January 2011

What could I tell you that you don't already know?

You might not know
Sometimes
I feel edgy and raw and hurting
On and on
But when I see you
It all stops

You might now know
That I think your eyes seem more like a whales than
Human like you came from the ocean depths
To be here (because you were asked)
But you'd prefer to be under water
Near the bottom
Still, silent
With your fish friends.

You

* * * * *

December 2010

Digambara

I am in love with You
looking at the fools in me
asking for the way
asking who I am
how did You create the fool in me?
…an arrogant, educated man
who thinks he can catch the wind in his hand
who laughs at
a peasant thinking that the Earth is flat
...our beautiful globe –planet circling around

the star

in the Milky Way – a razor’s edge…
completely in starry dust,
what did You do...to make me smile?

...

I have no questions,
I have no doubts,
I am still
I am looking at the stars...
I am looking at Your smile...

I am in love with You,
who clothed me in space,
...in sky,

digambara – the naked one
noli me tangere – appearance does not touch
and even

Now is not One.

Adam

* * * * *

November 2010

Who sees what is? No one.
Who enjoys enlightenment? No one.
Who knows truth? No one.
Yet What is, Enlightenment, Truth
are not lies.

The mind will never destroy itself.
The ant will never take you to the moon.
There is no "Me" to bother with,
so why am I talking to you?
It's just what is!

DH

 

October 2010

The Perfect Storm

Something's come over me.
What is it?
This heart and mind have been struck by lightning.
The wind is picking up.
Even as a child I loved storms.
There is a LONGING for this storm and there is no way to prepare for it
Is there?

With unlimited devotion,
D

* * * * *

May 2010

thank you
for letting me
dance my dance
around you

swirling with turns
of seeing
swaying as illusions fall away

what a partner you are
gliding ..pointing

nodding in Silence
as the dance steps
I never knew
appear..

love,
C

* * * * *

For a moment
I felt so free
Seeing that it could
Never happen to me.

And then the moment
Was gone.

P

* * * * *

October 2009

I am so sad.
Having met and heard him
I carry my shoulders
Much lower through life.
I was very fortunate.

S

* * * * *

September 2009

the simplicity in your eyes, in your smile.
it really doesn't have a price

the seeker's burden was overwhelming me
you took away so many unuseful thoughts.

I really experienced a big relief
in front of you
in front of your transparent eyes
full and empty at the same time

I want to thank you
for this precious gift

there is no blame
there is no gratefulness
there is no noise
there is no silence

I feel.I experienced the noneness
and the oneness in front of you.

I want to thank you.

T

* * * * *

July 2009

In Gratitude

Ah, my love
Thou hast taken
the deepest, darkest
secret from me.

Thou hast wrenched
it from me with
thine hands,
and freed it with a kiss.

And now,
now I can dance.
Dance freely
and lightly
with God.

K

* * * * *

December 2008

The Miracle Worker

Teacher
Spelt out on fingers
Hand to cheek
Head bows
Nods Yes
Everything
Yes
My love
There is love here
Yes

P

* * * * *

November 2008

- M

* * * * *

October 2008

3 Poems

Apparently Two

Speak
Argue
Discuss diverse opinions
Or agree
Quick repartee

But ho - silence reigns
A mating of infinite proportion

*

Vast distance exists
They say
Between planets
All dark between the light

Or within cells
Neurons and protons swirling

Yet
They move a singular motion

*

If I held my heart
Out
To you
Clasped between my hands

This person that I am
Would cease

Oh the ecstasy.

(Sheila)

* * * * *

September 2008

Yours is the sweetest nectar
Yours is the deepest potency
Yours is... pure peace
When I am around you I am hopelessly drunk with this potency
Would without hesitation and care... effortlessly drown in this nectar
All boundaries dissolve
The idea of You and Me are gone
And then there is only One! And None!

H

* * * * *

June 2008
Thank you for the Talk!

Thank you for the Talk!
Thank you.
Thank you for all the Talks.
Thank you for everything.
I love you, I love to see you, I love to listen to you.
And, of course, the best is
When I AM you.

