Funny, how after a long protracted illness
everything in nature is so acutely
radiant and refreshing

The fountain grass crouching near
the French trellis
shakes his lime green mane
and roars: "Good Morning!"

The little sparrow chirping his
**** off in the pin oak tree
permeates my ears with
rhapsodic melody

Golden eyes of Cape May daisies gazing
giddily up at the sun
lights up the garden

Egyptian roses swinging their
fragrant censers
march in stately procession

Divine Mother, Goddess, High Priestess
with eyes the color of sunrise reflected
on aquamarine ocean waves and sea foam
taps her healing wand over Winter's
crystal head

And the terrestrial world, all that is
mortal, morbid and subject to decay
springs to life....again...and again.....

Swami Krishna's eyes flashed
lightning bolts illumining his round, brahmin
raincloud colored face.

Igniting logs in the huge fire pit
for our ancestral puja
he chanted ancient vedic hymns,
it was a beautiful offering on
this venerable Sunday morning.

Rites for remembering ancestors
is a tradition in many cultures,
not so much in the west.

Swami Krishna elaborated on its
importance:
We thank them for the good,
for laying the groundwork and support of
our lineage.

We remember them with
love and gratitude,
he stated, wrapping the yellow and red
priestly shawl closer to his body.

Strong, musky, acrid, odor of wood burning
stung our nostrils
one by one, ritualistically we added
ghee, incense sticks, flowers, herbs
and rice to the auspicious serpentine
flames

I could sense my mother near
spicy whiff of curry and channel no. 5
mixing with clouds of smoke

A secret door slowly opened in the heavens
as a procession of ghostly relatives
took their place around the blazing havan

It was almost high noon
and Surya, the Sun God
halted His brilliant chariot
driven by 7 rainbow hued horses

Hovering mid-air over our holy gathering
He raised His Golden Hands in Blessing

Winter nuzzles His chilly
Ivory cheek
next to mine

Puffs of frozen air
hang like heart shaped clouds
around us

Crystal eyes gaze directly, clearly
unflinching
into my night sky orbs

His kiss is cold
but laser true

Together we skate
though colorful Christmas lights,
sequinned landscapes

Across constellations, borealis
and the Great Beyond
Loving it all with
vast polar bear hugs

I stepped outside my door this morning
a flock of snowy egrets soaring above
greeted my eyes, also in the distance
two stygian vultures added to the yin/yang
of the moment


Facing eastward, Surya, the Sun God
stretched out His long burnished arms
yawning away starry remnants of night

My neck has been giving me trouble lately
I asked Surya to give me a solar massage
standing barefoot in the jeweled dew and
damp grass

Surya's life giving warm rays penetrated
the gloomy, dreary alleyways
of my mind and body

Smiling up at our beautiful,
radiant Sun God
I blew fairy kisses toward the sky

bright faced cape may daisies
and disneyland roses
scattered petals
at His most auspicious, splendid
lustrous lotus Feet

While gallery sitting
amidst colorful paintings,
jeweled and sculpted objects
I chatted with fellow artist,
Jeff Filipski

Always on the edge, raw, bleeding
and alive!
Jeff does not mince words, tells it honestly
like it is...
beneath the dark blue rumblings
brilliant electric flashes of intuition
a loving Soul flowers on the
world pond

During a rare glimpse of the Truth
not given to many
Jeff's words struck my Soul

As he lay in the verdant arms of Nature,
gentle currents caressing his spirit,
swooning under the vast blue kiss
of the sky

His heart cracked open
gazing upward
with a raspy voice, tears streaming,
and a choir of infinite echoes
he declared:

I KNOW YOU!

When will we
walk again
my Love
by the turquoise sea
under a blue rose sky

Starfish weep, dolphins sob
on the rotting dead sea shores
of Florida

All the sea Gods are angry
with bloodshot eyes
they throw their tridents down deep

The fathomless bitter tears
and red tide

bleeding....bleeding...bleeding

We walked in beauty at daybreak
a cool breeze blew through our arms
like long feathered eagle spirit wings

Sky pressed its cobalt palms
together in prayer and
bowed to the four directions

Stopping to commune with
the new baby across the street
round, gurgling Buddha face radiant
as the sun glittering above us

His mother expressed concern
over a recent viral infection he'd
just gotten over, her greenish gray
eyes beaming with maternal devotion
in the morningstar light

We continued our beauteous trek
I paused just off of Island street
to take a pine blossom bath
Thanking the noble, handsome pine
I immersed myself in the aura cleansing
prickly, tickling pine needles

A dark blue car ambled slowly pass me
wondering, "What the heck?!"

Laughing, I wandered on...
singing to the sun dancing higher in the heavens
showering the earth and all my
brothers and sisters
in Golden Beauty

The petals of a rose
are a soft kiss from God

Droplets of rapture
dark honey
fall quietly

Inside suffering and joy
behold so much beauty
we emerge from our pain
amidst love's first blush

Skintight, crushed crepe
buds unfold
tiny white tombs crinkle open
cashmere flutter of a billion butterflies
kiss the sky, kiss the day, kiss the universe

We pause in the expanding bliss and ananda
falling deeper and deeper in Love

Those days in Prashanti
devotees cue up at
Brahmamuhurtam
that time
when dew and God's sacred
presence saturate the dusty
red colored earth
soft chirp of birds just awakening
and the Islamic call to prayer clings
to mogul clouds gliding serenely
over the ashram
our anxious minds pray for the
precious chance to enter the Mandir
cloistered in that sublime sweetness
faces glisten with bliss and the
holy sound of Om orbits the earth