Bloodbloom

(a beginning)

now that we have recoiled into winter's womb,     
         fallen kaiser 

snakes around the room. leaving stagnant fragments of a   
         once.  blessed.  life.

fragrances of what could have been 
       hunger for moments       that open us 
       
   what moved the stones upstream?
  along faultlines, from dead grey rock
        
 through fissures          red hot joy 
       thrusting light upon  

                  numb—    
          all that we've forgotten
  
               zest upon vectors, 
                              ions upon wings— 

   the uplift from ordinary things 
       is lit—     all the way up into our eyes
       
    melten molten blessing 
              sweeping, soaring moments—   

wolfmoon erupts—
           in fistbloom  

                a Universe is rising   
             whole and honeyed  
  
      rise up! 
          we rise as mountains
 
   we rise as mountains to shape this landscape 
                       of the rest of our lives
     

This started as a reflection on a piece written by Maria Popova but morphed into something completely different.

It’s early January, it’s cold, the days are short. Venezuela has been invaded.

I want to send this out for Duane Toops. His arresting collage art and insightful posts always give me pause for thought. He reminded me this week of the writing of John O’Donohue and the evolving, transforming aspect of ‘Belonging’. How it changes itself and all it touches.

There is so much despair in the news. But still, so much good, beauty and hope.

It's great to have you here.

Susie Mawhinney, Ann Collins , Paul Wittenberger Thomas Rist man of aran by alan LeeAnn Pickrell rena Lisa Jensen Teàrlach Cynthia Jonathan Foster Jonathan Potter Carolyn Jones Fotini Masika Martin Mc Carthy Anagha Smrithi wildflower Mahdi Meshkatee Sarah Howard Lapine small victories X. P. Callahan Don Boivin Maria Giesbrecht Margaret Ann Silver Margaret O'Brien Edgar Ballantyne Cynthia Brian Funke Chen Rafaeli C J O'Hare Marjorie Pezzoli Nelly Bryce Rajani Radhakrishnan Damian Hendrickson David Kirkby Dick Whyte Stephanie Sweeney Troy Putney Artemis Rose Archer Jed Moffitt

To Be Alive

Gregory Orr

To be alive: not just the carcass

But the spark.

That’s crudely put, but...

If we’re not supposed to dance,

Why all this music?

I sense it’s not the elected or paid leaders necessarily who will guide us through these uncertain times. It’s the everyday people on the ground, amongst us. You and I.

I sense that we all need to do our bit for the bigger world cause. Live healed, open, connected lives as far as we can.

And to pass it on.

Everyone seems to be fighting a great battle.

I learn so much from reading the posts of other writers, essayists, artists and poets.

What a wonder it is to have crossed over at all.