Tag Archives: memories

BLAZING BEAUTY

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How is it possible to grow more beautiful while aging,
Especially given all the recent dimming
Of eyes, ears, teeth, feet – even balance?

Is it only our memories that are getting somewhat sweeter,
Especially the recent ones?

Those recent memories – the brand-new ones –
Having just been born –
Are certainly the easiest to grasp.

Primarily, it’s increasing gentleness that I have recently begun to accept –
Especially a gratitude for small gifts –
The unexpected ones, that aging’s been providing me with.

I think a certain kind of beauty does arrive with age – but mostly from the outside –
A beauty we might never have noticed before
That we can carefully turn and store inside ourselves.

It goes without saying that this kind of beauty constituted the original name of God.

So, as we get older, it’s our ability to accept God,
Along with God’s primary attributes – love, truth, justice, beauty and freedom –
That’s the source of any and all blazing beauty in our lives.

A FRENZY OF JOY

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Countries are like big shoes and little shoes
Walking around –
Some without too much direction and others with almost none at all.

Countries are also like lips
Some used to mock, others to kiss –
While the rarest of all can sometimes even be poetic.

Some countries have long memories and others almost none at all –
The latter due to centuries of unacknowledged crimes against others.

People themselves can also be like shoes, lips, or memories –
But, in spite of that, all are capable of dancing when the music starts.

When the music starts, there is no “I” and no “you” –
There’s only a “whee” caught up in accelerating circles of joy.

Logically, this means that dancing should be more popularly encouraged –
Whether in culture, play, or spirituality.

The elderly keep time by nodding along –
Tapping their toes.
The children, however, run riot – attempting to imitate the adults’ complex steps
As well as all their motions and emotions –
Resulting in a wild, yet oddly calm, frenzy of joy.

 

THE SPLENDOR IS OVERWHELMING

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One day I awoke and discovered
A Persian carpet woven with flowers and other plants.

Another day, sitting quietly,
The soft browns of our oak furniture came into prime view.

One day, thinking about the prospect of dying –
Life itself, suddenly became much more intriguing.

On the day I finally gave up all my residual intensity –
Was when I began to hear tinkling bells,
Became aware of the quick movements of small birds,
And memories of the seashore suddenly reappeared.

The day I stopped counting –
Was the day I gave up trying to control my world
And also was the exact moment I stepped through doors of natural happiness
That only God is capable of flinging open.

God has been carefully watching us  – waiting for some indication
Of a recognition of God’s presence –

So, if your mind stops – even for one second –
And you’re able to take a good look

The splendor is overwhelming
And you’ll begin crying about everything you’ve missed in the past.

MEMORIES LIKE MOUNTAINS

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Joy jumps up – almost out of nothing –
Hope also arrives from nothing.

Nothing is eternal as love –
And nothing is as unbreakable as truth.

All night long, beauty remains a dark One –
Until morning, when it shatters into a trillion different colorful images.

As we grow older, memories become like mountains –
Mainly lying behind us –
While ahead only a few sparkling streams remain to cross.

While still young, though, Nature called out to us like the children we were –
Bursting with life – and with love taken for granted.

But as we age, our attention migrates to ever greater abstractions
Which become steadily easier to understand and accept
Than those earlier complex bursts of childish life-love.

ONE LAST WALK

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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?

EVERYTHING’S SPEEDING UP

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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.