Make me fully present in this sacred moment.
Give me loving eyes to see all persons
As they are and hope to be,
Ears to hear with empathy
The thoughts and feelings spoken.
Assist me to be honest with myself,
And treat with charity and justice
Each person I meet.
Grant me courage to greet with humble gratitude the majesty of creation,
A healing hand to promote human flourishing
And make of the world
The garden of love and delight intended.
THH
8/13/24
A day like no other came Sunday.
Though every day, sunrise to sunset,
Bears a fullness : some cold and overcast,
others a dry see-through blue,
The weather blessed today,
Inviting a quiet letting go.
A perfect moment,
raised no thought of an end,
A fullness bordering on weightlessness,
An emptiness missing nothing.
A breeze cooled the skin
And my attention
Untied from the wharf’s cleat of doing,
let slip the rope of intention, to
drift in waters of acceptance.
Anxiety bobbed on the line then gave up,
Anger at unjust loss and self importance
floated down stream.
Worries of how long and what’s next fell
Asleep,
Moments though many, became one presence.
Sunlight warmed the backyard.
Birds took a siesta.
Miles forgot chasing squirrels.
And I dwelled with thoughts of enough,
Unresolved tensions and storms of experience once stirred a sense of foreboding,
The trickster plans to lead me into the deep
And let me sink incomplete.
Emotions rippled across streams of consciousness into a peaceful so what,
The tingle of anticipation lost its thrill and was reduced to peace without and within,
The moment begged frustrations loosen an unfriendly grip,
Stop fishing for more
And in gentle persistence recite a prayer:
It is enough.
The blessing soothed worries
over things done, left undone,
The nebulous and ill considered.
A cleansing breeze buoyed hopes of rebirth.
A time without counting.
Spread through the evening air
Silently enchanting a sad heart.
Worthy of this evening’s need for thanksgiving
A blessing of more than enough.
THH
8/13/24
Revised 9/10/24
A day like no other came Sunday.
Though every day, sunrise to sunset,
Carries a fullness of its own: some cold and overcast, others humid and hot, a mix of too little or too much.
But the weather blessed this day with quiet calm,
Inviting a letting go.
A breeze cooled the skin
And with close attention
My mind
Untied from the wharf’s cleat of doing,
Drifted in pools of acceptance.
Distant sounds made no impact.
The moments though many felt like one.
A perfect moment, raising no thought of an end,
A fullness bordering on weightlessness,
An emptiness where nothing is missing.
Sunlight warmed the backyard.
Birds took a siesta.
Miles forgot chasing squirrels.
And I sat dwelling on enough, how long, and what comes next.
Emotions rippled streams of consciousness, bobbing anxiety,
Anger at unjust loss,
worry about control, and self importance, stirred by storms without and within.
So much unresolved tension
Uncertain successes and fear of failure,
Leave a foreboding sense
time will let me sink incomplete.
So much, then to be done. So many concerns.
But the moment begged frustrating
expectations
to loosen their grip.
And with gentle persistence recited a prayer
Called enough.
The blessing soothed worries
over things done, and not done,
The nebulous and ill considered.
Cleansing air surfaced hopes of rebirth around me. A gift of time without counting.
A reverie spread through the evening air
Silently enchanting a sad heart,
Like the scent of baked bread,
Rising quietly, the aroma awakening
the nose to partial knowing.
Expectations exhaust thinking.
Worry churns discontent.
Mind chases wind without intervention.
But Sunday’s unexpected gift
should not be forgotten in the colorful bows, glitter, and hand wrapped signs of
human desire.
May I celebrate forgiving my cravings and learn the meaning of enough.
With a peace beyond my understanding,
Worthy of evening’s need for thanksgiving.
THH
8/10/24
When I’m up
I am ready to go
Running like crazy
In the flow.
When I’m down
I can be really be low
Unable to move
Unable to go.
I’m not on medication,
But I may be slightly ADHD
Not a doctor you see.
Only trying to see my way
through the day
Wondering what’s next
to come my way.
The flow is a thrill;
The low makes me feel ill,
But it comes and goes,
So right down to my toes
I hold tight the reins,
And steer my way through rainy days,
Looking for good company
On the many good days
To laugh and play the rest of my days.
THH
8/5/24
Make me fully present in this sacred moment.
Give me loving eyes to see in others
The person they hope to be,
Ears to hear with empathy
The thoughts and feelings spoken.
Assist me to be honest with myself,
And in what I do with every person.
