Poetry and Prose by #1 Amazon Bestselling Author of Nature Speaks of Love and Sorrow, Co-Author of #1 Amazon Bestseller, Wounds I Healed: The Poetry of Strong Women, and Jan/Feb 2022 Spillwords Press Author of the Month
Head under water, necessitates another way of being, while the paradox of life keeps on playing.
Hard to breathe, lungs burning, heart aching, all the while, the mind keeps
straying.
Tears fall, while hope lingers along my fingers.
A subtle touch, and feeling returns to the essence of my being.
While drenched in my solitude, the connection remains among you.
Like the birth of a flower, time is now flourishing without heartache or sorrow.
And,
as time skips a beat, love finds me, cradles me with care, and in that moment, I know, I’m not beyond repair.
Utmost Feelings – Coming Soon!
If you’ve not yet checked out Astha’s Anthology, Utmost Feelings, please check it out when you have a chance, and share as you are able. Thank you.
Additionally, a few of the coauthors of Astha’s Anthology, Utmost Feelings, are creating a space for people to send their sentiments to Astha’s family.
If you are interested, please add your sentiments tothis form, thank you, and stay blessed.
I love to walk, to walk among the trails I find in my mind, they often remind me of the trails I find, when out in the forest entering into a blissful state of love combined.
I always wonder, is there anything more pulchritudinous than mother nature?
I keep walking deep into the unending route, I feel an unspoken warmth from the dark tall trees underneath.
Little I go on ahead bracing breeze kisses my face, as a chilled emotion rushes into my heart.
I stand still and enjoy the trees embrace.
Get to hear soothing sounds, pondering, if the sea is somewhere around.
Ambled with a bit of excitement I walked ahead; admired the waves play, little I came closer, saw the setting sun bidding me goodbye.
As I revel in the landscape, and fiery sky one last time, it occurs to me to rub my eyes, and prepare for a lullaby.
Sung softly and sweetly, by the trees surrounded, as they shift and swing in the breeze, and deep down, I feel something move, and within a smile parts my face as I revel in all that’s known today.
I am honored to share this collaboration between Soni, of Soni’s thoughts, and myself. Soni also drew the art, which was another of the amazing gifts Soni created for those that placed in the top 8 (of a host of amazingly talented and inspirational writers) of Soni’s Writing Contest. A lovely collaboration, and a wonderfully inspirational friend, is Soni.
Magical density perplexes the mind, and all of it’s fantastical notions of worldly subsistence, arriving one after another, in a wonderfully elaborate alien formation.
Cloaking to be concealed, striving to imitate the chameleon that no mishape be revealed.
All creatures hunger for a home, Chimera hungers too, yet doomed to roam a lonely existence within those that know the difference, between the magic in the unseen, while others remained concealed and perplexed by the fantasy roamed ruth.
A being not of here nor there, with segments that do not arrange, a miscellaneous kit.
Everytime it tries, as best it may, to camouflage an offending section, knowing that if seen in the light of day, the result prophesied to be rejection.
Ah, the detection that do insue, yet, there is another way, while you pray and look through your dismay, remember the light is yours to behold, while you hold tight to the known.
Authentically embodies his maker’s creation sown, grandly observing from the creatures monumental thrown; chanting in the kingdom of obscure overlapping dimensional zones.
The crack in the pane splinters in the solitude of its existence, and withdrawn reminiscence.
One becomes another, a fellow sees a brother, and as one moves west, the other moves east, in search of sameness, and a lot of relational discreteness.
Joined and separated by fragments of time, we are nonetheless intertwined, and in need of the same pastimes;
where we watch, and stop the heart from bleeding, and instead, take shelter in an awareness of all that pleasure,
of mind.
We Divine
as we are shown, the reality of all that’s here, my dear, know that you’re not alone now, and never have been, contemplation sincere.
