In The Spring

In the strong Spring runoff, mercy bubbles quite near the surface

In the leaves that open, hands reveal a secret

With the cleansing showers comes a joyful tear

With the longer days the sun performs an ageless miracle

By the swollen stream we sense the turning of the wheel

By the better light we see how long the road has been

From their many winter shadows now emerge the quiet plants

From their secret places come the creatures of the woods

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In the early morning there is sweet coolness still remaining

In your glance I see how much that you can feel it, too

With the help of Spring we rebind our dreams to the future

With the thaw, old leaves renew the soil that once sustained them

By the twilight we discern the changes from another winter’s passing

By the raindrops we can count every flower opening

From the smallest bud to the forest newborns, life recasts its magic spell

From a sublime cascading reaction the aspen sap begins to flow

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In the breezy shade of spruce trees, our steps are gently slowed

In the quiet of the forest we watch them at their prayers

With the energy of May's fresh sunlight the world restores itself

With the coming of each morning the earth is more reborn

By the time we start to grasp it once again, it slips away

By the raging creek we watch as the trout are awakened

From even small beginnings come wonders to behold

From quiet meditation reappear the things that every child knows

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In the last days of healthy frosts our aches retreat as our own juices flow again

In the prism of the morning dew there beckons all, a world that’s new

With the help of quiet showers something returns to fill its promise

With our happy smiles we walk and turn the hills beneath our feet

By the sunset through the clouds, both our thoughts are reflected

By the things that we hold dear, our vows remain unbroken

From us, the Spring brings forth the things that make this life worth living

From the time our eyes first opened, lent a grace both kind and gentle

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In the quiet of the meadow you can hear as good earth makes its music

In the heavy runoff you can see the richness of life’s passing

With the coming of the sweet grass, the elk seek a quiet place to calve

With great content we simply walk once more in gentle sunlight

By the spirit that animates these good woodlands we find our way once more

By the greatest fortune we can see the flowers bloom again

From out of the gray stillness comes a riot of colors like joyful singing

From this great upwelling do we sense a kindly deeper meaning

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Neither Cause

Neither a cause nor a working

simply a rendering of meaning

not seen but reflected

like an image in the water,

once observed dissolving into wavelets

neither a loss nor a gain

outlining without any detail

working with the sunset

and just as quickly, fades away

neither in my hand nor of my mind

was that a shadow of some reflection?

