Sometimes

Consider Tomorrow

Only Time

From This Distance

How effortless it sits,

this complacent sense I have

in my understanding

of what is.

In front of me,

portals of perception,

laid bare –

unsuspected depths, 

seemingly clear

in their recall.

Influenced by time's passing,

a conscience collectively forms, 

while shadows constantly flicker

here, beneath the tree.

To Be

Up Through The Darkness Leaping

Its quiet gestures adrift in the daylight
as it contributes unconditionally, something of itself.

A spiritual patience steeped in gentle prayer,

rejoicing on the periphery of your timeless imagination.

Drawing With Light

Paint something more absolute

than the cerulean blue that is sky

or the natural beauty that is a flower.

. . . . .

Complete the image contained here,

drawing with light its beautiful thought

as the eyes perspective delves deeper into

the bliss of white and its rare reflection.

Projected always from multiple sources –

an ambience embedded without description,

as light tempers the dark of this room.

Tinker awhile with its spirit so a language,

transfixed by the stroke of your hand,

paints the song you never expected to write

Looking Ever Inward

Did You Hear It?

The Swan

Did you too see it, drifting, 

all night, on the black river?

Did you see it in the morning, 

rising into the silvery air -

An armful of white blossoms,

A perfect commotion

of silk and linen as it leaned

into the bondage of its wings; 

a snowbank, a bank of lilies,

Biting the air with its black beak?

Did you hear it, fluting and whistling

A shrill dark music - like the rain 

pelting the trees - like a waterfall

Knifing down the black ledges?

And did you see it, 

finally, just under the clouds -

A white cross Streaming  

across the sky, its feet

Like black leaves, its wings 

Like the stretching light of the river?

And did you feel it, in your heart, 

how it pertained to everything?

And have you too finally 

figured out what beauty is for?

And have you changed your life?

~ Mary Oliver