What is a church?

I live for the way every place

becomes sacred

once community is ushered in.

One honest word from stranger to neighbor

consecrates these halls,

turning light into radiance,

and aura from ambiguity to synchrony.

I live for the way these old buildings hold us

with the memory of other families.

Second Wind

The home that gives us another life. 

Warm, wooden, wide, expansive,

The Earth is present here

and we know

and west winds come swimming in the windows.

Classic, open, calm, inviting,

a mix of lost and found,

new and old,

out and home.

Paintings on our walls,

poetry in the halls.

Nature and Culture align here.

Bless our Second Wind

and the bath and the bell out front.

The staircase, stone, sage green,

wise as a sage,

respectful of those who came before

and considerate of the lives that will come next.

Fruitful conversations with scholars and shamans on sweet, sound Summer nights

by fire, found, and candle’s light.

Victorian woods –

our crystal dreamscape.

On Opening

The sweetest, softest, most heartful days

begin and end with love and community.

To let yourself be taken in, loved, cared for, valued

is such a beautiful way of being in the world.

Oh, to let these walls come tumbling down

to release myself into the Falls

To banish my anger, my isolation, my fear, my sorrows

in exchange for friendship.

In growing older, I let my values live me —

if I want to live in a world of love, I must love.

If I yearn to live in a world of connection, I must connect.

If I want to live in a world of abundance, I must truly release scarcity.

Oh, crumbs of succession, take me in, carry me through the halls

where farmers and poets and lovers and preachers once shared

what so many of us have lost.

Set me free in these fields of fragility,

knowing one day,

you will carry me home.

All the more reason I must soak in the sweetness

of this long trip.

Blessings

Bless the footsteps on the hardwood floors

that tell me who is around the corner

when the house is full of friends.

Bless the twilight and the sunlit stars

spilling in these windows,

bathing me in moonlight grace.

Bless the phone calls that my mother gets

and has to take on the patio,

and bless the quiet road that lets us know

when someone will be coming up the driveway.

Bless the bath and the bell out front,

Bless the lilac, the irises, the daisies, the asters, the lupines, the fern,

bless our family of flowers.

Bless our never-ending days in the Sun.

Bless our Love, Bless the Years that are to come.

All We Are

Growing up by ocean’s edge

I lift my eyes and bow my head

I’m made up of the sea undead

Indebted to the hours spent

Embedded in the bay’s cool hue

The smell of sea, the city view

I close my eyes, I think of you

Through all the years, I love it here, too

Solstice

There are many layers to the way I leave you

If I’m running now

I’ve always been.

And I see nothing wrong with the truth I’ve told you

There’s nothing wrong 

with the way I’ve been.

I touch the envelope I’ve been meaning to send you

You’ll open the card, 

And let my love in.

Like blades of grass, 

I move mostly with the wind

I intend to move again

I intend to let you win 

I hold my heart in my hands and hold the hands of my friends

The Son below the mountains

The Son above the clouds

The Son in words I’ve sent you; in words I’ve said out loud

Afloat on rivers with miles and currents and moments I witness

The break of the day

& my body feels sacred

I notice the lake is

already frozen. 

The Son Above the Mountains.

Coming Into Spring

The further I wake into this Life, the deeper my sense of Faith

There is nothing new under the Sun, and all things are here for us

All we need is to kneel by the pond, to open our arms to the deepest Abundance

It is true we never step in the same river twice — going back to the body of the one we know well is always new, even when familiar.

It is a ritual to kiss each branch and leaf and thank the Earth that birthed me as a means of bathing in Deep Gratitude.

In the dance of a child

Snowflakes move in skylight

Move in patterns with the Wind

Move from Sky to Earth through Sea and Dirt to Sky again

I give up all I own and know, I give up all my friends

To walk on frozen waters with my hands on heart, suspended scriptures

Resolved by thinkers

Night is now

I fall apart

I welcome the closeness of the Stars

Relativity

So how you have to stand

To find your feet

Steady on the mountain sand

Depends so much 

On what you’re holding in your hands

 

Early

You put so much in one place that isn’t your heart

All the time it takes for the Summer to start

Cycles of emptiness purify my heart

In love with the feeling that I have so far

First August

the loons still sit out on the lake I know so well by its power to emanate and show the sky right back its eternal self.

I am brought alive by a desire to remember and reflect and to sit by fire,

We are wired for connection.

I learned out here,

in the heart of the Adirondack Park,

to love deeper, fuller, together.

We are but chasing after the wind unless we are chasing after Oneness.

The Greatest Things

The greatest things

Begin & end

Like the Summer — 

So gradually, so quietly,

So subtly, so carefully,

& Never at all.

The best of times

Begin & end

As Life itself does —

Suddenly, 

Open-heartedly,

We’re immersed, then moments later,

We find ourselves trying to process such change

Though these things feel like “end,”

We are only beginnings 
As Youth & Life are eternal. 

The royal blue waves will lap upon, crash against, erode & rebuild the shores of wisdom, seen from the historic island, for as long as the eyes of God will allow. 

I am so grateful to be a part of it All. 

Joy & Beauty Live deep within me and bloom outward

Shown in shades of Royal Blue

The Lake is My Heaven

And you, dear Mentor, are Father working through Man

You have saved me, You have changed me

I am glad I am never the same again

And as the leaves begin to turn for Autumn, I am certain I will be back next year

To carry on with the work done here

I am bloomed & immersed, living answers now clear

to the Spirit Guides who walked one mile with me, carrying two gallons of paint for me

i missed the easiest ride

so i chose isolation, struggling, perseverance 

and made it halfway

then found help in the hands of two beautiful women

with a collective spirit

they took the load from my hands alone

so i could walk easier

they carried one gallon each

then further comforted me with their words, questions, energetic affirmations

i hope they know how they have changed me

How grateful I am

i found peace in community, in accepting help, in not forcing struggle so as to feel & appear noble

They provided a bed of kindness & flowers when ego was pushing me to gain a sense of identity from struggling

They cracked me right open;

A rock of vulnerability

Thank You,

My Friends, My Sisters: You Have Shown Me What It Means To Say Accept Grace

 
 

Endlessly

I stand up in these mountains

Speaking solemn hues

An honest muse 

Questioning solitude

Never once alone — 

My mothers & sisters

Share in life with my energy

Endlessly

I sip from the wells of their knowledge

Intrigued, humbled, learning depth through collectivism, unity, sisterhood & sharing

We are never alone in our feelings & spirits

I thank all of the women who brought me here

Who taught me here

Gave me here, Left me here, Met me here, Loved me here

You Know Me Well