integrity

Penetration

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

What does it take

to penetrate

the walls you make

for protection’s sake?

How do I get

to you

into you

through you?

What am I to do?

I come,

you run;

I confide,

you hide;

I offer space,

you then hesitate.

What does it take

to penetrate

your mind

your heart

your body

your soul?

How to release

some of that control

to which you hold

as if it is gold?

A body so tight,

a mind attuned to fight

or flight.

Yet, underneath,

I see a spirit

seeking an invite,

desperate for a way out.

When you are ready

to let me in,

to be the feminine

to my masculine,

I’ll come running.

When you are

no longer so scared,

I’ll be there.

When your mighty walls

finally

crumble and fall,

I offer myself

at our beck and call.

 

 

Eleven Years

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

On the sixth day in the month of September of the year 2005:

A cell phone rings.

“It is your father,”

says the somber mother

to the busy daughter.

“He has been taken

to hospital…a stroke.”

 

Eleven years ago,

my Pop transitioned;

he left body

and went to Heaven.

One is never prepared for death-

especially that of a parent.

You know it will come eventually,

makes sense intellectually;

a matter to run from emotionally.

The day before he was to die,

he kept calling my cell line.

Over and over, he tried.

too tired and busy was I.

“I’ll call him tomorrow,”

I thought, fully justified;

not knowing he would not then

be alive.

Did Pop sense

his time had come?

Is there something he needed to tell

his eldest one?

What did I miss in

missing his call?

Did he go

thinking

I cared not at all?

Along with grief,

from guilt I found little relief.

Over and over,

in my mind,

I wrestled with my use of time.

Questioned my responsibilities:

Were they aligned with my priorities?

Eleven years later,

older,

a tad wiser,

I can begin

to myself forgive.

We do our best

in the moments we live.

Perfection, not the final goal.

Missteps, falls –

a part of it all.

Lessons learned

in his life and death-

Thank you Father!

No more regrets.

 

 

 

Blue

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

 

what you say about Blue

is really a reflection of you.

what you think about her,

a mere child, another’s daughter,

only reveals

your mind’s fodder.

it’s all about you,

Beloved,

never “the other.”

about the lens

through which

you see

your world

and your brother.

look deep within,

my Friend,

see finally

the depths of

your own self-hatred.

bring up to Light,

the memories,

tragedies,

stories

against which

you constantly

struggle and fight.

the ones that state softly

with great malignancy

only that

you’re ugly and unworthy.

beware,

going there.

for, ego will be scared.

it will deny,

try to you from yourself hide,

play with your mind,

saying:

“don’t go within,

too much of a burden;

play always on the outside to win.”

alas,

illusion, so easy,

often trumps reality

for many.

brothers, sisters, family –

we must re-member what we truly are:

Shining Stars,

servant spirits on a human journey

born of Him

to fully manifest

only our highest

and very best

Self.

Nothing else.

 

 

Au Cœur

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

Walking around

the City streets,

this piece of graffiti

I repeatedly meet.

It reads

to me:

Protect your Heart.

“Why?”

I wonder.

“Is such a thing

even possible?”

I ponder.

Is not

The Heart

meant

to be used,

broken open

and well spent?

Le Cœur,

it will never relent,

nor exhibit

sustained discontent,

doing that

for which

it was sent.

The grand design,

the clear intent

for us to be truly,

in life, content.

Strong and resilient,

The Heart,

also very smart,

crafted this way

from the very start.

Unlike a piece

of rare fine art,

The Heart

is not made

to be placed

on a wall

deemed too delicate

to fall.

No, no, no, no, no!

Not at all!

I contend

to me and friends:

Lay bare,

Le Cœur,

even as scared,

it’ll take you there,

that place,

that divine space

where only

COURage makes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sun Salutations

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

Dawn of a new day-

hooray!

Awake!

Give thanks!

Pray!

As within,

so without.

Morning meditations

strengthen thy House.

No perceived stress felt.

Mind, heart, body –

all aligned,

all in exquisite rest.

Work flows smoothly.

Everything moves so easily.

All that is seen is beauty,

even in this, the

big

busy

City.

No cacophony,

just sweet melodies.

No hurry,

only curiosity.

Frowns turned upside down;

smiles abound.

Gratitude, shared and found.

I see you, you see me.

