I have a seat at the table,
I will feast til I'm unable!

From the alarm to Instagram, FB, TikTok and beyond…

The external world is screaming:
Watch me! Follow me! I’ll show you where you belong!
We’ve been led, by the piper, into 'other' consciousness,
Happily, we submit to its authority
Because this world is too much.

We stuff every gap, every silence with ******-fanatic thoughts, slap!
Running further from our true selves
How did we get swallowed in this chasm of chants;
That said we are not enough?

It’s time to do something revolutionary!
It’s time to sit in silence;
Befriend the bewildering quietness,
And accept with loving kindness.

I have never
ever been a skylarker,
have you?
I think it would take
a bit of engineering
to come up with a gimmick or two.
I believe the term, rather, is skylarking
but I wonder if it can become a title too?
Or a role,
like the Joker or the Prankster
or is it just whimsical fun?
requiring no skill or gumption.

It prompts me to ponder
alternate universes
or realities;
other paths
my life could have taken —

Would I have been
wonder woman
wild on a stand-up stage?

A doctor,
or a nurse?
Breaking off death's curse!

Could I have been
a circus performer
Or would that have
concluded in a hearse?

I will stick, for now,
with poetry, and prayers,
and promises of life beyond how —
that's a trick worth playing!

Too much in our bellies, too much in our hearts,
We spew out hateful words, crying from our disenfranchised parts; our families, the world inside and out,
All need peace and strength to fight
The war outside, rather than focus all attention on the war inside.

It's been snowing last
Night, golden leaves of Autumn
Cover the once-green grass,
Hiding the Summer days.
Button-up, little lady,
It is time to go into hiding.

Do we all need a season,
Of hiding? Cocooning? Intimacy
With our Creator? To be remade without hesitation
A squall of geese squawks
Overhead, moving on...

With Mother Nature.

Slow us
Lord, that we watch our ways
And about turn
To Your face.

put the song on and dance,
let your hair down
throw your arms up
and dance. Feel the vibrations,
sensations revurberating,
through the trance
of life's circumstances.
Romance pulsates in the dance.

sorry, not sorry,
for being me.
despite the pains and trials,
there's no one else
I'd prefer to be.

I know my scars,
and idiosyncrasies,
they're frustrating
to no end,
but then, that's me.

a bee buzzes,
a scream shrills,
a horn honks,
but silence...
silence...
Silence sounds...
it's not the absence of sound
but much more,
more than I expected
in the lows of loss.
It's like waves...
clashes of particles in the air
and tumbling together
in a rush of fusion,
movement.
Silence is not...
lack,
but an abundance,
of more...
more possibilities,
new ways of hearing,
new ways of feeling...
being...
MORE.

Speak Lord, I'm listening,
lavish me with your jewels:
Grace, gentleness and patience
Are like ravishing red rubies and pearls,
Their wellspring is forever refreshing.

It always feels
forever out of reach;
the finish line,
that momentous victory speech.

Stillness is where it all begins,
In quietness and rest, you will gain life again.
Releasing and trusting is where it continues.
In standing, with arms wide open,
In outstretching hands,
In exhaling,
In breathing,
In being,
In.
Be.

Brews and beats,
Dogs, with owners, walking the streets,
As locals taste the treats.
From farmers,
Butchers and bakers,
Tunes float above the crepe eaters.

Over the years, I’d built myself up;
Propped with awards, opportunities, degrees, and jobs atop of my growing ego: self-reliant, self-determined
And that’s all well and good. Most of us live like this,
Some say we should.

But when disaster happens, as it often does,
We may splutter and curse, or we may choose,
to lean in, to the painful transfiguration that undoes you loose,
That leaves you fragile, undifferentiated and barely there.
But it also brings unexpected delights:
Your frights addressed, and your faith ascends new heights,
And you are rebuilt with new might,

You stand again, but this time propped up with strength unseen.
As I now stand, I know I stand alone, but with a community within,
Solid more, deeper resources help me lift my chin,
Newer insights that remind me that I’m akin,
So, I stand firm, watch and learn.

