Ginnungagap

I have heard that Ginnungagap,

where the fire and ice meet,

is a place of dark, warm moisture.

And rain.

Lots of rain.

 

There was a cow, Audumla,

that licked the ice and rime with her rough warm tongue.

She licked Ymir, the giant, out of the ice.

And from Ymir’s body the world was created.

 

Nothing like that happened here, of course.

No worlds were created,

no seas, no skies, no stars, no trees, no grass. 

There were no giants.

 

It just rained a lot 

and a lot of wine was drunk 

and secrets were told and forgotten.

 

Still, while the rain was falling

and the fire was hot and high,

it felt like a place of magical power

where startling things might emerge out of nothingness.

 

pondering the logarithmic spiral

As Clear As The Drops Of Dew

As Clear As the Drops of Dew

Last night I dreamed that I saw a tiny girl, fragile and delicate, wearing slippers of devotional blue. We were sitting cross-legged on the floor surrounded by pillows and silks and a young child's toys. Her slippers were adorned with smooth sparkling gems, as clear as the drops of dew which gather in the leaves of Lady's Mantle. There was someone trying to do her harm. She could not hide because her slippers were so beautiful and attracted so much attention. I wanted to save her. I wanted to warn her about her slippers, tell her that she should take them off and hide them. I couldn't tell her. I couldn't save her.

The underside of a mullein leaf

 

The underside of a mullein leaf

These things feel joyous to me:

the heat of the sun

the blue of the sky

the textures of things which touch my skin

the way details emerge,
so achingly beautiful,
from the chaos of the world

the feeling of soul/spiritual connection --
with things, with people, with the world

High Mowing 2005

to love the vibration of one particular string

to love the fleck of light that brightens an eye

to love the breath of the earth as it rises and speaks

Out of the chaos -- pattern.

Out of the pattern -- mystery.

Out of the mystery -- Love.

Adrift

Adrift

Setting sail from the bejeweled shore
I am alone, 
my dark boat rocking.

How do I find my way 
to those angels 
trailing great arcs of light
 around the pole star?

Some Small Thing

Days go by with a complaining mind
then some small thing
will reveal its true name --
like salt,
or water,
or warmth --
and the wonder of that
brings stillness
and gratitude.

This Strange Dream

I dreamed I saw you flying

high above a mountain

in a very blue sky.

You rose up on a plume of warmth

then wafted slowly towards the earth.

You landed in a forest by an ancient tree.

I dreamed you sat to wait for me.

I came as light

filtering through the leaves,

falling across your spirit.

Then I became a woman.

My hands became powerful

and I began to gather in the strength of things.

Then you became a woman.

You spread your arms

and crimson flowers spilled from your breasts.

We walked until we found a river.

The river flowed out from you,
to its end,

which was me.

We bathed often and were clean.

I became seed and sun and rain.

You became earth.

And when again we stood upright,

in bodies molded from your own clay,

the river was still there.

But it was swollen and dark

and it carried the corpses of things

we had drowned.

I felt the pain of that.

And I feel the pain even now,

awake so long

from this strange dream

of petals

and mystery

and love.

(February 1987, Wanakena, NY)

A tree first brought me the idea of bodhicitta but I didn't get that word until 9 years later

I once planted a liriodendron tulipifera

that my grandmother brought to me as a sapling.

The deer ate it every year and it got mowed several times

but it still grew tall and straight,

until it was too big to be hurt by those sorts of things anymore.

I want my heart to grow like that,
tall and straight,
so it will no longer close
when it is eaten by loneliness,
jealousy, anger, envy.

The liriodendron tulipifera has beautiful glossy leaves --

like large, beckoning hands.
It has flowers like great bowls of nectar --

an offering to the birds and butterflies and bees.

I want my heart to open like that,
as if with large beckoning hands

that can offer great bowls of nectar to the world.

Say this everyday to help yourself face the future without fear

I will enter this day like water.
Water is selfless.
It flows to places hidden and forgotten.
It renounces boundaries,
taking shape only when it is contained.
I will be like that --
Like water
Waiting to be contained.

waiting no more

The first hot day came

and it changed

everything.

It changed everything inside of me

and it changed everything outside.

The bloodroot bloomed,

and the colt's foot,

and the lazy, sensuous desire

to take off my jewelry

and stretch out on the forest moss

bloomed.