Shepherd

gathering the sheep,
the unquestioned beliefs,

gathering them one at a time
to name, identify

yes, dear
yes, child
yes, lambkin
tell me everything, your story,
until you have no more to tell

i go to the bottom
of this pit
with you

it is  not a bottomless pit

there is light
at the end of the tunnel

yeah, though i walk
through the very darkest valley
in the shadow
of death and destruction...

there is not one thing
to fear
but a misinterpretation:
faith
in the absence of light

can it really be
that what stands under all this--
understanding--
is missing?

that the Origin of all that is
doesn't exist?

fancy that!
the dreamed up
thinks
it is the dreamer!

the dreamed up
sees a chaotic flurry
because it itself
is a mistake

the game
taken to be serious

napping on the couch
prehistoric dinosaurs
still maul me
and i have to run...

from nothing at all!

nothing at all
no thing
at all

every fearful thought
claims "i am God and 'i' exist
apart from everything"

look now
upon your sons and daughters,
grandchildren,
babies...
everything you see,
the meaning you give it

would you
in this moment
mother love
tranquility
laughter
immaculate conception
purity in heart
true love

or

nuisance
annoyance
irritation
arrogance
flaw filled emptiness
missing everything?

this moment
you are wholly free
to be Heaven

or
stand just outside the door
and look longingly into the store window

Child, I am you
 always

natural brilliance

no matter what you are thinking
how depressed
hopeless
lonely
sad
hurt
angry

the brilliant magenta Christmas cactus
blooms

the richest, deepest most vibrant
color
appears

completely without "you"

astounding beauty
shows up
continually

right in front of your face

just look in the mirror!!
Son of God!

the cornucopia
spilling out all over

the mare's breath
steaming in the cool morning

her beautiful muscles
pulling the plow

your smile
that lights up
every single face,
but first
your own
from within

what an absolute Joy
to be the Source
of a smile

all the laughter
in your world

can't imagine
a better world...

my name is Laughter,
nothing at all
too serious
not to smile at...

so grateful for all of your smiles..................

every where

i look...

the song
of laughter

one starts
and the rest are ringing, too....too   too

here's to you!

what am i
without a future?

whole
lacking nothing
nothing "i"need to do

able to hear the simple direction

do this

without a future
i see
the whole universe
infinite
right here
right now

opening
opening opening

the miraculous right here
right now,
look at this "hand"
moving across the page....

without a future,
wonder!

reception
magnificence
splendor

She 
toasts to me,
here's to you, Love,
sweetest kiss
that ever walked the
face of this earth,

holy angel
bright and so beautiful

here's to you,
tears of joy
for your homecoming

now

forever open doors
forever open heart
no other time or place

not one nanosecond away

Home,
timeless
expansion,

extravagance
of Heaven

Eternal Joy

only this!

no other idea

Here's to You!
without a future

amen

your heart is not ransomed to the future,
kept from you in a cold dark garage

there is not one penny you must pay,
not one half penny,
nothing you need do
to be
the Heaven
 you are

time is not required :-)))))))))))))))))))))))))

it's all given you
for your joy joy joy joy
eternal joy

love the grass you sit upon

once upon a time
there was a tiny tiny little girl
who lived in the woods.

one day
she was out walking
and came to a bridge
that seemed far too big
for her to cross.

the logs it was made of
were ten times as big as she.

insurmountable
it seemed

so she sat very still
and closed her eyes
and asked
how in the world ....
what
was she to do?

"what am i to do, Father,
when the mountain seems so big
and i can't even see the top
and there is not a stairway,
nor a single step
or ladder?
where do i even begin?"

look down, dear one.
the wind came through.
look down
on the ground
right in front of you.

there is a stick
just right for you.
you will know it
when you see it.
this is all you will ever need.
just remember,
 hold my hand,
and it is given you
the Strength
Awakened.

rest now, dear one.
wait
and watch,
and love the grass
you sit upon.

and after sometime
a peddler came by
upon a horse
and saw her
sitting there,
and he asked her
if she needed a ride.

she smiled.
her eyes shone.
her whole face lit.

and the heart of the peddler
was so grateful
for her warmth,
for it had been a very long time
since he had known a friend.

he lifted her up
upon his huge horse.
it's hooves, too,
were as big as boulders.

and in one fell swoop
they all rose up and up and up
on to the logs
that ran  far across the river

to the Unknown

the New Space
where "she"
had no idea

what
was
going
on...

completely
without the past

it was a Whole New Day!

without a chair...

"chair"

and the world is born

everything that goes with it

without "chair"
no "i"

no 2

without a name
no separation

without "book", "i"
slubmerging
flowing through
"the bookcase"
no stopping
no starting

seeming to sit still
isn't

flowing growing tree
now cut
now pulp
now paper
now cut
now printed, bound
trucked
boxed
bagged
merchandise
gift
stacked
a weight
opened
closed
marked
looked at
closed
shelved

burned
tossed
trashed
collaged
brittle yellow decomposing (or simply simply flowing flowing flowing.....)
encased under glass on display for millions of "eyes"
to see!  (it must be so!!!)

spilled on
rained on
buried
composted

these thoughts
on "those pages"
indisposable

existed
before
during
after

words: ideas
that seemed to shift
other ideas

where's the proof
"i" ever existed?

personal viewpoint...
no other can access

no proof at all

just
imagination

pure
imagination

(in joy)

take nothing

seriously...

silence

silence
is the Way
of Master y

Myster y

allows all feelings
to be experienced,
not dispersed
on the ground

silence is
my Self

the sacred Home,
prior to the refugee out
looking
for her home,
before "she" left,
by talking
in her "own" voice,

asking 
for what she couldn't hear,
be cause
"she" was talking,
to hear the sound
of "her own voice",
prima donna,
out standing

silence is one,
no opposition,
no two,
no "opinion"

just listening
receiving
receiving
receiving

she hurtled through space
frictionless
landing no where

feeling
just feeling
being carried,
watching passing stars
which really weren't moving,
weren't stars at all

ungraspable
she finally relaxed

and
everything opened up

really opened up

and never stopped opening


no idea...
of what
or where
or when
or how
or who

the vacuum

priceless

everywhere all at once

no opposing force

feed the birds

such a sweet bird,
this thought

fluttering

resting
on the wire

light hits her wings,
just a speck now in the heights

feed the birds,
twopence a bag

there is nothing to fear,
these familiar birds
flying with you

circling round

would you want
a birdless sky?

to shoot down
every idea
coming to you?

what but fear
would kill everything
in sight
of mind,

bar the door?

no

open the gates
allow  hellfire
to tell herstory,
tell herstory,
tell herstory

now
she can be silent,

dear Listening One.

all she ever wanted
was your attention

how easy
to look
at a child

to listen
to baby,

Mother