ONE LAST WALK

One last walk
One last kiss.

Memories flutter,
And then lose clarity before fading.

Bright colors disappear
Sounds go mute,
And then, the final train arrives.

Yes, memories come and go
Like dreams –
But it’s all a big fade now –
Night sneaking up on us.

Most people have exited
And the band’s stopped playing –
Apparently, the party’s over.

Yet, after a brief time, surprisingly,
Everything starts repeating itself –
Entire city neighborhoods disappear –
And then reappear with new people, new buildings.

Tell me –
What does this new world want?
Where is it going?
And what, if anything, does it care about
Now?

“THE SOUL SWIMS IN A SEA OF JOY” Marguerite Porete (d. June 1, 1310)

This is true when we “wake up” and see that we are the sea –
And also true when we remember what it’s like to be children again
With all their “bright colors” in our eyes.

The medieval mystical women who talked like this, spiritually, knew everything –
So ambitious male Church officials made certain they were ignored, and, if not,
Sometimes, like Marguerite, they were killed.

Marguerite went on to say that a soul feels no joy –
“Since she herself is joy.”

Perhaps she also meant that there’s a kind of joy that exists beyond joy –
Which is what God feels.

But to understand this, one already has to be filled with joy –
And then, by adding a bit more, joy literally starts “spilling over.”

All of us have known someone like this –
Who, on a regular basis, becomes overwhelmed with joy.

They’re born this way –
The same way that God can never be anything but God.

In fact, the entire world is made of joy –
But we fail to acknowledge it because we’re too busy being manipulative.

This is the mind’s fault –
And, sometimes, also, our no-humility hearts.

Surprise us God – no matter what we’ve wished for, prayed for, or obsessed over –
Knock us out –
Knock us out with joy!

EVERYTHING’S SPEEDING UP

Crows never get tired of yelling up in the trees –
Or God of patiently waiting for us to wake up.

The green world just keeps coming, doesn’t it?
Nothing stops it –
Because it’s impossible to return holy gifts
No matter how much they’ve been devalued or ignored.

Life keeps unfolding like an infinite Persian carpet that’s continually being woven –
With bright colors, intricate birds, and a variety of blossoming flowers
That all keep changing –
But we – we always remain the same – at least that’s what we seem to want –

But can’t, really.

One day, we glance into a passing mirror
And we’re different –
While the people in our lives
Have also been changing places.

The older we grow, the faster it seems to go –
It’s almost frightening –
Hey, life – slow up – what’s the hurry?

Yet as momentum builds,
We attempt to hold onto images, scents, memories –
And a small group of people –

But then it starts going really fast –

We find ourselves traveling at ever-increasing speed towards a dark light –
So why, then, are we becoming more joyful?

Whatever’s out there is way beyond anyone’s control –
But, maybe, that’s why we’ve been so anxious to arrive.