Dea Ex Machina

I think I have given this name to at least one poem before. I am a dog worrying the same bone, over and over again, a rainstorm eroding the same patch of earth until a rut is formed, then a stream, a river, a rift, a gorge. How there is something of the Holy in every atom, every galaxy, every sound and color and thought.

Here is the sixth Rilke riff from the set my friend Tim offered. He actually tucked a seventh into the mix after his initial suggestion, so I may take that up tomorrow and make a full week of it.

Gratitude List:
1. Deep sleep last night, and the help of Melatonin to take me there
2. This cool, cool evening after a day of thermal delight
3. Cycles, seasons, shifts–inner change often seems to happen on the coattails of a seasonal shift
4. The circles of beloveds who surround us, the interlocking nets and webs of support
5. Flaming forsythia
May we walk in Beauty!


“A good plan isn’t one where someone wins, it’s where nobody thinks they’ve lost.” —Terry Pratchett


“We have all hurt someone tremendously, whether by intent or accident. We have all loved someone tremendously, whether by intent or accident. it is an intrinsic human trait, and a deep responsibility, I think, to be an organ and a blade. But, learning to forgive ourselves and others because we have not chosen wisely is what makes us most human. We make horrible mistakes. It’s how we learn. We breathe love. It’s how we learn. And it is inevitable.” —Nayyira Waheed


“To me, it’s all right if you look at a tree, as the Hindus do, and say the tree has a spirit. It’s a mystery, and mysteries don’t compromise themselves—we’re never gonna know. I think about the spiritual a great deal. I like to think of myself as a praise poet.” —Mary Oliver


“When you hold a child in your arms, or hug your mother, or your husband, or your friend, if you breathe in and out three times, your happiness will be multiplied at least tenfold.” —Thich Nhat Hanh


“I stuck my head out the window this morning, and spring kissed me BANG in the face.” —Langston Hughes


“In the morning, wonder and be generous like the sun.
In the evening, meditate and be kind like the moon.” —Debasish Mridha


“There is a huge silence inside each of us that beckons us into itself, and the recovery of our own silence can begin to teach us the language of heaven.” —Meister Eckhart


“Every spring is the only spring—a perpetual astonishment.” —Ellis Peters


“Nothing is more terrifying to evil than joy!” —Cannoc, in The Beatryce Prophecy, by Kate DiCamillo

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