The journey continues: new horizons await.

Sporting spotty socks,
would not seem that obscene,
but under a pristine cream suit
they poke fun at the ‘proper '”
at the crème De la crème.

Maybe that’s the theme of my curly locks;
Subverting the straight-jacketing of everyday life?!

Being me — 
Truly me, flaws and all — 
Glory and all — 
Opening my eyes to see.

Accepting: exquisitely me — 
Yet filled with sin — 
Not holding back, but fully accepting — 
Having a measured conceptual aid; see — 

Forward-thinking, but living now — 
Grateful breathing — 
Cheekily teasing — 
Knowing the past; living in the now.

Kaleidoscope of moments — 
Divine yet, still fall short — 
Seek The Source, by whom our heart is fraught —
Community, not nomads.

Sunrise, breaking
Is like a distant friend
Returning
From a long sojourn.

The first one whom we compare,
That can drive apart the bond we despair
Until we admit we truly care
We’re as separate as the endless stare:
At her hair, height, weight and flare,
Compassion frees us, so we can truly share
The life we’re born to live, she with me, here.

Take a walk with me,
Come, let’s go,
Let’s fly away or bunker down low.
Don’t prepare, let your instincts lead and see.

Do you notice the streetscape?
Or do you look at me?
There’s the trees and the bees, mums and bubs on bended knees,
Plenty of amazing jewels leaving your mouth agape.

Memories fill our hearts with love,
Risky moments, tender moments, 
Slow moments, fast and fun moments,
Lifetime of treasures; mine, that fit like a glove.

We can’t toss them aside,
We can’t escape their joy or pain,
But we can let them be, washed away by rain,
Or liberated by the sun, whatever...don’t hide.

Live in this moment.
Not a moment too soon, or
Too late...act now! You’ll swoon ;p
It may not bring fortune, but atonement?!

Take down the constructs,
Tear down the precepts,
Tie down the lies.
To
Embrace love,
Engage curiosity,
Enlarge.

How quickly we’ve been brought down,
On bended knees, crying please,
Stop the disease, we’ll take off the crown,
To our lives; listening to lies, mantras of self-help tease,
Hope beyond now. Clear the mental fog; refocus.

How quickly we’ve been brought down,
On bended knees, crying please,
Stop the disease, we’ll take off the crown,
To our lives; listening to lies, mantras of self-help tease,
Hope beyond now. Clear the mental fog and refocus.

Fasten your mind on God;
Untangle the webs of my mind
As I step away from the
Webs of this world.

living foolheartedly,
open and free,
embodying all senses
to make sense of you and me.

The cycle of life;
The journeys we traverse,
etched in our bodies:
tattoos of the well-lived
loved and even loathed.
That’s a full life, isn’t it?
Leaving traces of our existence.

squeals of delight
float out across the horizon
from children in the houses
nearby.

then, cries of fight
follow after they tear open
treasures, discard disappointment
feebly.

many will gather day and night
full bellies will ensue,
then ambivalent skumber,
mixed tearily.

Feel the tension,
Even though it’s uncomfortable,
because it’s where you’ll grow!
Lean into the discomfort,
Feel the disconnect, as
That’s where new life begins!

Thank You for the pain —
Thank You for Your wisdom.
Thank You for the angst —
Thank You for letting it run its course.
Thank You for Your grace —
Thank You for letting me be,
fancy-face and free.
You are gracious and kind.
You are loving, Your words bind.
You are tender.
With no remorse, You're re-making me slender.
Your fingerprints are love marks all over;
Kisses from heaven.

