I am so pleased to announce that my poem, Blue Shoes, is now available at MasticadoresIndia. Thank you to Terveen Gill, and the team at MasticadoresIndia for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
Blue Shoes
shadows trace my fingers, a space of
wonder filled with
lace
as other contexts make haste
sending to my heart delicate fabrics,
my mind’s eye reminds me…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by ractapopulous, Pixabay
I am so pleased to announce that my poem, The Moon’s Lullaby, is now available at MasticadoresUSA. Thank you to Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
The Moon’s Lullaby
moon night, I shine,
bottomless love is divine…
I had a conversation with the moon once. It was long ago, during a mist-covered evening, I was feeling quite lonely, and out of the ordinary. That evening the moon shined brighter than I’d ever seen.
It did almost feel like…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by Prettysleepy, Pixabay
I am so pleased to announce that my poem, Earth Our Home, is now available at MasticadoresIndia. Thank you to Terveen Gill, and the team at MasticadoresIndia for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
Earth Our Home
I sit atop the stairs, reminiscing on times fair, and difficult beyond repair. As the pain continues to arise, and the memories flood my mind, my heart continues to wage a war with love at the center of despair.
I pick myself up, dust off the self, and…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by 7089643, Pixabay
I am so pleased to announce that my poem, still breathing you in…, is now available at MasticadoresUSA. A big thank you to Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
still breathing you in…
the last time I saw you, Coltrane was spinning,
and there was this feeling, a rose in your
hair,
cunning, and
fair
while music billowed out, raspy, deep sounds filtering
throughout,
and…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by RichardMc, Pixabay
I am so pleased to announce that my poem, oblivion’s mist…, is now available at MasticadoresUSA. A big thank you to, Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
oblivion’s mist…
words cut from stone, it is your love shown,
resplendent and full of life,
calling me, it does,
twice
once before time began to run, like the rivers…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo Photo by WikiImages, Pixabay
I am excited to announce that I have been asked to be a regular contributor to MasticadoresUSA. I now have the great honor of being a regular contributor to both MasticadoresIndia and MasticadoresUSA. It is a dream come true. You can read more about all of the MasticadoresUSA monthly contributors here.
I would like to thank Gabriela Marie Milton, and the entire time at MasticadoresUSA, for thinking of me and inviting me to be a regular monthly contributor.
Here is the first of my January poetry submissions.
our love, airborne…
the sun rising in the morn, reminding me of times,
forlorn, dust-laden hands, breathing in all I can,
while looking to the stones in the
riverbend
wafting this way and that…
I would be honored if you would go here, and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by Kanenori, Pixabay
As I reflect upon 2021 and contemplate 2022, there are so many wonderful things to write about. Choosing among them is difficult, yet worthwhile. Let’s take a quick look at this past year.
Personally, this past year was one in which I learned about living alone. Now that the boys are grown, and I am recently divorced, after being married for over 20 years, living alone has been painful and beautiful. Both, wouldn’t you know.
It’s been a time of great reflection for me, contemplating my life up to this point. A time of grieving, and a time of great joy. I’ve learned more about myself as a human being on this planet this past year than I have in the past 20 years. Solitude is like that. A gift.
I am looking forward to more time alone, and to the learning that comes as the days, weeks, and months unfold this next year. I look forward to all of it.
The team is healthy and well, and is, quite frankly, one of the best noncredit education teams in the State of Oregon. Some would argue in the Nation; and, I wouldn’t argue, as it is quite possibly true.
We’ve been through a lot as a team these past 4.5 years, and the resiliency, innovation, and heart this team has displayed and continues to display is astonishing.
We are currently working on many new projects, the output of which will continue to increase access to education for many populations that face barriers to education in this country. That we continue to create bridges to education for our local community, and across the state, nation, and globe through our new remote program models fills my heart with joy.
Well, if someone would have told me in the summer of 2020 that at the close of 2021 the blog would have acquired almost 2,400 followers, which it has, I would have listened carefully, yet would have set a more realistic goal, which I did.
My goal to close this year was 1,600 followers, and we have surpassed this number quite substantially, and I owe that to each of you. You have built this blog and the wonderfully thriving space we share together, and I honor and appreciate each of you for being here.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me, and for creating a space full of love, light, and compassion.
Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be writing poetry at the rate I am today. Writing poetry began in the summer of 2020 as a way to continue to process my own internal work, which is a part of my spiritual practice.
It started with a poem I wrote in response to another blog, I think, and from there began to blossom in my mind and heart, and today, I write poetry all day. Seriously. You should see the post-it’s I have laid out everywhere. It’s quite comical, and lovely.
This year I was blessed to be a part of our beloved Astha’s Anthology, Utmost Feelings, and several other Anthologies through True Dreamster. I was also blessed to have been published at Spillwords Press three times, at Word Weavings, and at MasticadoresUSA, and MasticadoresIndia, several times each. As you know, I am now a regular monthly contributor to MasticadoresIndia, which is a dream come true.
I am grateful to each of these wonderful editors for believing in my work, and for supporting me. They are amazingly talented people, and I am lucky to know them and to have my work published in their respective publications.
I look forward to this coming year and know that there will be challenges, just as there will be many blessings. I’ve learned a lot this year, and I am grateful for each lesson.