Have you ever seen a treen dancing brilliantly, just as the wind whips up and flows gently among the branches and the tender fibers of it’s being, ever so elegantly?
Walking along the sidewalk, cracks in its façade, breaking, yet whole and solidifying.
The wind behind you, moving you forward, just as you are pulled into another dimension of being;
and,
you look up to witness Nature smiling, while continually providing you clues
to our existence, trees dancing in the sunlight, glinting and radiating their essence of everlasting delight.
You know from within, they are dancing for you, and you pause, to take in all of their splendor, big smile on your face, and you laugh and giggle just like you did when you were little.
Oh, the joy, of nature’s gifts bestowed upon us all, it’s enough to forestall, while you continue to watch them dancing, all.
Inquiring within, just makes you grin while you continue to ponder and reflect upon all of life’s wonders.
Connection so deep, you hear the ocean in every breath, and feel the breeze of it’s salty mist, even after you’ve already left.
Considerations run along a thread of time, which is sublime, and, at times, difficult to find.
Contemplation requires a measure of boldness, to face the pain of another’s life with stoicism.
Cradling love in a basket, weaved with tears of both pain and pleasure, you realize it’s in between the two, where life’s requesting a measure of your solitude.
Quiet now, you listen and learn about the riddle, which perplexed the mind for a very long time.
Stillness requires a sense of vulnerability and resiliency, to guide us to the table of our greater understanding.
I hike the trail, while also knowing the trail hikes me, which though it may seem like a paradox, is just another example of the oneness of this world’s orthodox.
As we move on the trail, there are wonders to behold as a whole myriad of greenness comes to life before our very eyes, and, we begin to see why
it is that this world, is so full of pain and pleasure both,
though
there is another way forward, if you are so bold.
Remembering that all of nature is a reflection of all that we see beneath the layers of memories and ideas we’ve held onto out of necessity and, in part, grandiosity.
Notions of what’s come before, become magical connections, just like the trees roots, as they make their necessary preparations.
Rooted in the unknowing, we become like the tree, both flexible, and deeply anchored, in the One with the knowing.
This week was full of preparation for the next fiscal year; and, continuing to reflect upon all of the beauty that surrounds us – really, both are equally true of this past week.
Before I write more about the latter, let’s take a look at the writing that occurred this week.
The poem Beyond Time was a reflection on the internal work I’ve been engaged in these past four years. Continuing to be present to my emotions as they arise, and then following those back to the experiential seed.
The poem is also a reflection upon stillness of mind, which can and does occur, and the fact that, in those moments there is no time; it simply does not exist. Beautiful.
Writing the poem Atop, which was inspired by the WDYS #82 prompt, from Keep it Alive, by Sadje, was an interesting process. Initially, I had one idea, even wrote two stanzas, and then as I contemplated the two stanzas, another insight occurred, which is the poem in its present state.
Simply, the world exists in its present condition, when we view it as such. New experiences occur, and the world comes into view. As I’ve written about previously, the view we experience is based upon the concepts we hold about the world; and, this is only one way to view the world.
As I’ve found out about, and experienced, there are many other ways to view the world, which is, well, quite freeing.
I will save the details of the hike for the next installment of the Willamette Valley Wanderings and Wonderings series, however, I just had to include a few more pics in this diary entry.
As I walked around campus this week, and contemplated the hike I was going to take on Saturday, I was present to all of the beauty that surrounds us. A flower blooming, a bird calling, a leaf dancing in the wind, a stranger helping another, there are so many things right in front of us, when we pay attention.
Part of my internal work, as you know, also includes my meditation practice, which has been transformational in my life. Being fully present is a gift, and we all have this gift within us.
When we let go of the concepts that typically drive our reactions, pause, reflect and contemplate our life, we learn stillness; and, it is in this stillness where presence to all that is within us, and without us lives. Beautiful.
As you walk through your week, notice the flowers, the trees, the people, and how that makes you feel. It is a tremendous experience.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 