Love,
L

* * * * *

April 2008

A dream

I lined up for Darshan of an Avatar. The path to his feet was studded with nails and broken glass (trials and tests) when I arrived for my turn HE instructed an onlooker to tell me to "Sit Still and keep totally Quiet"

Then he left.

end dream

Luv
D

* * * * *

March 2008

Tonight,
under the mask of darkness,
sit by the candle that needs
Gather the fuel that burns
Stack your longing high
On a desperate night,
only you know the flame
that cools
nothing

Gary

* * * * *

February 2008

"Let's keep our love
a secret." God whispered.

"How can I
when I wear the Truth
in my eyes?

Who could look at me
and not see You?

Who could look at You
and not see me?"

written by Hayra Prull

* * * * *

June 2007

The World Outside Your Ego

Dark inside isn't it?
And not all that comfortable
With my majestic jaw
Clamped around your neck.

You're not going anywhere,
So stop struggling.

When people rest their heads
In my mouth,
It's my nature to eat them.
But don't worry!
Your nature is to be devoured,
So we're on the same team.

I feel every twitch
As you try to escape.
Your first trick is to imagine
You're not really here.

It's actually quite endearing,
And adds to your flavour!

You insist that your 'higher' self
Is already away and free.
Think you can silence your mind
And slip from my grasp?
Do you not see,
The only way out is In!

You have to face Reality,
There's no escape for
You.
Claiming to be someone else
Only brings more food to my plate.

Every imaginable part of you is here -
Even your saintly side.

Alright, I'll say it plainly:
Creation does not need your help.
Anything you touch,
Turns into yourself,
And we all know where you're going -
I am a Tiger after all.

So relax,
Even though you can't see it,
The world outside your ego
Is exactly as it needs to be.

Tess

* * * * *

March 2007

thank you
for letting me
dance my dance
around you

swirling with turns
of seeing
swaying as illusions fall away

what a partner you are
gliding ...pointing

nodding in Silence
as the dance steps
I never knew
appear...

love,
Carolyn

* * * * *

January 2007

Doubt of Unbelievers

Surely, when God drew up
profound suffering,
He knew

that even unbelievers
would draw each breath
like a razor

sever all thought

and
bleed
constant
wordless
prayer

Gary

* * * * *

November 2006

wishing you love
and thanking you..

in the burst of anger
a gift was given

the words

"I want you to know
how much I really hate you"

shocked....
numbed...

all the normal ego tricks
of preventing these words
from being felt

were employed....

the desire to dismiss
this hurtful 'person'
from being seen again..

to the judging that
this event should
never have happened..
it is not right!

Then through daily
pulling of Heart strings

Self rummaged around
in hidden momories...

the child believing
that there was ever a single possibility

That she was beyond Being Loved..
Surfaced

What is This?
still hiding...

a single memory
of forgiveness
recognition......

that this past event
as a child was also simply
Self to Self..

waiting to be uncovered
into
This Love....
That is all there is..

Carolyn

* * * * *

October 2006

Became The Meal

One day while watching a spider
complete a successful hunt -
darning an extra small robe
for an especially reluctant
guest -
I thought,
Wow, and this is one infinitely small
part of a vast happening
called life
Suddenly,
I couldn’t move...
and became
the meal of my own
imagination

Gary

* * * * *

September 2006

could this be?

this that is
flowing as birth and death...
hot and cold..
laughter and tears..

this that appears indifferent
to ego selfish desires ...and
human struggles described by the mind...

What is This?

Is who I am separate ...

Could all of This possibly be

This 'Perfection' of Unconditional Love
spoken by the gurus of old...

Flowing with arms outstretched ...
Allowing/Manifesting All ... in Leela's Dance?

Could This Be?

Love, Carolyn

* * * * *

August 2006

First, the little cuts, then the bigger ones, the biggest, the burns.
This is what God did when he wanted to love you.
She didn't expect to meet him on the stairway no one ever used but she did,
because she was afraid of the elevator, the locked room.
She didn't expect him to look like that, to be so patient,
first the little ones, then the big ones. Everything
in due time, he said, I've got all the time in the world.
She didn't imagine it would take so long, the breaking.

