned
letters with news
for countless intended
recipients Unknown..
news shadowed or light
these notifications of
paths NOT taken
met their end by
my flaming torch..
My role as destroyer
carried my reverie
ignited a wish
a blessing and curse
to finally know NOT..

My work today
new letters appear..
copying not burning
yet sorrows abide in
slow repetitive death..
I must rise
stand tall
Find face and soul
in that wall..
I must proclaim
I prefer NOT..
PREFER
this delicious word..
freedom's choice
tasted with short
bursts of joy..

Facing my wall
searching for NOT
into emptiness flowed
a bright wholeness
of  letters and light..
but a price to be paid
for other's disdain
they are forgiven for
not knowing NOT..
NOT holds those
letters I've known..
Ah humanity...*

Based on Herman Melville's
short story, "Bartleby
the Scrivener"
873 · Aug 2012
beads and strings
CharlesC Aug 2012
our lives
a parable each one..
looking back
stringing new beads today
evoked memories in
their sequence
a sequence
never before seen..
then pondering that the
beads in my string
might be strung
in so many ways..
but for today
the string I strung
seems quite enough
for new energy
new joy I found..
then pondering again
a question arising
what are those strings...?
images at polarityinplay.blogspot.com
870 · Jan 2013
Vibrating Words
CharlesC Jan 2013
Vibrating Words

In our
speaking and hearing
words akin to solid things
oftentimes standing alone..
the weight of many nouns
fills our logic and comfort
our progress and pain
until now..?

new times demand
enjoined conversations..
resonances which reach
to levels obscure..
processes and verbs
waking sleeping nouns..
each word an experience
simple vibration
or nothing at all...?
866 · Jan 2013
Lifting My Eyes
CharlesC Jan 2013
Lifting my eyes from the book, from the tightly sequenced lines
to the full and perfect night:
Oh how like the stars my buried feelings break free,
as if a bouquet of wildflowers
had come untied:

The upswing of the light ones, the bowing sway of the heavy ones
and the delicate ones' timid curve.
Everywhere joy in relation and nowhere grasping;
world in abundance and earth enough.

                       Rainer Maria Rilke---Uncollected Poems
Inspiring for the new year!
866 · May 2013
skinny snake
CharlesC May 2013
This name
she gave
to that ego
we know
and don't know..
Out of humility
the self ITSELF
declares..
a simple entrance
but never alone..
accompanying is
a serpentine
uncoiling
some large and
some small..
our life chore
is recognition
keeping our Eye
on these our
slithering friends..
and knowing
no matter how
skinny they
don't disappear..
and this more:
their fond wish
merely to grow..
Thanks to Nancy H
snake handler extraordinaire
One Simple Voice
retreat
May 18, 2013
864 · Nov 2012
the Square
CharlesC Nov 2012
a simple shape
a foundation
our stability
our confident strength..
but ask we must
ask how sufficient
for our lives in
these disturbing years..
is now our time
is our honored square
more dependable
in a new light..?

dare we let go
disconnect those corners
allow the four lines
to drift as they may..?
one mae become bold
more solid
more dark..
another fades to
a slim beam of light..

the other two
lack decision right now
end up comfortably
somewhere between..
then we notice
we cannot distinguish
which line dark
and which light..
seeming becomings
before our eye..
is our square
strong as before...?
864 · Dec 2017
A matter of waiting
CharlesC Dec 2017
The Advent message
repeated over centuries:
Waiting in time for
fulfillment and peace..
What will happen
with the recognition
that time is a construct
a convenient line
appearing in Mind..?
To recognize that
illusory time disguises
and demands attention
as the framework for
history and lives..?
The lifetime discovery:
to recognize that
here and now resides
fulfillment and peace:
There is no wait...!
864 · May 2013
May snow
CharlesC May 2013
not may
it really happened..
May day snow
Spring was dressed
in fine Winter garb..
icicles clinging
now it's day two
snow's hasty exit
icicles are drops
birds now resume
nesting arguments..
many schedules
interrupted...!
848 · Sep 2012
the snail's story
CharlesC Sep 2012
spiraling in
and then out..
in our hand we find
a galaxy miniature
spinning a special
story..

our mind's eye
projects movement
an outward inward
exchange
now and always
becoming the other..
but the shell remains
fixed as a map
the movement  
a soulful creation..

a still point
on our shell
finally gives rest to
our eye..
in the stillness
a  torus we find
a sacred movement
a new awareness
mapped for our
time..
images @ polarityinplay.blogspot.com
CharlesC Mar 2013
In that first
hardly noticed
moment
to which you wake,
coming back
to this life
from the other
more secret,
moveable
and frighteningly
honest
world
where everything
began,
there is a small
opening
into the new day
which closes
the moment
you begin
your plans.

