Clear colored lines
Glowing in the night
A memory from
A simpler time

The illusion of order
In a chaotic world
Where man's folly
Challenges
The relentless march
Of the natural sphere

Slain by his own sword
The human race
Always wants more
Than Mother Earth
Is ready to give

All it takes
Is a hurricane
Or a major quake
To show us
Who is in charge
Who will win

Though this moment
  be dark
Rest assured
Just as
   the sun rises
So too
   this gloom
   will pass

There is no need
   for struggle
Just as
   there is no need
To push the river
   or raise the sun
Choose your battles
Find your center
   and lift yourself
   up

Ripples
Radiating out
All the way to the edge

A beacon
Broadcasting a message
To all and sundry

Pure or disrupted
The message remains the same
One message for all

Find your truth
The truth of Deep Knowing
But know
It is only
Your truth

Heady aspirations
   by and of the mind
The Ego pushing
   attempting to prove
   it is divine

But the struggle
   is long
Ultimately futile
Wrought of story
   an attempt to blind

Clarity at the edges
But blind in the middle
Myopically navigating
This treacherous terrain

Feeling put upon
And put off
The mind wanders
Lost in fog

Until at last
I yell STOP
Breathing in my essence
To be who I am

Stripping away
   the pain
A rough and raw
   surface below
Shows the scars

The void filled with
   sad nostalgia
The suffering
   wasn't easy
But it was
   my companion
Familiar
   dependable

Fighting the urge
   to return to the past
I breathe into
   the empty space
Hoping to seed it with
   new promise

The sands of time
flowing backward
set in motion
so long ago

Grasping at the past
groping in the dark
looking for meaning
to justify existence

The ground I stand on
slipping away
as reality dissolves
I choose to move

Reckless and raucous
I hear the sounds
the gathering is calling
the time is now

Sadness
   is not
      a hole
         to be filled

It is
   a wild animal
      to be released
         with gratitude

Happiness
Is not found
By getting ahead
By changing others
By acquiring things
But rather
By letting go

Letting go of wants
Letting go of needs
Letting go of must-haves

Letting go of being right
Letting go of feeling alone
Letting go of feeling sad
Letting go of pain
Letting go of anger
Letting go of guilt

Embrace who you are
Celebrate your blessings
Celebrate being alive
And hold
The warm glow
Of gratitude
In your heart

Life in flux
Which way to turn

I step out of the turbulence
   and choose
      this moment

Only this moment
   letting go
      finding space
         to be

Stone and steel
A hard world
Unforgiving
By design

Locked in place
Held immobile
Reliable
Predictable

No room for Story
No room for Humanity
The joy of the moment
Denied

This is not a world I choose
The beauty that feeds me
Is found
Elsewhere

The light flutters
Across the page of my mind
Soothing the anguish
Pain from my past

Knowing I can choose
Who will I be today
I wonder
Will I venture forth
From these walls
Built for me
And by me
Will I face my fears
And let them melt away

The fog slowly clears
As I swim upstream
Stepping out of my old skin
I feel tender and vulnerable
My armor gone

I know I must move
Get out of my own way
My inner light
Guiding me on

As I step through the surf
I am forced to walk backward
The moment too beautiful
To turn away
I shoot frame after frame
But it is never enough
I pause to drink it all in

Back at my computer
I choose the one
I push hard
And I am rewarded
I can share the joy
That held me so

In this moment
I have all I need
And for this
I am grateful

Holding tight
I feel the fatigue
Caught in the same loops
Again and again

How to break this cycle
How to step off this merry-go-round
To lie in the open field
Basking in the sun
What happens if I just let go

For what it’s worth
The accidental poet, Leo
Finds catharsis in
Composing in
The poetic form

His words are private
Musings of a distressed mind
And yet he is happy
To share his verse
So you may also
Find your truth

Embrace what is
The reality of now
The truth of this moment

And maybe
You might see
The beauty of the tapestry

Bliss in the moment
Is like bedrock
Breaking the surface

Through the smoky air
A vision comes
A future bright and open
Full of bliss and joy
Trust and ease abound
The troubles of the moment
Fade into insignificance
For the truth is
Like the blue sky
This new reality
Has been here all along

In this moment
I can let go of reason
And be consumed by my fears

Irrational fears
Stripping away my humanity
Until I become
A dark being
Destroying the world around me
Creating Hell for all

Maybe I won't do that

A Challenge
Comes barreling down
Without warning
Flattening everything in its path