Cold and dark; sadness looms overhead umbrella-like,
Comforting, not.
Swallowing from within.
Yonder, the door opens and a light shines in.
Sadness flees as company beckons.

time and times to remember
sailing mostly quietly by

a memory worth remembrance
-love you found despite yourself

travelling a finite road
-with eternal consequence

friends and past lovers gone
-often prayer leaves the lips

a whispered personal conversation
-with the God of Love

in your loneness
this is the best you've got.

The birds tell a story,
Of what we humans do.
Their chirps and their tweets,
Are confirmation of who and what we knew.

Though we may not see
It, their eyes scan the skies.
And other varieties capture
our uncommunicated idiosyncracies.

The birds in the sky,
Test the temperature of our times.
They hold our secrets,
And much more importantly, our lies.

And so shall I.

The Burra boomed
Shattering stillness
And announcing
all ‘smart’ phones alarms are defunct.
Lights lit up  one-by-by one,
As the sleepy slumber was no more.
Daily grind begins
On setting 2.0 on
The bean machine.
Thrive or die:
the mantra for this world.

How do we miss our call?
What's distracting us today from hearing and trusting at all?

The clouds look old today, grey and sagging.
They hang lifeless, bringing everything down with them.
I shiver, not with potential, but with bitterness
About the bleak foreboding that looms.

Why is it that I've tried so hard
to forget?
When I've spent so long
trying to remember.
Then, when I stop,
it all catches up with me.
You catch up with me.
I catch up with myself.
When did I lose you?
And how did I find myself in this place again?
The place of wanting to run,
Run so fast, hard and away.
From myself, from you, and from the world.
I break,
I'm shattered.
I fear all these little pieces
can't be put back together,
No matter how talented the artist is,
I'm broken.
But then I remind myself of the
Beauty in the broken places.
Breathing again, I walk on into
A new dawn,
A new day,
A new life.

The controller sits in her tower,
Blasting down commands:
Do this, and do that,
Reverberating are her demands.
How to calm her bellow? I ponder.
How did she get so loud?!
But then, sometimes it's so subliminal,
Her messages that silence the proud.
Silence is deathly, it kills life when left unchecked,
Is it peaceful or suffocating?
Is it healing or is it a tragedy?
Can I change? Or is this how she'll be for the duration?
I have hope in you oh Lord,
That you will calm the controller.
I have trust in you, oh Lord,
But I just have to let out this holler...

It was pitch black
as I walked this morning.
The earth is turning.
All anxieties that flee
In the light,
That couldn't be cracked
In the black loom large.
Until almost home.

Never did I want to be a boxer,
But I’ve spent quite a lot of time in the ring.
All I’ve wanted was to daydream,
To play, write and sing.

But there’s always been a block:
Distraction,
A thief that’s knocked me down and robbed me true,
From harnessing my introspection.

Pushed up against the wall,
Beaten blue and black,
Suffering in this moment,
Focusing more on what I lack.

But I’m ready now,
To change: I MUST CHANGE,
Or I’ll lose much, much more,
Than I’ve already exchanged.

At church this morning,
As we were saying 
The Lord's Prayer
There was a thump and a crash,
Then the drums went boom, boom, boom
The congregation gasped,
The drummer collapsed: and fell.
It was both shocking and devastating,
He embodied the mystery of life and the fall,
But thankfully 
There was a Doctor in the house;
Heaven on Earth!
Allayleuya!

We shall feast
One day.
On rows upon rows 
Of delicious morsels,
Lucious liquid that will quench our thirst;
Bursting from the wellspring within 
As we commune;
With Saints sensing the Mystery.
How full we all will be;
Forevermore.

Sad,
Scared.
If I don’t have a plan —
The unknown...
Isn’t that where faith steps in?
Yes! but I’m scared.
Or alive?
Scared.
Or awake?
Stifled?
No, alive!
Feeling,
Not censoring.
Being,
Not just existing.
This is the beginning.
Allow yourself to feel.
Emotions are a gift to the soul.
Embrace "The Feels"!

You flutter your flighty, fleeting tunes,
Lift us too, beyond,
To the stars and moon.