Against the cloud-streaked, light blue sky

a cardinal flies

while on the ground

turkey vultures

slowly gather to feast on what

no longer lives.

In this moment

infused with so

many hues, I’m caught and held

by life’s complex

entirety

of high and low.

                                                    JDG

It’s strange how one brief moment can

hold it all, as

Zorba the Greek

knew so well when

he chose to dance among the ruins

of his dreams. What

better response

is there than this

single, grace-filled act in the face

of life’s full

catastrophe

of dark and light?

                                                                          JDG

Sometimes life gives us a cup of

sorrow, sometimes

a cup of joy.

Our choice is not

from which cup we’ll drink, but rather

how we’ll guide each

cup to our lips

and how we’ll drink.

May we find the grace to drink from

each while giving

thanks for the well

from which both come.

                                                                       JDG

It’s because of my friend, Warren,

that I wish to

forever be

an amateur,

one who does what she does for the

love of it as

 its root suggests.

 Once he explained

the word’s origin, my heart leapt

past all other

motives to claim

love’s primacy.

                                                                      JDG

Stories have always captured me

and they still do,

but lately I’m

more drawn to a

single image, unadorned. I

like to sit and

soak it in like

sunlight after

a long Spring rain or starlight in

a midnight sky.

Light itself has

become enough.

                                                                        JDG

In my dream two elderly Black

women sat in

a balcony

where one addressed

us from above. I could not hear

until today

what she wanted

me to know  – that

 when we’re most discouraged and feel

like lying down,

that’s when it helps

to stand instead.

                                                                   JDG

Swamis near and swamis far have

some helpful tips

to aid us on

our karma trips.

When all else fails, it’s best, they say,

if we can turn

toward om. Guided

solely by sound

practices, we can shift and steer

til we resound

with laughter and

  intone delight.

                                                                JDG

These tiny yellow flowers out

my way send no

e-mails, texts, or

tweets. They speak in

old-fashioned ways, telegraphing

their message to

all who pass by:

” Put down your phone.

Look all around. There’s no telling

what you might see.

Maybe it would

even be me.”

                                                            JDG

You welcomed us and took us in

never asking

how long we planned

to stay. Through dark

nights of sad uncertainty, you

cradled us and

when morning came

you were there to

greet the light. When it’s time for me

 to leave, you’ll be

the solid ground

 on which they’ll stand.

                                                                                             JDG

Will the sun or will the rain

win the day? Will

a tie be called?

Just yesterday

 they sang in harmony at noon,

but that duet

didn’t last and

for a time both

fled the day, leaving only grey

to sing the blues.

 That’s how it went

and how it goes.

                                                              JDG