There is a peculiar lightness
I have observed that appears
to increase with age

On the anniversary eve of my
70th natal year
I glance towards the
Western horizon
stars all lit
stellar candles beckon

My breath, Pneuma
with gilded wings and
golden vessel
longs to explore the
vaster regions of self

Constellations dangle
Happy Birthday across
the Bright Unknown

I wait......

A vacant silk sari
fluttering, flickering,
in the fiery sunset dusk

I think we are afraid of the vastness
we fear the vastness
the wild untamed beauty of our true nature

The other day at twilight,
I was traveling with my niece, Carina
down St. John's Heritage Highway
the view was absolutely breathtaking
no houses, no development, no people
just vast stretches of old Florida

As we paused to look at the primeval vista
my niece said she found it unnerving - the vastness

I told her I loved it because it reminded me of meditation
losing awareness of our limited, ordinary self
we enter an inexplicable vastness, primordial void
people-less, formless, infinite

We feel eternal truth rushing through our veins
We are part of a larger picture
greater than anything we can imagine

In the starry arms of the blossoming Universe
we rest safe, secure and loved forever