He did it three times before he did it. Love?
She had imagined it differently, something coming home to her,
an end to the waiting. And she did stop, when the big cuts came.
It was all there was, the burning, and that's what God was

everywhere at once. Somebody had already told her that,
only not in his voice. He was inside her now ----
the bigger ones, then the burning --- and gone, then back again.
This was eternity, when nothing happened that wasn't
already happening. She couldn't remember.
After the burning, even the light went quiet.
She didn't think God would be so
specific, so delicate --- inside her elbow,
under her arm, the back of her neck and her knees.

It's true, she struggled at first, until after the breaking.
Then God was with her, and she was with him.

-Marie Howe

* * * * *

May 2006

Beloved's grace ripped this breast
Revealed the sacred flame divine
Beloved's flame ignited with the
Master's gaze.

This fire consumes
The old confinement.
Tears of joys are fuel.

Where are the words
For this gratitude?

Cynthia

* * * * *

April 2006

What It All Boils Down To

I knew, somehow,
someday,
it would all boil down to this:
unclothed, falling apart, waiting...
As if anyone is ever ready for
this chopping block in or
out of time
What made me think I could
bathe frequently in self control,
dress in fashionable lies
and walk around in polished shoes of involvement
when what I seek is so raw and stripped,
naked and nameless
That is the God I sense now –
A death that reveals why
tears rain in the echo of a laugh

Gary

* * * * *

February 2006

To a "Monster of Love"

(from your hopeless disciple)

How is it that the noisy mind
slowly subsides into a deep gratitude?

How is that waves of purest love
envelope this organism
and
shining rivulets of joyous gratitude
course down the face of one who
at that timeless moment
has no awareness of anything except
THIS......
this indescribable yet palpable feeling of....
WHAT?

How is it that this happens
in your presence?

Who knows?

Who cares?

And yet in this edgeless stillness
IT is all there is.

Jana

* * * * *

January 2006

I see you everywhere I go
and I don't know what I'm looking at
sometimes I long for you
and don't know what that means
I have no answer
I have no question
thoughts and feelings arise
Once again
there is nothing to do
nothing to know
nothing left to say

Juanita

* * * * *

August 2005

Not the Usual Caring

My fears
your eyes

my faults
your eyes

my misery
your eyes

my failure
your eyes

Some watching
doesn't reflect the usual caring -
tending to open wounds -

but never leaving you
dries the blood

Gary

* * * * *

May 2005

Where is that who creates in me?
Where is that who creates me?
Where are you?
Why do you hide as if you fear me?
I don't wish you any harm even though I hate you.
I only want you.
How can I disappear in order to see you?
Answer!!
You made my life meaningless, so make me meaningless
As well!

I don't know you.
I can't even imagine you.
So why don't you go away from my imagination?
You are cancer eating me alive inside...
Please don't leave me!

You who have hidden, where is your knife?
You promised to kill me and here I am waiting
and waiting....
I can't leave without you!

Maria
(translated from the Russian by Natalia)

* * * * *

February 2005

Life Is

Life is not
the number of breaths you take
but
the
ones
that
take
your breath away

Gary

* * * * *

January 2005

Subjectivity

Consciousness cannot be defined,
for Consciousness does all defining.
Consciousness cannot be described,
because Consciousness does all describing.
Consciousness cannot be felt,
for Consciousness does all feeling.
Consciousness cannot be seen,
because Consciousness does the seeing.
Consciousness cannot be thought,
for Consciousness does the thinking.
Consciousness cannot be owned,
because Consciousness does all owning.
Consciousness does not have characteristics;
all characteristics are in Consciousness.
Consciousness is not in the world;
the world is in Consciousness.
Consciousness is not in time;
time is in Consciousness.
Consciousness is not personal;
Only the content of consciousness is personal.
Consciousness cannot be defined.
Consciousness and I are identical.

John

* * * * *

November 2004

SLO

* * * * *

October 2004

Touching....

God/Goddess lovemaking....
Pure lovemaking in the Present
Carried throughout the Universe,
Carressing, savoring, sparkling All
As it touches the Beloved...

love, carolyn

* * * * *

September 2004

Not possible
To explain

Not necessary
To ask

No need
Of an answer.

