In remembering we try to
put together
what has fallen
apart. We think
back to what we could have, might have,
should have done and
weep. Our nights fill
with if only
as guilt and anger poke and creep
about the room
fusing with a
sadness beyond words.
JDG
“It’s like a rainbow steadily
fading,” he said,
this shy twelve-year
old, struggling
to find a way to speak of his
sadness. What started
out many hued
and bright is now
a vague suggestion of what was,
and he is left
still longing for
a hint of gold.
JDG
Sitting here, breathing in and out
in a silent
steady way, I
gradually see
this simple act in a whole new
way: if we want
to stay alive
we must let go
of all that’s old and open to what’s
new. To hold on
or shut out halts
life’s basic flow.
JDG
(with thanks to Dennis Lewis and The Tao of Natural Breathing )
Round and round I go, caught in some
whirlpool of thought,
making waves of
an unpleasant
sort. Yet, there’s an ever-present
rope nearby if
I can turn my
attention there,
nothing dramatic – just a small
and steady shift
to watch my breath
move in and out.
JDG
If, but for a minute, I could
enter into
quiet and learn
to wait til what’s
real is clear, perhaps then wise speech
would come, speech that
is true, kind, of
benefit, and
necessary, as those more wise
than I advise.
Until that time
duct tape will do.
JDG
The wind has come to play among
the trees and each
tree plays in its
own way. Some are
all aquiver at wind’s slightest
touch while others
hardly move a limb,
and there are those
who give it all they’ve got, whose
trunks join in and
shift and sway to
wind’s every tune.
JDG
There they are on the dance floor, she
at five foot nine,
the tallest girl
in her sixth grade
class, and he, at four eleven,
the shortest boy,
both enjoying
the music and
each other. I rejoice at their
ease, innocence
and pleasure. I
know they’re still free.
JDG
The fog this morning brought bleak
beauty to the
start of day. Two
black crows stood in
the mist, a stark study in black
and gray. Bare trees,
limbs outstretched, reached
to a pale white
sun for light as shadowy cars
cautiously crept
along highways
shrouded in haze.
JDG
In the early morning quiet,
before dogs or
cats or kids or
sun arise, I
sit and savor lemon-ginger
tea. For a while
it’s just silence,
me and lemon-
ginger tea. Soon dogs and cats and
kids will stir and
I’ll be left with
only the tea.
JDG
In the midst of all the chatter,
I can turn to
breath and writing
and find refuge
there. Such a focus gives me space
to see what’s right
in front of me
and look past all
those running commentaries
hijacking me,
taking me for
a crazy ride.
JDG
