Hold out your hand...

A fellow yogi shared these beautiful words with me, and with that, introduced me to my current favorite poet, Julia Fehrenbacher....

Hold out your hand

Let's forget the world for a while

fall back and back

into the hush and holy

of now

are you listening? This breath

invites you

to write the first word

of your new story

your new story begins with this: 

You matter

you are needed—empty

and naked

willing to say yes

and yes and yes

Do you see

the sun shines, day after day

whether you have faith

or not

the sparrows continue

to sing their song

even when you forget to sing

yours

stop asking: Am I good enough?

Ask only

Am I showing up

with love?

Life is not a straight line

it's a downpour of gifts, please -

hold out your hand

Love....

I have phrases and whole pages memorized,

but nothing can be told of love.

We must wait until you and I are united.

In the conversation we'll have 

then...be patient...then.

From Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks

                              

I am all of this already...

“Do you know what you are?
You are a manuscript oƒ a divine letter.
You are a mirror reflecting a noble face.
This universe is not outside of you.
Look inside yourself;
everything that you want,
you are already that.”

 

Hush, Don't Say Anything to God: Passionate Poems of Rumi

 

 

The Guests....

The Guest-House

This being human is a guest-house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!

Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you
out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Say I Am You: Poetry and Translated Stories of Rumi

Everything is given....

JC calls this an oldy...but a goody! I concur.

 

 

"The wings are yours,

the energy to fly is yours,

the sky is yours -

he has not given you anything.

But still, he has given you a lot.

He has given you courage,

he has given you possibility,

of going on a new adventure,

of going into the unknown."

 

Osho

Be still....

Be still -

so I can feel your breath

 

Be still -

so I can find your hand

 

Be still -

so I can follow your heart

 

 

Anne-marie

 

 

 

 

What is your name?

 

 

What is your name?

Not the name I call you,
 when I have no imagination

and enviously watch you soar.

 

What is your name in heaven?

The sound which stirs your soul,

the sound which sets you free.

 

What is your name, here, at early dawn?

Where you sit perched, with knowing eyes.
Brought here by my tears,

because I forgot your name.

 

 

Anne-marie

 

 

 

 





Now...

I have future regrets about yesterday;

and old fears about tomorrow.

But in this glorious nothingness of now -

I am free.

 

Anne-marie

My words

My words

 

My words are an open wound;

a flame licking in the darkest corner.

Melting skin,

drying tears from empty eyes.

 

My words are my truth;

circling around past hurts and regrets.

Trying to wash away shame,

a guilty red stain from a white shirt collar.

 

My words are a warm, scented bath;

soothing weary flesh.

Lighting a candle,

along the way.

 

 

Anne-marie

 



Words...

So easy to say!

Explosions of sound.

Vomiting airwaves -

rippling through the universe.

 

When sounds connects knowing;

the never ending sense

of love, healing, of peace.

Oh, the power of truth!
 

 

Anne-marie

 

At last, a man who listens!

 

I found him on a windswept veranda.

He looked a little worse for wear:

I could sense that he had been waiting there a while.

Surely not for me?

I reverently walked forward,

whispered sweet nothings in his ear.

And softly,

as the sound a leaf makes when unfolding,

he answered with a sigh!

 

Anne-marie

 



 

 

 

Bubbles :)

Effervescent molecular moments -

float up with juicy joy.

 

Breaking, bursting, releasing

irrepressible happiness!

 

Anne-marie

 

 

Imagine....

 The latest DSTV song "live in harmony" from Don Carlos just floors me every time I see it ....

 

Sometimes I imagine that I am living in a different world. Not better, or more, or less than the one I am living now...just different. It may have something to do with the fact that I worry about not having enough time to do everything I want to do in this one life. So sometimes, when I sit in my quiet spot, I go to some of my favorite "places".

 

I am always in nature, in perfect harmony with my surroundings. I can "understand" everything and as I am walking through a forest, plants bow to touch me. I may be sitting by a waterfall (sometimes meditating with a friend) or on a beach at sunset with a log fire, while dolphins frolic in front of a setting sun, totally content in an avatar-like world :) 

 

 

There are always animals around me, birds, deer, dogs, butterflies, and I sleep with them draped over me like a blanket. And when the sun comes up, the birds call me to swim in the most beautiful pond....

 

Call it escapism, being a little uhm...well you know - or maybe I'm just lost in my (very vivid) imagination. Still....just imagine?!

 

 

 

Lost

 

Stand still. The trees ahead

and bushes beside you

Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here.

And you must treat it as a powerful stranger.

Must ask permission to know it and be known.

The forest breathes. Listen. It answers.

I have made this place around you.

If you leave it you may come back again.

saying Here.

No two trees are the same to Raven.

No two branches are the same to Wren.

If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you.

You art surely lost. Stand still.

The forest knows

Where you are. You must let it find you.


David Whyte

Twinkle, twinkle little star....

Flat on my back, I trace you out against the sky

Every sultry shimmer beckons me to open my heart

The milky way is the labyrinth where we play hide and seek

When I find you next to the morning star, I
 finally know that I believe...

 

Anne-marie

Blessings

 

 

 

We just returned from an amazing travel experience in Kenya (more on his later) and I am in a reflective mood.

I feel blessed and overcome with a sense of wonder, as if this trip "plugged" me into the universal energy source. Like going back home, the time away really brought me back to myself.

I want to do something worthwhile with my time. I want to grow and experience the wonders of the world. I want to be of worth and of service to the world, I want to embrace every moment and see the joy, the good and the love in everything. I want to be comfortable in my own skin, grounded, compassionate, grateful and conscious...above all, I want to embrace the blessings I have received so abundantly.

“You do not need to know precisely what is happening,
or exactly where it is all going.
What you need is to recognize the possibilities
and challenges offered by the present moment,
and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope.”
- Thomas Merton

 

 

...and waiting (added)

Where the sea meets the sky in blended blue 

where rivers of heat merge body and soul 

where the wind whips gently, chasing a dream 

that's where she will be waiting for you

 

***

  

And her breath will be a sigh - release; 

the long awaited arrival of Love 

Falling into her nothingness, 

content, complete, at peace...

 

 

 Anne-marie

 

Waiting...

Where the sea meets the sky in blended blue

where rivers of heat merge body and soul

where the wind whips gently, chasing a dream

that's where she will be waiting for you