What you can plan
is too small
for you to live.

What you can live
wholeheartedly
will make plans
enough
for the vitality
hidden in your sleep.

To be human
is to become visible
while carrying
what is hidden
as a gift to others.

To remember
the other world
in this world
is to live in your
true inheritance.

You are not
a troubled guest
on this earth,
you are not
an accident
amidst other accidents
you were invited
from another and greater
night
than the one
from which
you have just emerged.

Now, looking through
the slanting light
of the morning
window toward
the mountain
presence
of everything
that can be,
what urgency
calls you to your
one love?  What shape
waits in the seed
of you to grow
and spread
its branches
against a future sky?

Is it waiting
in the fertile sea?
In the trees
beyond the house?
In the life
you can imagine
for yourself?
In the open
and lovely
white page
on the waiting desk?

~ David Whyte ~
845 · Dec 2018
Understanding is
CharlesC Dec 2018
Understanding
is
the experience that relieves
the desire encasing our
search for an answer..
this relaxation is a taste
of the freedom of knowing
for an instant
our real Self..

Understanding
is not
another thought
or conception
but the noticing that
there is a fire
in which the desire
is no more
and a luminous Joy
arises and claims
ourself...
845 · Apr 2012
Prodigal Seasons
CharlesC Apr 2012
A home
un-bounded love.. and light
with growing
dark hidden fissures
from stabbing inquiries..
each day's exhortation
to depart and exhale..
fierce need to locate
the source of his
heart's agitation...

Inheritance pleaded and won
exceedingly more than
the packet he carried..
exaltation.. expanding.. exhaling
a journey begun with
destination promising the
solutions he sought...

Arrival unease..inquiries
begin to unfold..
gathering clouds.. dark
shadings of fear and doubt..
questions persisting once more
desparate need.. to inhale..

At last recalling inherited light
remembering.. immediately
he knew..
a season now ending
his identity now clear
confidence leaping.. inhaling
electricity flowing
home-bound...

A welcoming light
celebration and feasting
soon shaded by
a brother's irritation..
sharp glances absorbed
with joyful glow..
he recognized an echo
of recent ventures below..
brother's birthing pains
a gift
of precious in-sight...

New departure now pending
spring's budding and fragrance
life breathes with seasons
inherited light
zestful.. exhaling
new creation.. calling
from those places
below.
842 · Apr 2013
Sixteen Swans
CharlesC Apr 2013
Rising in our morning
might we find a theme
an image which gathers
ragged edges of  day..

Before engaging take pains
reject defective creations..
surrender to one theme
emerging from shadow..

Then to survey many
mosaic pieces fallen..
and find on the floor
theme patterns reflect..

Must know our theme
is well hidden
arrives in variations
through ambiguous day..

Then in our depths
in ecstasy we know
the theme we created
is our creator also..

Recapitulation at evening
a symphony complete..
we explosively repeat:
Now it is good...!
"Today I saw sixteen swans.
God, what beauty!  They
circled over me for a long
time.  Disappeared into the
solar haze like a silver
ribbon."

--Jean Sibelius
while composing his
5th Symphony..
the ascending swans
his theme...
837 · Jul 2013
Anniversary
CharlesC Jul 2013
this marking
in time
need be placed
in stark contrast to
shared communion
of no beginning
no end..

yet this day
and other markings
stimulate our
remembering..
lighted candles
bring communion
to our moment...
for friends' anniversary..
836 · Nov 2014
Adam awakens
CharlesC Nov 2014
Adam
is each of us our name
naming in androgynous sense..
Each filling holographically
our multi dimensions..
body mind and universe
assemble in our Now
coloring awakening Adam
who is realizing at last
an eternal identity
new Awareness of who
am I...
836 · Apr 2013
Spring day
CharlesC Apr 2013
Chilly spring day
between winter and summer
winter bias...

Spring in the middle
seasons between
are good homes...

Those opposites
detract and demand
middle grounds...

Right and left
corpus joins callosum
I'll join you there...

The middle
is not muddle
is energizer..!

Between Awakens...!
835 · Feb 2013
the Saga
CharlesC Feb 2013
Nature's many centers
in each found
Inception and Division
forming potent seeds..
from a tiny Symmetry
living asymmetry shoots
proud differences reign
sameness lies hidden..
until  a longing
grows to imperative
for return home..
this quite brief
creation Saga...
829 · Apr 2012
Sublime
CharlesC Apr 2012
This word is full of power
containing beauty and terror.
829 · Oct 2012
The Web
CharlesC Oct 2012
We are no doubt
each of us
entangled..
entangled in darkness
and in light..

