To me, slowing down is important. Why? When I rush, I am rushing past people, beauty, and perhaps worst of all, my own spirit and heart. The quote about “…for whom the bell tolls…” is from John Donne’s Meditation 17. It’s relevant.
Hush, My Soul
This spring-like Sunday morning echoes with
Church bells — a slightly muffled ring, a recorded ring --
In former days a call to prayer — when done with actual bells --
A call to quiet reflection — the meanings,
Purposes, possibilities, and creations of life.
Today my first thought, as I
Hear them, as many think, I’m sure,
“I wonder what time it is.”
I should hear, “Slow down!”
I should remember, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls…”
I should think, “Appreciate those
Around me; we are in
This together.”
Questions and Thoughts

1. What can serve as my church bell, a reminder that I need to daily reflect on the meanings, purposes, and expansion of my spirit?

2. Have I silenced my spirit by rushing so much that I cannot hear my heart speak to me the language and soul of the Universe? Why do I do that?
3. Why do I let so much other noise occupy my mind, suborn my thoughts, and urge me to frenetic activity, some that cuts others out of my daily life?
4. How will I slow down enough each day in order that I may be able to work efficiently and effectively and compassionately the rest of my day?

• 
  
  

Words plod --
One, two.
Brain chugs --
This, that.
Words plop --
Here, there, there, here --
Faster now; don’t slow down.
Where? Choo Choo. Woo Woo.
“All aboard!”
Words in order trot
and lunge, grabbing
Conductor’s outstretched hand.
They all
Made it.
“Ticket, please.”
Oh. Get off at next station.
Each asking,
“Where do I go now?”

​

Defining Sin

“It’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.”

So said Scout as she had heard and been taught,

Recorded in the famous novel.

Poof! A muffled mini-explosion,

A matter of a second

And a brief shower of gray and white feathers.

Cooper’s hawks can’t read,

At least not the ones that swoop through my back yard.

 (August 23, 2011)

Questions and Thoughts

In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird , sympathy and pleasure are associated with the loquacious, melodious mockingbird and mockingbird-like people—those who do some good for others with no expectation of repayment, just because it seems right. I might tend to think the hawk bad for feasting on the bird, but that is instinct, a primitive code of nature embedded in all creatures. Humans alone have a higher thought process to evaluate and recognize not only instinct working in animals but also instinct trying to work in humans. Sometimes I need to listen to those natural urgings; other times I need to think, manage, and create responses that are suitable, excellent, and intelligent—beyond mere instinct. In reality the mockingbird is not good nor the hawk bad. The difference is in my thoughts about them.

How do I think about natural processes?

How might I use an understanding of nature to inform my self-identity?

How can the predator-prey process help me to understand myself and my involvement in life?

What values do I hold, values that make some things a sin and some things not, for me?

Then and Now

Aeolus sighs and his gentle breath from
Southwesterly climes
Envelops me.
Phoebus, in his radiance,
Beams gentle warmth on this
Contented face on an
Almost chilly morning.

Who cares about Aeolus and Phoebus 
Today? Almighty Science
Has negated the reasonings of the
Past. Once gods, now
Relegated to classical studies,
Studies at which 
Students sigh.

Back then, who knew that
Phoebus was 93 million miles away
Burning with a 73 percent hydrogen core
Or that
Aeolus was simply at the 
Whim of the uneven heating of 
Phoebus—oops! I mean the Sun--
On Earth's surface, creating
Pressure changes.

Who knew? Ancient peoples 
Did not necessarily know those
Things, but they knew
They needed connection with
Forces of their lives. I 
Want connection with them, so

I choose to know Aeolus and Phoebus;
I choose to know my ancient fellows;
I choose to know that
Almighty Science
Cannot invalidate personal connections to 
Forces of life or
Energies of past peoples--
Humans, related,
Them to us,
Us to them,
For who of us have not known the gentle, embracing
Warmth of the spring breeze or the soothing, invigorating
Rays of the fall sunlight?

Who of them did not?

I have always felt a particular attachment to Nature in her varied expressions, especially as past cultures looked to her and engaged in her. Therefore, to me, peoples like the Celts and Native Americans—North, Central, and South—held much wisdom, wisdom that has become increasingly obscure to us today. Fortunately, many have valued that wisdom and movements like British and American Romanticism and Transcendentalism looked to the same Nature and the same Universe for instruction in personal as well as societal applications. In addition to this and truly axiomatically aligned with it are the spiritual longings that every human being possesses, longings that are fulfilled in each one’s own spiritual search, and once again various authors and philosophers have helped to guide and affirm me in my personal journey. This will be evident if you choose to read my work and engage in it.

In regards to this, I would like to mention the importance of the chakra system. I have always been spiritually minded and aware of a definite energy flow in my own body. I make no religious claims about this in terms of a belief that you must possess in order to gain peace, be happy, etc. Probably many people who are content and successful in their lives have listened to and responded to their inner energies, but for me it has been helpful to visualize the energy centers discretely in this journey of growth, a journey that begins with the base or root chakra which is associated with the color red and its associated electromagnetic frequency. I need not go through all here, but the energy centers move up from the base of the spine to the crown of the head and embrace the seven colors of the rainbow. My various poems relate to these as I experience them. I have volumes of poetry in development corresponding to these chakras, but on this page they will not be categorized. They are just here to experience and, hopefully, enjoy and perhaps they will encourage you in your search of self. Here they are!



Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but it can be transformed and it can flow from one place to another.

From somewhere deep within,
The vibrations of life,
Spirit that energizes all things:
Newton saw it in gravity;
Vincent perceived it in stars and fields, 
Cypresses and wheat,
Factories and faces;
Jefferson used it in the affairs of government;
Satchmo sounded it forth on horn;
Oh, so many yet too few have 
Felt and sensed those energies of life,
Transformed and expressed them,
Channeled them,
Creatively interpreted them--
For us.

Those centers, pulsing, vibrating, moving within bodies of flesh,
Centers that ring with the essence of life, of our lives,
All matter.

So, I write them, sing them, play them, paint them in these words
As I perceive them, that you may perceive them:
Rainbows of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet,
Each color resonating with its own frequency, 
Each color resonating with us, within us,
Colors of the vibrations of life
For us to know the Universe
And all its subsets,
For us to Express our unique creation.