Explorers

True explorers,
like us,
may know
how far
we have come,
and may know
where we are,
but never
know how far
we have to go.
True explorers,
like us,
never know.

Akin

I am akin
to sparrows,
to grasses,
to cobblestones,
and other
humble things.

A Spirit Bird

there is light
and shadow
there is wonder

this is the play
of nature
and the mind...

My Blinds

I adjust my window blinds
to look at the ground,
or to look at the sky,
to let the light into my room,
or to keep myself in the dark.
My blinds can do all that.

November

Here
where verdant leaves
reached up for the summer sun,
then turned glorious gold with autumn,
now are brown and falling
with the sun.

But this is not death,
it is sleep,
a patient rest
until the vernal sun
rises warm,
waking the trees again.

I will wait
patiently too.

the extreme

at the extreme
there is nothing I can do
(or can't do)
and I accept it
until something changes
me

What Do You Want?

1.

I stand here
alone,
but all that is
asks me,
"What do you want?"

I don't know.
I pick up a small stone,
content
with what I have.

2.

I do not ask
for more.
The sun shines
in the open sky,
the breezes blow,
and the birds sing.

I have what I have,
what more do I need?
I cannot say.
I have nothing.
I have more than enough.
I have this stone.

humility

stand beneath the sequoia
look up and wonder
at the centuries it has stood
in one sacred place


                                                                                              (and put the saw down...)

This Morning

a grey
electric blanket
carries water
to us

I found gold.

I found gold today,
just along the trail,
I followed for my walk.

I am rich!

Tokens of My Humanity

my pride
my fears
my anxieties
my shoes
my house with locks
my car with locks and brakes
my clothes
my Sunday clothes (my tie)
my TV
my cell phone
my notebook
my camera

lettuce in my garden

my wife
my children
my grandchildren
my sisters
my friends

this list

and more

an open hand

Baileya multiradiata, Desert Marigold

an open hand
lets things go,
lets things come
receives blessings
gives them as well

I have enough
and more

I am enough
and more

you grow where you are planted

you grow where you are planted
endure the leaf miners
and the droughts and flash floods
and survive and thrive

what is made visible

What is inside me,
what I think,
what I feel,
what I am
is invisible,
only made partially visible
by what I say,
and what I do,
by what I create.

You may see
my mind
in my garden.

autumn color

I am in awe...

a stone before me

I place a stone before me,
and wonder about its history,
its beginnings,
its formation and reformations,
in the earth,
and its origins before there was an earth.

I look at this stone
and wonder about the universe,
and gods and beings before me.

This stone existed before I was
and will exist long after I am.
It deserves my attention,
so I place this stone before me
and wonder...

perhaps there are visions ahead

perhaps there are visions ahead
learning from the trees
to accept the winds
and the seasons
and still reach up into the sky
and crown ourselves in glory
perhaps the trees can share
their visions ahead

Clouds Over Us

Clouds over us today,
clouds that do not belong to us
or this high desert,
clouds carried by a hurricane,
a gift of the ocean and the sun.

Clouds promise rain,
but have not yet.
Clouds sweeping away
the last memories of summer
from the earth and sky.

Sparrows chatter together
in the trees and bushes,
then hunt for seeds as one.
Is their excitement
created in the clouds?
Is it today
or the season?

I watch the clouds
covering us today
and wait for whatever
falls from the sky.

Before a Storm

I watch my garden in the wind,
a wind blowing before a storm.

I remember winds like this,
over forests, the sound of it
high in the pines,
over wheat fields,
the golden waves in the grasses,
across lakes and ponds,
whitecaps on the waters,
and on my face,
making me squint
and hold on my hat.

Today my little garden
dances in this wind
before a storm comes in.

My Morning Office

my morning office
my morning work

Sitting Here in the Center

Sitting here in the center

of everything I see,
I am responsible
for everything I am,
my thoughts and emotions,
my hopes, joys and fears,
all my perceptions,
and my relationships
with everything around me.
I am what I will be.

The Grass Knows

I asked her where the sky started.
I doubt anyone asked her that in her four years.
She said she didn't know,
and pointed way up there.

I tapped her on the crown of her head,
and said it starts right there.

Even the grass knows where the sky begins.

Alienated

it is strange to be related to everything
to share our DNA and our elements
and still feel alienated

to lovingly dig into the earth
to feel the soil between my fingers
and then need to wash my hands

to gaze up at the clouds
in the bright blue sky
with my sunglasses on

to walk upon the earth
exploring its wonders
with shoes and socks on

how far I have come
arising from my genealogy
to leave my natural world

I was born here
like everything else
but I am now an alien

Sacrifices

Beneath the eternal rays
of the September sun,
grasses yellow in the wind
offering themselves
to their seed.

Above the ancient earth,
rooted in the soil,
trees bow with the weight
of their fruit,
and begin to cast away
their leaves.

Among the living,
flower petals wither away
to send their seed
into the world.

Grasses, flowers, herbs,
shrubs, and trees
sacrifice, giving themselves,
and their fruit and seed
to feed every creature,
and still they survive.

I wonder what I give.

Now...

shoes,
clothes,
gloves,
jacket,
hat,
sunglasses,
now
I am
an alien
to my own
planet...

A Coal Creek Elm

I believe
it is an elm
holding a pose
in this canyon,
by this stream;
an interpretative dance,
mirroring the canyon
and the sky;
a still, patient stance,
gathering winter light.
I dance with this elm
for a moment,
I believe.

Sometimes Hope Blooms In Our Window

The Mystery

the "tunnel"

Escalente, Utah.