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

When I step
Into the light
I can just be

I know the light
Will hold me
Heal me and
Show me I am whole

The ultimate
Unconditional gift
Always there
Whenever I am ready
To step in

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

Knowing the unknowable
A paradox of responsibility

Moving forward
   step by step
Finding the flow
   in each moment
A breath
   and gratitude
The fundamentals

Choice is my power
To shape the world

left alone
     I drift
          into helplessness
my potential
     turning in
          grating
               struggle

The knock at the door
     breaks the spell
          and I can begin
               again

The stark joy
Of life in all its glory
Is here
Right in front of me

Why am I afraid to
Engage
What part of my suffering
Keeps me safe

Where has
     my light
           gone?

Wait
     it's right here
I just had to
     open my eyes

These Words
why do they convey meaning
how do these shapes create story
while others do not

What is the Spell I fall under
where I see visions
and gain new understandings
what seed of intent is needed
to create this Magic

What is the magical essence
That imbues paper plastic metal
And numbers glowing on a screen
With the ability
To manifest our heart's desire

An idea
A story
Respected by all
Lorded over by mages
In crystal spires

Once you know the game
You can rig it in your favor
And believe you are somehow better
For doing so

You matter more
You are entitled to more

But your self worth
Is inflated by emptiness
And in the end
It will all collapse into nothing

If you claim nothing
Then everything is yours

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

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

Moments like these
When my mind opens
Ideas range free
Anything goes
Everything is possible

Casting off the anchors of my past
I let the wind take me
   whither it will
Me at the bow
Eager to discover new lands

Finding the space
To create abundance
I resist the temptation
To keep it for myself

In the belief
A shared blessing
Is a blessing multiplied
I pay it forward

Nested in a select place
Feeling secure
Enjoying this moment

Letting the calm
Wash away the emotions
Shedding the past
Like an unneeded skin

Emerging
Clean and fresh
Into a new day

I stand next to a leaf
A simple manifestation
Billions of years
Trial and error
Evolution outcompeting entropy
The promise of a future
When I open my eyes
I can see

Wracked with guilt
Stories telling me
   you're not good enough
   you're not kind enough
   you're not patient enough
   you're not enough
Leaving a huge hole

In this hollow state
A shell of a human
   i float
Adrift on the currents of life

Not knowing
   where to tether
Not knowing
   how to choose
   my landfall
Which filling station
   to trust

I take tentative steps
   guarded
   aloof
Not willing to risk
What is left
Of my humanity

on the open sea
having slipped the moorings
a long time ago
waves and clouds
the only horizon

adrift
   alone
is a safe harbor even real anymore
   or is the only future
waves and Storms

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

Plugging away
Searching for
   that which counts
Expanding my consciousness
Step by step
To fill the vacuum
   of my potential

Am I loved?
Do I matter?

Do others love me?
How long will they care?

Is it enough to just love myself?
Can I too end that loving?

No
It is primary
And can never be taken away

For I am love

in the first place
there is I
the I is am
and it is all

in the second place
there is heart
bringing shape texture
and context to being

in the third place
there is mind
spinning story creating want
and now there is never enough

releasing all
choosing to own nothing
   but this Moment

it will soon pass
but hopefully
   another will Follow

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

Sadness
   is not
      a hole
         to be filled

It is
   a wild animal
      to be released
         with gratitude

Seriously sad
Trapped in a moment
Set upon a barren table
Nothing to see for miles

Nothing to do
But go deeper
Sometimes the only way out
Is through

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

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

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

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

subtle moments
   gently forming
kernels of joy
effervescence
   awakening
   tickling
bringing me
   into the now

sounds sights and scents
a symphony of sublime sensations

and yet my mind spins on
   blunt and cold
       oblivious to
the abounding beauty of creation

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

And maybe
You might see
The beauty of the tapestry

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

Trust is rare
In this world of trauma
Expediency valued
Above all else

Everything becomes story
A woven tapestry
Meant to deceive
Meant to divide

This must end
One way or another
In transcendence
Or annihilation

How many among us
Will be left to witness
The new age
The age of trust

Several key ideas collide
   fracturing
As the concepts crumble
Something new is born

Bright and shiny
Lit from within
A gift
To light the way

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

The empty cup
That held such promise
Gently mocks me
From the nightstand

It says:
You thought you were everything
And now you know you are nothing
Embrace the emptiness
For it is the only thing that is true

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

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

-
   walking down
Medium Way
   i am unconscious
lost in the Clouds

   rather than Choosing
i pay no notice
   as i am Nudged
this way and that
   only to be Surprised
when i arrive
   at an unintended Destination

though the puppetMasters’
   prompts and prods
      are Subtle
their schemes of World *******
   are Not
      and i
but a Grain of sand
   in their grand Design

i wonder the Consequences
   when I choose to break Step
   and Venture past the surf
into a Different world
One less traveled

If the function of the mind
   is to create story
Then why do so many
   attempt to use it
To discern truth

If the function of the mind
Is to create story
Then why do so many
Attempt to use it
To discern truth

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

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

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

This is a Poem
   It is quite a thing
Wandering amongst the lilies
   Pondering life's sting

A breath
A moment
This moment
Present to the whole universe

It is all here
Right now
Nothing to do
But be in the joy of it all

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

Notwithstanding
The pain I have gone through
I still have favorable
Thoughts of you

I wonder where you are
And how life is treating you
The “what ifs” bubble up
And cloud my view

I try to let go
Saying “it wasn’t meant to be”
Yet my love persists
Even though I told you you were free