The image
Of your calm face

The fragrance
Of tranquility

Is all
That's needed.

It is
An invitation

To the
Beautiful emptiness

And quietness
Of the heart

With love,
Felipe

* * * * *

August 2004

Beauty Beauty

My heart uncreated
Sung by you
Sung through you
Without reservation
Silence abides, silence recedes
What remains
You take me there

Danny H.

* * * * *

June 2004

The Well

Rumor has it that this well is unreliable
That people have drunk here and been poisoned
Or that drunk on rumors of its life-giving waters,
They've wandered for years
Following a bad map
Unable to find it in plain sight.
I've heard some have come to the well
And seeing the wild, bearded fellow watching over it
(he looks more like a wine drinker than a water drinker they say)
Leave without even lowering the bucket
Thinking surely their thirst couldn't be quenched here, of all places.
I have come many times to this well and
Strange as it may seem, I can't always find it
Though I too know it must be in plain sight.
Wandering in circles, thinking I recognize this tree or that stone -
I'm certain it was in this precise place just yesterday!
And gone on looking, and given up, throat parched;
Or I come all the way
And my thirst inexplicably disappears
Though it was there a moment before
And returns when I leave.
I have come and found the bucket missing,
The pulley rusted stuck,
The rope frayed and broken
And have left as thirsty as when I came.
I have gotten lost looking for it,
And finding it, cursed it until the bitterness in my mouth
Turned my stomach, and I've left
Still thirsty.
I have at times been so distracted by the hypnotic wild rantings of the well watcher
That I've forgotten why I came
And returned to town in a daze.
I keep coming back to the well
Because sometimes
The well is easy to find
The bucket is clean, the rope is strong, the pulley works fine
The well watcher mutely stands by
And at those times
The water is as sweet as any I've ever had
As sweet as anything could be
And I wonder how I could ever have been thirsty.

Daniel

* * * * *

May 2004

The Last House On The Block

Welcome to the last house on the block.
Here, let me take your burden
And lay it against the wall.
No sir,
Please let go of the handle.
It'll be quite safe
I assure you,
No one here is lacking luggage of their own.

This is the very last house.
Commiserations on making it this far.
All your childhood friends are staying
At the Palace of Riches
In the last town.
Yes sir,
I agree that they are fools,
But then,
I am here too.

Tess

* * * * *

April 2004

Wooed by the Beloved

The Old Darling is forever writing the most exquisite,
sensual love letters.
He sends telegrams brimming with bouquets of honey-scented blossoms.
Garlands, to His beloveds, from entire gardens He tends for
the purpose of pleasuring His special someones.
Why I haven't heard a bird yet who He hasn't taught His enchanting
love songs and wooing calls.
They practice at all hours for Him in preparation for His lovemaking -
which, if He doesn't mind me saying
appears to be going on
round
the
clock.
I sometimes think He's hypnotized the
whole whirling universe and then some
to be in cahoots with Him.
Even the sun and moon are out seducing for Him
Have you caught those two radiant Ones winking
and casting their spells?
All of that juicy courting! What a lover!
But did you notice? He keeps sending His lovenotes
from and to His own Home address!
Who said He lives alone?!
Someone He lives with is
very loved indeed.

Ellen

* * * * *

March 2004

My Potluck Funeral

When you plan my funeral
make it a potluck
bring any kind of celebration you want
and let's talk only of the exquisite wonder
and amazingly seamless magic
of this constructed wonder of the Beloved
No sorrow will be on the guest list
all wounded history left at the door
only playfulness and merriment will be allowed in
Hold the chisel
to my headstone
and everyone take a whack!
who cares what it spells
A grave marker can't describe
what never died
or was ever born
I am, You are
the melody of Nothing
so maddeningly beautiful
the world arose to hear it
Dearly Beloveds,
we have gathered here
wild and barefoot
to dance our way home

Gary

* * * * *

February 2004

For you to know
We have never been
Apart
You must have been
To the place
Where time begins
And ends
A dancing light
Making one sound
Naming us.