When it has passed
I am left numb and shellshocked
Gasping for breath
And searching for a footing

Who am I in this moment?
A frightened child
Unprotected
Alone
Or a resilient being of light
Observing
Transcending

In a world of division and polarised politics
A world of fake news and echo chambers
It feels like the world is ending

Scratching beneath the surface
New ideas form
And the vista shifts

Stay curious my friends

Finding balance is just a question
Of prioritizing what is important
Start with the basics
First you must breathe

When I let go of the illusions
Of shoulds and musts
Life becomes simple
I can now focus on
The only thing that matters
I take a breath

finding myself
in this moment
I taste the air
and let my mind expand

Taking in this moment
Looking out into the mists of uncertainty
I wonder how to embrace
This new reality

What will be my role
In these shifting patterns
That have been locked for so long

It seems much is possible
What will humanity choose to manifest

Left to their own devices
I find things sort themselves out
The struggles of the moment melt away
The constructs of tension collapse
Leaving open space
Ready to be filled
With peace and joy

As I wrestle with the paradox
Of embracing my magnificence
While remaining humble
I remind myself
I am but the empty vessel
Ready to be filled
With the splendor of the divine

I’m waiting for the moment
When I finally feel free

Free from the judgments
Free from my past
Free from my self-imposed
      limitations

Deep in my heart
I know
That moment is now

Stepping into my power
I see the mire
            as I emerge
I felt so small
            insignificant
Hardly existing at all

And now I know
I am as big as the Universe
And infinitesimally small
All at the same time

For the two are but
Sides of the same coin

When life presents in adversity
I know this is how
I transcend my past
It is a blessing
Evidence I am progressing
On my journey
To become human

As I embrace who I am
In the knowing of Wholeness
I explode into Joy

The dark mass of my fear
Holds my heart
Ready to crush it

I breathe
Trying to clear the pain
But it goes too deep
Its hold too strong

In this moment
I realize
This is where
My work lies

Lifted by divine love
I now know
I am whole
Joy and abundance
Are my destiny

Letting go of attachment
I awake to a deeper truth
I am just the instrument
I pray I am played well today

Knocking on the door of greatness
I dare not falter
For this is my divine mission
And my people are waiting

Opening my heart
To embrace my full potential

I see a future of
     abundance
          connection
               and joy

In a gentle world of
     giving
          and trust

Completing us all

Baby steps
One at a time
Moving forward
Building slowly
Moving deftly
I am unstoppable

Being rescued
At the eleventh hour
Is not for
The faint of heart

Looking doom
Straight in the eye
Knowing I could be taken down
At any moment

Letting go
And holding on
All in the same moment
Getting to rock bottom

This is my journey
How I get to my truth
For only through
The heat of the forge
Am I made whole

In the joy of love
I will find you
The precise moment
Does not matter
For we have always been
And always will be
One

The simple things
Abound with joy
My truth lies there
Bringing me back
To who I am

In the vastness of my being
I connect with the divine
Finally understanding
How the two are one

Now knowing
The unlimited potential
Of who I am

Being in this place
Between past and future
I let it expand
To greet who l am

It’s still there
The void inside
Dark and cavernous
Ready to draw me down

I thought I had dealt with this
But I just papered it over
Trying to be normal
Trying to survive

It doesn’t take much
To bust it open
To send me running
Looking to hide

There seems no end
To the grief I hold
It carries me with it
Lost and out of control

It’s not your fault
It was there before
Wounds from my past
Which have emptied me out

It’s time to face it
Go deep and howl
Let the sorrows out
Let the torrents flow

Surrendering thus
The endless waters calm
And in this moment
The light of love shines through

Cold and wintery the light
Penetrates my heart
I smile as I realize
I will always love you

I am beginning to understand
I was formed whole
Nothing was left out
Nothing to be sent along later

So then what am waiting for
To start my life
Why do I play so small
In this garden of abundance

The walls of my fears
It seems are illusions
Fabrications I cling to
Protecting me from an imaginary abyss

How to tear these walls down
And emerge from this prison
From the sad aloneness
Into joy and connection

Set in ink
My thoughts seem silly
Childish arguments
For bad behavior

The truth lies deeper
It evades capture
And will not be trapped
In the form of words

Rough and tumble
The ways of the world
Keep me aware
That I am not here
To simply exist

The struggle is integral
I need to keep going
Continue growing
Finding my way to
Existing simply

Sitting still
While the moment passes
Nothing is lost
As time collapses
Into unity