neither a joining nor a parting

yet providing subtle background harmony

that might amplify some reality

neither quite alone nor a part of things we see

flowing well outside our event horizon

neither with one nor against another

vast indifference of the void

emptiness that our minds can never fill

neither part of life nor facet of death

far more than we will ever know

and infinitely less than we always feel

neither with the rain nor in the clouds

builds like lightning

and strikes as rainbows

neither close at hand nor ever far away

even when within our minds,

always remaining to be seen

neither hope for the religions nor friend of any science

might laugh had it our reason

less a guiding light than a sourceless shadow

more a riff than an algorithm

like the emergent tones from good harmony

or windsong through distant trees

Undefined Is Not

the undefined is not the autumn breeze

that sets the blazing leaves to sighing

the undefined is not the things we say

or even in our way of thinking

the undefined is not a friend to all

yet it can bear us no ill will

the undefined is not outside of us

but does not spring from within

the undefined is not attenuated

by the expansion of the universe

the undefined is not in the words we read

for it cannot be written

the undefined is not a willful force

but flows as surely as does water down a hill

the undefined is not a thing that can be bought or sold

rather is a boundless resource for anyone to use

the undefined is not an action

still it is the cause of many things

the undefined is not the people's friend

but they prosper in its alignment

the undefined is not a particle with mass

yet it acts with a force all of its own

the undefined is not the sky's reflection caught

in the smallest brook

the undefined is not in motion

but simply always fills this expanding universe

the undefined is not religious

for the religious do not seek it

the undefined is not a salmon’s gleaming blur

in its spawning creek

the undefined is not a structure

however, it is complete, without a form

the undefined is not a creature

yet we may not know the difference

the undefined is not simply the unknown

for we may have glimpsed it often as we passed

the undefined is not the tinkling of a stream

but somehow it is wrapped about that sound

the undefined is not this loneliness that we cannot escape

and though it causes nothing its effects are everywhere

the undefined is not the ignorance that surrounds us

but it is quite at home with both good and bad alike

the undefined is not in all the grains of sand

still each grain can carry its entire message

the undefined is not an ally or an enemy

but remains very close to us each and every day

the undefined is not a part of our family values

though it can be found in all our homes

the undefined is not in the flames of the campfire

yet it may be echoed in the fire’s quiet snapping

the undefined is not a mystery

even though we never comprehend it

the undefined plays no part in our daily lives

but there can be no evasion of its certain path

the undefined is not the million snowflakes

which fall in groups in all directions

the undefined is not empty

for it must surround the void

Quiet Coming

In the quiet of the early morning, before the sun comes up

          when the birds are still hidden sleeping

and the dew is on the grass

In the time before those things start over

          that make it like it is today

when the world seems as it was before we ever came this way

In the building light of the coming dawn, colors grow ever clearer

          as if my eyes were born again

in the details of the mountains, just beginning to emerge

In the quiet that I find within myself in the early morning

          I glimpse once more the things that I am missing still

but soon they disappear again in the brightness of the sun

In that rare stillness that comprises the very early morning

          when issues have been slept away

the potential of all the world brims over with possible new beginnings

In the cool sweet stillness left behind by the evening rain

          there is a sense of preservation

and an unearned cleansing mercy daubs my sleepy eyes

In the light that rims the horizon before the sun appears

          come colors to the landscape emerging from the gray

perspectives created quickly that must fade during the heat of day

In those early moments when the world can still make sense

          I awaken slowly with the birds and a draught of predawn cool

and through such a lens our previous despair seems very much out of place

In the hour where respectful whispers do not disturb the peaceful shadows

          the images of a nighttime's dreaming briefly coat this world

then they must evaporate with the dew at the end of the dawn

In the time when night lights fade away

          and hope once more can raise our hearts

then we trust there can be no end to these renewable beginnings

In those moments when the world is changing as quickly as the light

          there we sense so strongly the passage of our time

then I see most clearly a path that I should follow

In the precious little time before the awful noise begins again

          I regain any strength that I still retain

For there is no cover I might seek and there is no place that I could hide

In the gracious hour between the dark and the light

          Just before the hoarse cries begin again

there is still time to consider what's to come from what is passed

In the fresh air of a new day when the world is born again

          There can be time to take accounts and sense the larger flow

Instead of rushing randomly once more towards some fuzzy goals

Move For That Light

Grope not about blindly, wet with sorrow, but simply move towards that light

Though you may not even see it, you can respond as simply as a plant

Bathe yourself not in depression, just try and remain in that moving glow

Let that soft warmth and gentle light evaporate your sadness

Turn towards its silent fullness and merely raise an open face

Spread your palms and feel as that light enters your forehead

Turn towards that light as it streams through the window

Do not fester in darkness to fail once again at simple tasks

Cast off the sadness which has covered your eyes in darkness far too long

Keep on turning from the shadows, slowly making your way for that light

Do not writhe in pain upon pointless contradictions, come here towards this light

Stop up your reason, cap off your logic and blindly respond to that light

Hold not to duty, god or morality but turn and walk calmly into this great light

Let the richness of that gentle light top you off at a warm and quite full level

Do not fall back into that empty darkness tossed by anxiety and fear

Let light enter you through your closed eyes and bring a gentle smile to your face

Staring full of sadness comes a quiet voice saying simply, move towards that light

Drop the artificial distinctions and too-subtle philosophy and go after that relaxed glow

Do not pontificate, forget to over-complicate as you slip in underneath the light

It may be golden, perhaps it’s silver and maybe even green where water flows

Move simply for that light for it brings with it all you need to know

The Life Force

Like the strong force and the weak force it is elemental to our universe

There are undiscovered constants which govern all its actions

Its bacterial spores amazingly adapted to interstellar travel

Able to remain quite dormant for entire epochs if conditions warrant

Possessed of the entire miracle of genetic reproduction in one tiny package

Ready to seed the process we call evolution in yet another time and place

Executing a miraculous algorithm in the ecosystem of the universe

Playing a fundamental role in the development of the cosmos

Able to remain quite well-adapted when its environment is stable

Capable of staccato bursts of punctuated equilibrium as conditions change

Favoring neither complex nor simple forms, only survival is rewarded

All its species are extinguished as surely as all its individuals must perish

Created anew if required from the rich inorganic stew on friendly planets

Once it is established it becomes virtually impossible to eradicate

Patient in the timeframe of the age of the universe

Spreading like a vast and gentle rainstorm on a grand cosmic scale

Boiled by supernovas, frozen by dying suns, yet only its pseudopods wither

Clinging to survival in some quiet spatial eddy, it blooms once again

Seeking out every niche with the effortless strength of water flowing

Taking the myriad forms which increase the chances of its survival

A basic force capable of emergently generating a will to self-understanding

The reason for its existence is the province of philosophers and theologians

There are undiscovered laws and formulas governing its circulation

Its distribution can be mapped and its extents visualized as snapshots

Easier to find than dark matter here on earth but not so out in the wide universe

Though all life forms must disappear, just like gravity, the life force will remain