Thirsty,she came running to him, like any true seeker of wisdom,
erroneously believing this is a flower full of nectar, waiting for her.
That debacle of hers taught him what the real nature of human life is,
a seeker now, he  finds himself,filling his first cup of elixir from her.

His mind wrapped around my neck like a snake
His eyes were sharp and constant
I Knew they held truth
When they held mine
We spoke to each other in a way that froze time
Lapses of speed and light around us while we sat with our wine in a force field of intensely still and silent air
You could cut with a knife
He's dangerous.

More folk need to learn
About Cause and Effect
Respecting others
Is fundamentally what earns respect

My dad was raised Christian
Episcopalian
But left
No disrespect
He just wasn't convinced

So when I was a child
Our attendance at church was
sporadic
Sometimes a source of contention
And, usually, more pain than joy

The summer of 1969
Men walked on the Moon
And my parents
Split
My dad moved across town
I saw him one day each weekend
The most time we had ever spent together.

When I was twelve the earth moved
Sixty-four people died
And my father embraced Buddhism
And Buddhism embraced him
In a way nothing else ever had
and he learned moderation
Regaining his freedom

What got him was the Law of Causation
Cause and Effect
What goes around comes around
The Golden Rule
Unencumbered
With the baggage from his past
The philosophy of common sense
His pianist's artist's teacher's mind
Could comprehend
Grasp and hold for good

My twelve-year-old mouth
Would not be denied
And so I one day announced
That chanting
Was simply another form of prayer
A fact he acknowledged
reluctantly
but ultimately
with humor and grace

And was it my father's turn to Buddhism
That sparked my own
Journey into Spirit?

In 1972
With Godspell on the radio
I saw Jesus Christ Superstar
At the Universal Amphitheatre
Twice
And when my sister joked
"Let there be light"
And all the lights came on
Then she genuflected
Before taking her seat
It was only partly in jest
For there was reverence in the air
And a sense of the Eternal
The foundation of the story
Of every story
Cause and Effect

Later that year I was baptized
Before I realized
That no church held the key
For the key was within me
As it resides within us all

More folk need to learn
About Cause and Effect
We are here on earth to Love.
And respecting others
Is fundamentally what earns respect.

6/7 July 2005 Approx. 2 AM

Love seekers are matches
Looking for a flame.

It lights them up,
Gives them meaning
And then...

And then it kills them.


F.Z.**N

I've looked above
Beneath the clouds
Among the stars
But couldn't see

I've searched below
The rocky earth
The mountains and
Under the sea

I've asked Him too
"Where is it?" but
He stayed silent,
Just smiled at me

Why can't I find
That precious thing
Or wait, was it
A precious place?

A vibrant town?
A drink? Some wings?
Or maybe just
A lovely face?

I screamed so hard!
I couldn't help
It as my thoughts
Lie on the floor

In panic now
I asked myself
What was it that
I'm searching for?