Namaste,

we are a family!

No self-recrimination,

no regrets;

only admission

one did one’s best.

And so,

the stage is set

for when

dusk is met.

Peaceful sleep

will thee meet

with this day complete.

 

L’Artiste

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

Blessed unrest,

the nest

in which

The Artist

all ways

seems to

reside.

Here,

she strives

to refine

define

design

that which is

ineffable

intangible

deeply spiritual;

that which dances

mysteriously,

provocatively

in her Head

then spreads

quickly

urgently

to her

fervent

Heart;

that which is

commonly

referred to as

one’s art.

A blessing

and a curse,

this art.

No clear end,

nor definitive start.

In its birthing,

both joy and pain,

moments crystal clear,

moments utterly insane.

Riddled with

insecurity

frustration

and doubt

throughout,

The Artist

stays the course

no matter the costs.

She simply must

and trust

in something

higher;

something

beyond

her.

For, she is but

the mere vessel,

a human conduit

through which

the insistent art

grows and flows,

and then

into the world

it goes.

Where it lands,

The Artist

is not

to know.

Not her concern

to this learn.

She’s done her part,

releasing the art.

 

COMPASSION

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

What a pity,

a Shakespearean tragedy,

when the eye

cannot

The Truth

see

and, thus,

compassion

will not

readily

from heart

release.

 

We all share a common humanity.

This, deep in our hearts,

we know with absolute certainty.

Alas, our tangled contradictions-

consequent of our latent inner demons-

often blurs our innate wisdom,

that place of great clarity

gifted to us from innocent baby.

 

Our commonalities outweigh perceived differences.

We are merely subtle variations

of the same exquisite theme.

One Love,

One Body.

Indeed.

All of us

playing

on the same team.

 

Heavy masks we often wear,

in lieu of sharing

we are lonely, hurt and scared.

Vulnerability, beware!

Crack the façade-

even a tad-

will, today, unleash vitriolic barrage,

instantly detonating a fusillade

of judgement and hate

that no mere human can take!

 

We pay a heavy price

for such unconscious vice.

As I am you,

You are me;

Whatsoever I do unto you,

that I unleash in me too.

 

Let he without

moments of debilitating self-doubt,

she who has never known

the fear of being alone,

go on, cast that first stone!

 

One Love.

One Heart.

Down with the illusions

tearing our limbs apart!

 

Solicitude,

this is the gift,

our remarkable aptitude.

Love,

respect,

empathy

for one another.

Anything less,

we all suffer.

 

To only connect

is etched

on every

Soul,

in memory

of The Whole,

so that

compassion,

we can never

withhold.

Unfinished Business

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

How long has it been

since we left our secluded Nest?

Three years now, yes?

Hence, why now, your text,

your desire to reconnect?

You “miss me”

you say.

I am perplexed,

wary of this play.

We project unto others,

I’ve learned.

Can’t take it personal;

Can’t let it burn.

No accidents in this Life.

God’s Hand in all-

the good, the strife;

the rise, the falls.

What is the plan here?

Why now you call

after we disappeared?

Out of the blue?

Really is that true?

Did I subconsciously summon you?

Your re-emergence,

the unexpected answer

to a relentless prayer

born of a sharp life sidetrack

from which I can’t seem to get back?

You, a musician,

have you come back

as my physician-

to help me heal,

to bring me back to what is deemed “real”

to get my head out of the clouds

so I may dwell in the now?

And of you,

what is it you sought me out to do?

What of your deepest prayer

that brought me to your mind’s outermost layer?

What inspired the vulnerability

to risk bravely

to offer/say

might we again relate?

Perhaps, as no happenstance,

this right here,

merely a hallowed chance

for unfinished business from past

to mitigate current circumstance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D.a.m.a.g.e.d

/ ThreeLenses / Leave a comment

A childhood scar

from way back and afar,

suddenly delivered

on a plate

as if by fate

brought on

while in a heated state

with One’s Beloved Mate,

confidante,

friend.

 Herein,

a blessed opportunity,

with careful attention

and mindful compassion,

to gently approach

the Little Girl

Within.

The One

etched

deep

in the Soul;

the one

that awaits

to be acknowledged

and finally

consoled.

So as,

to make

rich fodder

of the

unconscious

damage

now exposed

and told.