Another vist

Recurring patterns in nature,

the leaf, the flower petal, the butterfly─

how can I think that I am somehow

separate? Duality simply fails

common sense and observation.

 Another visit from the cabbage butterfly

Balance

Mid-day and it sometimes seems

too much to achieve that balance:

beauty, progress and serenity.

A lesson in the cabbage butterfly:

its tiny feet holding a beautiful

meadow sage, enormous wings

spreading into the light.

Sunset

Joyously,

Bach thundering in the postlude,

leaving, just as he desired.

Celebration of a life so well lived.

In modesty, he chose Mighty Lak’ a Rose

to balance Prelude and Fugue in D.

And as the last notes faded,

the evening sun streaming

through ancient, west-facing

windows…sunset 

and farewell, friend.

In the teeming crowd

In the midst of a teeming crowd

some curl their heads toward warm feathers,

seemingly oblivious to their world.

A grizzled old man and a very sad young man

sit on a nearby street each day, kind of like birds,

part of the scene, yet tucked away.

Distractions

That sudden turn:

to catch a partly heard conversation,

perhaps startled by a sudden breeze.

I cannot decide: lack of focus

or responding to the moment?

Staying in the moment

Quietly sitting in the warm Spring sun

waiting for nothing I can name.

A slight breeze through the blooming

tomato plants: contemplating a harvest. 

And, then a tiny visitor brings the moment,

now, and it is simply perfect.

Touched by a butterfly

The touch of a butterfly

on a child’s finger.

So evanescent,

yet filled with strength and trust.

Many things complicate life,

when we are neither child nor butterfly.

Too often fear and knowledge

overcome the gentle moment.