* * * * *

January 2004

I come to you, my love,
with the fury of a bull ready to fight,
I approach you as a lascivious lover
lost in pleasure,
I bow to you like an old monk
devoted to his Lord,
with the terror of a prisoner
sentenced to death,
with the joy of the first kiss,
with the attachment of a young mother.
The fire, the ice, the forbidden rapture,
the suffering of the exiled.
To you I come with that subtle love
that heals and welcomes
and whispers discreet
smiling from far away
and knowing that He, alone,
is the king of everything.

silvia

* * * * *

When Winners Lost Their Swagger

When savvy veterans start striking out
and brainless rookies suddenly win the game
or
the weak start working the count and going deep
or
losers give off an undefeated air
while the winners lose their
swagger
you know
something has evened the playing field

When a player of such high caliber
joins your team every strategy shifts
as the competition shuffles its feet
and even the old timers come out to watch
thinking back to their classic contests
and saying,
now we’ve got a ball game!
O . . . they know . . .
its a whole new contest
when amid the roar of a standing ovation,
love takes the mound

Gary

* * * * *

What It All Boils Down To

I knew, somehow,
someday,

it would all boil down to this:

unclothed, falling apart, waiting...

As if anyone is ever ready for
this chopping block in or
out of time

What made me think I could
bathe frequently in self control,
dress in fashionable lies
and walk around in polished shoes of involvement

when what I seek
is so raw and stripped,
naked and nameless

That is the God I sense now –

A death that reveals

why tears rain in
the echo of a laugh

Gary

* * * * *

A Sufi Restaurant

You've met someone special,
now consider this proposal:

Take them to a sufi restaurant
where playfulness is served 
on whirling plates
and busboys do the kissing
And winking waiters in white
dispense wine teasingly as they pass
open mouths

And the entertainment?
Why your untamed gyrations of course!

And later with your dreamy desert
and warm nightcap in hand
climb up on the roof of this
establishment and listen to the gossip
Between flirting stars and bashful planets
Ah . . . such a perfect night. . . 
out-of-this-world
food . . . so relaxed . . .belts loosened
. . . bellies
bloated . . . something about this
luminous ingredient,
love, that makes you long for the evening
to never end

Long to hear those three little silly,
words
one more time.

And there you are!

Sensing your date slide in dangerously
close
and start to articulate in an unusual
tongue
with great conviction . . .
as God turns to meet your melting heart,
and slowly  begins shouting your shameless
desire
to the whole establishment:

Time . . . . to . . . . Dance !!!!!

Gary

* * * * *

The Last Miracle

God asked me to tell you
that He is sorry but
there will be no more Miracles in your lifetime

He has taken all the wonder and joy
and life and mystery He has
and packed it into
His last Masterpiece

Hidden it in something
extremely ordinary
and made it vanish
with a baffling hand movement

Do you notice that
every once in awhile
when you look in the mirror
something quite unusual catches your eye?

a glint, a dazzle, a motion of unique light
that flashes by

Admit it,
it is mystifying to even imagine
what might be
inside
you

Gary

* * * * *

Love Poem

I come to you in my dreaming
You act so ordinary
Last night you wore a clownish mask
I thought it odd
You were on your way to a party, you said
You were going back home, and you invited me
It is so compassionate of you to welcome me
In my dreaming.

* * * * *

Inside Stillness

White river stillness lures me to sleep now,
sings me its silent lullabye.
Nowhere to flow to
waves frozen inside time.
Outside time, stillness so loud
hearing the moment before its birth
that never was.

Vastness is overcoming me now,
the me that never was dives deep
below the surface
beyond the undertoe and frozenness beyond
the fishes and universes beyond
the beyondness into the nothingnesss
that isn't even that.

Day or night, it doesn't even matter now,
sun glistening on river's ice tastes like
blackness glistening in star's night.
Each moment's endless diversity stuns
and overwhelms with all its holiness.

The bed so warm, the fire so hot now,
meeting the cool window pane
I've turned into steam.
A twinkling ship cuts through the pristine solidness
the whole house is vibrating me back
to where I never left.
This heart is beating Still in the moonlight glow.

Much Love,
jaime (spiritdancer)
2/25/2003

* * * * *

My Vendor Friends

You are the oddest glows
in the whole galaxy,
not the Milky Way,
but the lost and founds
of so many ways

As old crusty-faced sea turtles
you traveled from everywhere
to group here, in the shore foam,
and bask in this gorgeous sunset
Isn’t it beautiful here?

