As the new year opens, may I
learn to open
too. Let me not
close my eyes, or
ears or heart out of habit or
out of fear. May
I find the wise
strength that comes from
simple, unresisting presence
and hold gently
all that comes to
greet me this year.
JDG
The day began in sun and silence.
As I slowly
sipped my morning
cup of tea, the
only thing stirring was the wind.
As I edge closer
to the finishing
line, I’ve come to
cherish such slow starts. Sudden bursts
may suit the young,
but I prefer
to warm up slow.
JDG
Saturday’s rain settles and slows,
bringing a grey
peace to glistening
tree limbs edging
stilled waters of pond and soul. What
tomorrow may
bring, I do not
know, but for now
I take shelter in this unsought
respite from life’s
usual full
and hurried flow.
JDG
I awoke to Taylor Swift singing
yet another song
of love gone wrong.
Then Toby came
and settled by my side, singing
a silent song
of love gone right.
Outside the moon
sang a silver soft lullaby
for us all – kids
and dogs, Taylor
and even me.
JDG
Just an hour or two talking
to a friend helps
me find my way
back home. As the
poet Frost says, “Home is where, when
you go there, they
have to take you
in,” and so it
is with certain friends who, when I
go to them, they
take me in and
point toward home.
JDG
The day after a special day,
when there’s a lull
after a storm
of preparation,
when our focus expands to include
our breath, in that
gathering space,
we can take our
rest and slowly settle into
the sustaining
simpleness of
the commonplace.
JDG
Following Rumi’s advice,
when a certain
uneasiness
came knocking at
my door, I didn’t pretend not
to hear, turning
my attention
to other things.
Instead we sat, uneasiness
and I, waiting,
speaking no words –
just listening.
JDG
A cold wind blows across the land.
Bare limbs sway as
ravens circle
high in a grey,
cloud-covered sky. Farther
along the path,
two bright blue birds
sweep past, drawing
the eye to the far horizon
where the sun still
shimmers behind
low hanging clouds.
JDG
Although families are said to be
the fastest and
steepest path to
enlightenment,
I’d prefer to ease into things
in some remote
Himalayan
cave – all alone.
These endless wrangles over chores
and homework make
me yearn for paths
less strenuous.
JDG
Grey days can be comforting when
what we need most
is to settle
in and tend to
what we’ve left undone. Today my
granddaughters and
I hunkered down
and finished some
chores long avoided until now,
leaving us with
a satisfied
and ungrey glow.
JDG
aholdingplace 