Suffering arrives
with the illusion
that these are
separate entanglements
or that
they are not...
827 · May 2016
Enthusiasm
CharlesC May 2016
Sometimes we are told
enthusiasm the ego fires..
but in examining more carefully
one such enthusiasm
we might find its make-up
as a temporary oasis
in the luminous field
to which it seems
to point..
Yet indeed misuses seem thriving:
ego's opportunities do unfold..
But for now
the pointing just mentioned
seems so much more
appealing...!
827 · May 2013
KC
CharlesC May 2013
KC
She loved me
and I her..
their lives made rich
this living wagging
being is embedded
in her soul..
their sharing of
each her pain
no separation then
or now..
both courageous in
life's offered struggles
seeking air and sun..
of play and joys
car rides and tennis *****
puzzles.. even rules
memories by the score..
a shadow box
now these memories fill
the shadow conceals
a shared and glowing
Light...
for Susan and KC
826 · Aug 2013
Small Landscapes
CharlesC Aug 2013
Landscapes
easily overwhelm
but with persistence
each is multitude
of relational smaller..
recognize and
watch it expand
fill the mind
and universe...
823 · Feb 2013
Daybreak
CharlesC Feb 2013
to the light
we are the names..
may we find
awareness today of
our special name..
inception and art
in higher flow
may we soon
know here below..
we wait for
morning light
and long to return
without further delay..
this new reality
two in one
one in two
each glorious day....
822 · Sep 2013
Mishaps
CharlesC Sep 2013
Those unexpected
Occurrences..
Lost keys and forgets
Seem as threats
To our wholeness..
We sense flaws
In our makeup
Those trips
And falls..
Yet we must try
For new bearings..
These events
These breaks
Are the substance
And the fuel for
New awareness
Of growth
Of new Wholes...
a logwood reflection..
820 · May 2012
wind
CharlesC May 2012
from mount sinai
to pentacost
ancient sacred winds
damaging yesterday in
our dimension
branches strewn
rattling treetop leaves
hazy clouds of dust
fires gathering strength
jet stream laden smoke
scaling winds
breathing rhythms
awareness discovering finally
one wind
817 · Oct 2012
falling leaves
CharlesC Oct 2012
we know
that falling leaves
speak of death
in a season..
then we wonder
are we falling
as  the leaves..
falling also with
autumn beauty..?

we see veins
in each leaf
circulation channels..
nourishment
no more flowing from
a nurturing tree..
a branch from its
root now cast away..
and we wonder
where is our
root as our
nourishment fades..?

similarities abound
we and the leaves..
fearful we are
with our hidden root..
yet we wonder
have we found
vision and courage..
beholding anew
creation's falling beauty
light's filtered colors...?
See leaf image at blog....
816 · Jun 2013
Theory of Every-thing
CharlesC Jun 2013
for science
an illusive goal
try and fail..
Every-thing is shrunk
energy and matter
hidden and dark..
with added surprise:
Every-thing is
accelerating away..
notable here in
science frustration:
their outward focus
Every-thing out there..
might we ask
What is out there..?
with holistic sense
our holograph brains
processing waves
interference patterns
making apparent
Every-thing seen..
Might this seed
blossom one day
looking for that
Theory of
EVERYTHING...?
814 · Jul 2013
The 4th..!
CharlesC Jul 2013
Independence
celebrated..
some say outdated
in interconnected world..
yet world is fractal
these tissues joined:
similarity and difference..
Independence unfolds
identity and difference..
at other times
and especially today
similarity we praise
content are we
Similarity is
stimulated strengthened
enclosing our
4th identity...!
Happy 4th to All..!
814 · May 2012
iris spring
CharlesC May 2012
flags
replicating and encroaching
sharpened green swords
monotonous and marching
poisons and a secret
carefully concealing
awaiting annual signal
when spring approves
only briefest revelation
veritable explosion of
glory
simultaneously approving
quick resumption of
marching
812 · Mar 2012
The Inn
CharlesC Mar 2012
An inn at
the end of a
path
lights adorning
blazing hearthfire  imagined
one traveler's de-light
trudging pain forgotten
in-sight at last
A glance
behind
a darkness thickens
lonely campfires burning
strangers disconsolate
dim visions and
dreams
the traveler must
turn
reversing her course
painful steps returning
campfires need tending
strangers seek comfort
and her
story.
812 · Dec 2012
decorated
CharlesC Dec 2012
we wake
each day
to decorate..
she saw the
moment
the brief flare..
decorations lit
two candles
one flame..
there and gone
returning to
the day
lingering glow
and the rose...
thanks to victoria..!
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