Do you remember
the quickening dash of your hatchling spirit?
When we discovered how seductible
the universe was,
and then how great hearted and pitiful
our efforts to unmask it were?

Now, we are grapefruit vendors
with a measly dry crop to sell
Avoided and left alone,
we juice it all

In between the bitter sweet sips,
we pitch stories and spin laughter
and wipe the spills from each others’ lives
Our crooked smiles and melting hugs,
who would understand them?

We got so close so very fast
in this waiting room journey
that will take us exactly
where we can’t go

It is all so incredibly hopeless,
all about accepting what is . . .
don’t worry
it’s tribal code

my friends understand

Gary

* * * * *

The Captain

I was flying through a storm
The plane lurching and swerving
Lesser pilots would have bit the dust
Like John F. Kennedy Jr.

How cleverly I maneuvered
Thru lightening and 50 MPH gusts

I landed safely with great relief
My chest swollen with pride (well deserved I might add)
Until I realized I had been on automatic pilot

Dave
friends

* * * * *

Change Of Perspective

I ONCE WAS A BREATH
BUT NOW I'M THE AIR
AND I FLOW THRU LIFE
WITH NARY A CARE

BUT NOW I'M THE BEACH
I WAS A GRAIN OF SAND
WITH ETERNITY'S SHORE
WITHIN MY REACH

I ONCE WAS A LEAF
BUT NOW I'M A TREE
I'VE GIVEN UP DOING
SO NOW I JUST BE

I WAS A BLADE OF GRASS
BUT NOW I'M THE LAWN
I WAS FRIGHTEND OF DEATH
NOW I'VE NEVER BEEN BORN

I WAS A MUSICIAN
BUT NOW I'M THE BAND
I SURRENDERED "THE FINGER"
AND BECAME THE HAND

Dave

* * * * *

A Fat Bellied Swan

The gods of gratitude
scramble to their hilltop seats
They’ve sensed my mood,
my melting space
anticipating heaven-pointed soliloquies
borne on rare human sweetness

But today, I am giving
neither
giddy speeches nor grand oration,
virginal tears nor sweet fountains of heart rain

They are gone now, these blissful star men,
to feed on the thankings of others

I am too humbled by something unutterable

Let the fat bellied swan
tell my story
or the crumb-coated mouse
or the apple-loaded tree

Anything I say will hurt my ears
My body will break if I move much

A fragile message is to be sent;
maybe some white strawberries and chocolates
and things never said before

But I fear the messenger may never find you,
even by the light of your eyes or
the wisp of your smile
A fat bellied swan is looking for you

Gary
10/15/02 Los Angeles

* * * * *

They Came to Pass

They accidentally signed the great contract
agreeing to embrace the opposites
and received the unflinching gift of facing life in death

and so traded happiness for joy without cause
control for absolute acceptance
hope for perfect peace

They do everything we do, scriptlessly however
They are fearless, bold, and strong yet their servitude is amplified
They almost speak as we speak, but less so, so we listen

They skill as conceptual surgeons in no particular hurry
uniquely displaying the art of mental blood letting and bone cutting
one tool, kind of the shape of a harmless smile,
no set hours, and covering everything from thorn removal to amputation
Some patients are amazingly unrecognizable
transformed because they inquisitively smiled back

They also hobby as excellent tea makers
so we stay for lunch and chat
unseen herbs steep in our drink
we often feel funny by dinnertime
usually better . . . . and usually worse

Something in some of us
desperately needs something from them
but they promote nothing
they hawk a useless product
with exuberant grace and detail
we can only guess
they didn’t come to teach
they came to dance

It is an incomprehensible movement
the lives
and effects
of these lovers of everything
extraordinarily common, hopelessly watchable
dangerously loveable
but I have this strong feeling

they didn’t come to stay
they came to pass

* * * * *

Not Much to Chew On

If you are attending a meeting with some guru
and there are a thousand people in attendance
step out of line and keep walking

If only two hundred show up
try to slip out unnoticed before the break
and keep your head down

With even fifty,
sit in the back row, on the edge of your seat
and keep your footwear nearby

Why?