I plan to continue to learn more about myself this year, continuing to dive deep within, uncovering more aspects of my human beingness, and the love I have for everyone and everything on this planet.
The team will continue to thrive and grow this year, as we set our sights on making 2022 another year of exceeding service capacities to our local community, by making noncredit education available to everyone, everywhere.
The blog will see a lot more poetry this coming year, and will likely see the Blogger’s Diary post continue, yet I am reflecting upon iterating the latter. I’ve not yet had the insight needed to do so, however, so we will see.
I am currently looking for new publications to submit poetry to this next year, and have already happened upon one, which I will submit to soon. I was planning to compile a book over this winter break, alas, that is not going to happen. Thus, it may be in 2022 that a debut book is forthcoming. All I can write now is that I will know when the time is right.
I am closing this 2021 reflection and 2022 contemplation with a Twitter poem.
as the earth swallows me whole
it is our love to
behold
a spotlight drowned
like
in the east
the sun rising &
the love deep within me
arising
a destiny ground
as mind & heart
are brokered with peace
no sound
needed
for it is in this display
of love where we are
found
You can see the original Twitter poem here, amongst other poems, and follow me on Twitter here.
I want to thank each of you again for being a part of my life. Being here is a blessing, and I cherish each interaction I have with you. You are appreciated immensely.
Alright, that’s all for now.
May the New Year bring you joy, peace, love, and many blessings.
Sending you all my love.
Photo by Tumisu, Pixabay
Photo by MAKY_OREL, Pixabay
I am so pleased to announce that my poem, beauty doth reside in the heart… is now available at MasticadoresUSA. A big thank you to, Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
beauty doth reside in the heart…
I sit atop a tree, taking in the beauty seen,
beneath the forest floor, and
above the skyline,
amber tossed
less
remorse(d)
once felt…
I would be honored if you would go here and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by jplenio, Pixabay
I am so pleased to announce that my poem, your ever loving midst, is now available at MasticadoresUSA. A big thank you to, Gabriela Marie Milton, and the team at MasticadoresUSA for their continued support, and for publishing this piece.
your ever loving midst
eyes,
shining bright,
just like the stars
on the clearest night
when you
first
came into
view…
I would be honored if you would go here and read the rest of my poem. Thank you!
Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash
This past week has been full of more change, as the delta variant continues to spread in the State, new cases are being reported regularly, and those vaccinated and unvaccinated are becoming infected. Scary, yet the current reality.
What does this mean for the team’s fall term in-person classes? I have no idea. We have a plan, and will execute on this plan, as possible, and if not? We will pivot, as we’ve done so many times in the past 16 months. Like we all have.
Alright, though a precarious time here locally, and across the globe, it does remind me of a reflection of mine from last week. Taking life as it comes, which I’ll write more about in a moment.
First, let’s take a look at some writing reflections from this past week.
This week, the poem The Brilliance of Life, was published in MasticadoresUSA; thank you again, Gabriela and team. A true honor.
I also found out this week that MasticadoresIndia will launch September 1, and will be edited by Terveen Gill. I am super excited for MasticadoresIndia, and for Terveen. Amazing.
Alright, poem reflections, here we go.
The poem, The Brilliance of Life, like many of the poems that come forth today, was a reflection and reminiscence on working through layers and layers of trauma; and just as importantly, the newness, or brilliance, that life takes on as these layers are uncovered, and removed.
Though the process of removing these layers is difficult, there’s always a knowing that I’m (we are) never alone. We are all connected through our shared humanity, and the love and affinity we share for each other and our home, this beautiful planet.
The poem, open hearts have healed, speaks to the truth just elaborated on; when we work through our grief, sadness, insert any other emotions here, our heart does break; and sometimes, it breaks again and again, yet there is always a healing and wholeness on the other side. It is so clear to me today, yet, as you all know, was not clear to me for a very long time.
Inside of the concept of brokenness, healing and wholeness are already there. Quite simple, yet profound as we experience this reality.
Last weekend, I took a quick trip, two nights, to Portland, for a very simple and pragmatic reason; to shop. Where I live in the Willamette Valley, let’s say, shopping for clothes can be difficult.
The shopping went quite well, and I also got to spend some time with Justin. We went to a lovely vegan breakfast place, called Nectar Cafe. Was delicious.
We also visited a super cool record store, Music Millennium. Awesomeness. The store is huge, and, I think, is the second largest in Portland. There are 5 different rooms, and an upstairs. I found three records, one of which is by John Coltrane. Soul stirringly beautiful.
As I mentioned earlier, the past couple of weeks, I’ve been reflecting on how life shows up; and how inside the experience of life showing up, we have, as leaders, as human beings on this planet, the opportunity to respond to a situation, or react.
Sometimes reaction is needed and necessary; yet, often, we can pause, breathe into life as it shows up, whatever the situation might be, reflect, and then respond.
Creating a pause like this in our lives holds enormous power and potential. When we can be with life as it shows up, and hold the knowing that we can pause, breathe, reflect, and then respond; we create more possibility for ourselves and everyone around us.
As life continues to show up for you, and me, today, tomorrow, this week, this month, over the course of the next couple of months, remember, life just shows up; it just is, and we can create the space to pause, breathe, reflect, and then respond.
It is quite beautiful and inspirational, just like each of you.
Have a splendid week, everyone.
Develop. Inspire. Transform. 