Most teachers offer souls, starving for God,
mood, methods and spiritual snacks
designed to fatten
weakened minds and thin longing hearts

whereas

the teacher who embodies Truth
gives out such meager nourishment
that even the best seats in the house open up!

he knows

there is no way to help you, already grossly obese,
and staggeringly swollen in that Presence
but being spiritually sensitive
or compassionate
or full of pity

he knows

every once in awhile
it probably doesn’t hurt to hand out a few seeds of nothing
to give you something to chew on

and
what will inspire your leaving
or staying is a small oft-overlooked detail:

Your shoes are filled with God’s whimsical feet

Gary

* * * * *

Meeting Awe

In one small swallow
all I know passes out into the night
as I pass through the door

after that
my mind lacks the oil
for much more than simple conversation

These gatherings appear to be
an elegant wisdom feast
of mind boggling bites
and super mouthfuls of insight
that leave me bloated
but not with knowledge

I try to follow
See that messy chalkboard?
that’s my heart scribbling
mad unutterables

and
the perfect answer to every question
causes
an irregular heartbeat
but mostly awe

Leaving these meetings,
I’m learning very little

but
there is
a fat goo of happiness
clogging up every sad pore
inside me

Gary

* * * * *

The Last House On The Block

Welcome to the last house on the block.
Here, let me take your burden
And lay it against the wall.
No sir,
Please let go of the handle.
It'll be quite safe
I assure you,
No one here is lacking luggage of their own.

This is the very last house.
Commiserations on making it this far.
All your childhood friends are staying
At the Palace of Riches
In the last town.
Yes sir,
I agree that they are fools,
But then,
I am here too.

Tess

* * * * *

Night at the Improv

You know

you say the most profound things with your eyelashes

tell the funniest jokes with your ears

your feet perform these wonderfully illuminating plays

your beard gets a little miffed sometimes, then your nose flares

your hands dissect technical questions

in great surgical detail

your cheeks give away your entire secret

I’ve discovered
that you only use your mouth
for those who are
a little

hard

of

hearing

Gary

* * * * *

The World Outside Your Ego

Dark inside isn't it?
And not all that comfortable
With my majestic jaw
Clamped around your neck.

You're not going anywhere,
So stop struggling.

When people rest their heads
In my mouth,
It's my nature to eat them.
But don't worry!
Your nature is to be devoured,
So we're on the same team.

I feel every twitch
As you try to escape.
Your first trick is to imagine
You're not really here.

It's actually quite endearing,
And adds to your flavour!

You insist that your 'higher' self
Is already away and free.
Think you can silence your mind
And slip from my grasp?
Do you not see,
The only way out is In!

You have to face Reality,
There's no escape for
You.
Claiming to be someone else
Only brings more food to my plate.

Every imaginable part of you is here -
Even your saintly side.

Alright, I'll say it plainly:
Creation does not need your help.
Anything you touch,
Turns into yourself,
And we all know where you're going -
I am a Tiger after all.

So relax,
Even though you can't see it,
The world outside your ego
Is exactly as it needs to be.

Tess

* * * * *

Before I am Fully Whittled

I only want to know one thing
before I am fully whittled

before every hope has been skinned from my body

before you’ve carved me down to something unrecognizable

before I’ve reached the shape of nothing

I beg you
to show me
the place
where
happiness
is
buried

These days,
the hardest effort of all
is to preserve the outline

of who I think I am

Gary

* * * * *

The One Who Remembers

Wonder and magic
are here.
Mere presence
but there's no one to wonder.
Then comes the one
who remembers that.
But does he exist,
the one who remembers?

Konstantin

* * * * *

Wooed by the Beloved

The Old Darling is forever writing the most exquisite,
sensual love letters.

He sends telegrams brimming with bouquets of honey-scented blossoms.
Garlands, to His beloveds, from entire gardens He tends for
the purpose of pleasuring His special someones.

Why I haven't heard a bird yet who He hasn't taught His enchanting
love songs and wooing calls.
They practice at all hours for Him in preparation for His lovemaking -
which, if He doesn't mind me saying
appears to be going on
round

the

clock.

I sometimes think He's hypnotized the
whole whirling universe and then some
to be in cahoots with Him.

Even the sun and moon are out seducing for Him
Have you caught those two radiant Ones winking
and casting their spells?

All of that juicy courting! What a lover!
But did you notice? He keeps sending His lovenotes
from and to His own Home address!

Who said He lives alone?!

Someone He lives with is
very loved indeed.

Ellen

* * * * *

Untitled

Long ago an old puppeteer taught you the little tricks of his craft.
How to move and lift the strings with finesse.
So that all of the marionettes would dance and sing and not become
tangled up.
Or appear too stiff.

With practice, he said, you might even become quite good at
controlling their movements.

So, you've kept trying.

In his ancient trunk, he kept hand puppets
And a box of talcum powder to make it easier
to pull the puppets over his hands.

He explained that the puppets were in this way not stretched by his animation.

Someone asked him once if, with his toys, he'd ever felt like
he was playing God.
Or if maybe he simply forgot and thought he actually was the Old Lover.

He said that he did a few times. But that he knew for certain from his own experience
that God
doesn't use talcum powder.

Ellen

* * * * *

True Love...

your love wraps its arms around me
pulling me so close there is no 'me'

and ah...as I look into these eyes...
I see God...

carolyn wind

* * * * *

Untitled

Spring is here
Seen everywhere.
There is no escape,
How beautifully
She
has colored
the Mind

Charles

* * * * *

The Sage

There once was a sage with a beard
Who disciples sometimes feared
His words were untrue
When spoken to you
But I heard them so I disappeared

Dave

* * * * *

Touching...

God/Goddess lovemaking...

Pure lovemaking in the Present

Carried throughout the Universe,

Carressing, savoring, sparkling All

As it touches the Beloved...

Carolyn

* * * * *

A Perfect Swindle

Someone will get a great body
someone else a luscious heart
another will shine with brilliance
wealth will drown a few
power will swallow up one
and slip away from some other

I will pay for something I never receive
thrilling a stranger who gets it for nothing
A single life is spared while a thousand
others are laid to waste

The contract is a bit convoluted
but you recognize it
in one form or another,
from one end or the other

Life swings through a marketplace
jumps onto a trading block
and hawks a willing barter, a crooked deal
an exquisite bargain, a perfect swindle

All of existence is a commodity of God’s
and He the only Broker
No returns, refunds, or exchanges
and satisfaction is never guaranteed

and business has never ever been better
or worse for that matter. . . so He says

just steady,
always
always
steady

Gary

* * * * *

THE QUEST

I listened in rapt attention
To thrilling tales of those
Who had completed their search
And reached the other side

Enlightenment, Realization, Truth...
Were just empty words
Strung across the distant sky
To me, struggling with my hopes and desires

And so I set out to the promised land
Gave away my Mercedes and jewelry
Taking leave of family and friends
I left, naked as the day I was born

But then my Guru said to me
He said, "You're merely wasting your time
Better you turn back right now
And return to your possessions and friends

"Truth is not an empty word
Truth is Emptiness itself
It is not how much you give away that matters
It is how much you still carry with you

"When you are already home to begin with
The more you go in search of it
The further away you go
And the more likely you are to lose your way

Sunder

* * * * *

Planting While Knee Deep

A mid-morning pursuit, airborne off a branch
Chatter and tails slapping, some anger in the breeze
Coldly snubbed on the main trunk
Hurt and alone on the outermost reaches

Arms crossed, legs tucked in the pouring rain
Forgiveness buried in our winter coats
A summer’s bounty – the trip never forgotten

Crossing the street to pick up dinner,
a miserable wait if it takes too long
Never housekeeping on a sunny day

Warming each other on a freezing night
in the leafless season
Sometimes surprising ourselves
with some supplemental heat

How are we any different
than two crazy squirrels
rushing their youth up a sapling
that became some high wire journey
called “a life shared”,
perilously balanced against the winds of change,
dashing blindly across the limbs of time?

Their . . . Our adventure began with a careless idea:

Let’s plant this old tree while knee deep in love

Gary

* * * * *