Grant me courage to face this day in humble gratitude for all you have made and meant to be shared abundantly.
THH
8/5/24
There is often unnoticed tension,
Between awakening and invention.
A moment when a window opens in your personal space,
A rare offering of new prospects.
Calling for sitting still,
Instead of running fast,
Breathlessly falling behind,
Fiercely grasping after prizes
Believed to last and last.
A lucky stopping permits attention
To scents and sounds, interests and habits,
Allows for clarification of experience.
Time to imagine options,
And the rare moment to dwell
in this liminal space:
Discover who you are and have been,
Note struggles, joys, and pain,
Think back to before, examine beliefs,
Claim excitement in future possibilities,
Then dive in.
Such moments fly at light speed,
Save when fired by personal desire,
Your hunger expands space into a new shapes.
Leap to meet the challenge, damn adversity,
Act with character and personal authority.
Too many ride ocean waves
Oblivious to direction,
Behave like tourists taking in the view.
Drain life choices of imagination.
Take the plunge,
Be the wave,
Beg time to explore decisions,
Let the in-between resonate,
Then go live your invention.
THH
8/3/24
Some words feel strange,
the way they throw rocks inside my brain.
Fog up windows so I cannot see;
Spread confusion about what is meant,
Add dimensions to thought,
Crack cement walls built for sanity’s sake,
Leave me to meander in unusual directions.
Take a word like nevertheless —
An interesting attraction —
For if never means never
As in well — never,
What’s the-less for?
It seems to lead to a half open backdoor.
Never is:
‘Never will I see you again’
Death to the one you’ve been hanging with,
The message perfectly clear.
‘Never will I forgive’ feels definitely forever,
And ‘never will I forget’ and ‘never will I let you go’
Change directions when you tack on the-less.
Nevertheless adds possibilities and something more.
Nevertheless returns to the beginning,
Makes me think of alternate directions to travel,
When lost, might I be found,
And consider places I stayed too long
Or way too short,
Wonder too, if I’ve ever really known,
Or even asked,
what it is to be honestly invited?
Nevertheless is more than nevermore.
There the never feels like never,
But add the-less and my heart thinks more,
As if I get a second chance.
A turn to belief and a reprieve of my long sentence.
THH
7/28/24
Day and night,
Driving home late,
Or rising from the edge of sleep,
Sudden delicate insights
Appear to crystallize,
A fragile architecture
Of words and images surge
in my brain.
Hurriedly,
Visions must be recorded,
Profound communications written down
In a rush of creative energy.
Dice thrown from the corners of the mind,
Spill on the street,
As the urban sprawl traffics rebuke of the
poet’s intent
scattered in black on white
across the page
A jumble of accidents and impotence.
THH
7/26/24
At morning light
One eye opens
A blue-black dog penetrates
With quizzical curiosity,
noses in …
Awake? Yes, yes..
No no…
Unsure if dreams and the cool,
cave of sleep are ready
To flee the night’s rest,
Not sure of doing more than rolling over.
The eye takes in a slow dawning of perspective:
One big friendly face nosing from the foreground,
A dog eyed stare of wonderment,
A sandy beach background and a calm sea floats before the lazy eye to the horizon, numbed to the softening grey, white light
Obscures morning.
A scene for recurring reverie
meets this quiet moment,
brings a gentle smile and
opens the day
before the rigamarole piles in.
At daylight
covers no longer comfort,
Elbow shades eyes from the call of day.
Legs stretch side to side,
Touch the warm edges of materiality,
Feet slide to solid floor
Assure a firm foundation to balance awakening
Step forward in ritual confidence
Time directs appointed events
Patience straddles plans
Tasks engendered by habit align
As the day rolls from routine to meet circumstance.
Break fast with slow intent,
Black tea brews
aroma enchants
Puts off thinking.
Dog pants for bones
Demands attention
Step outside
Greet the summer air wet with dew
Scents offer blessings
Crepe Myrtle dangles bright red, and still,
Black-eyed Susan’s beckon the sun
A new day smiles at possibilities
Soon heat drives all decisions
The sad consequence of human ambition
By afternoon light the day prays for night.
Daylight ends with thanksgiving
Sunsets are toasted with wine and cheese,
Revelry gladdens hearts eager for cool air,
Shirts open to the breeze
Smiles widen as shadows stretch over terrace and lawn
Children swing with glee
Parents nod happily
Celebrating survival of another day’s heat.
Night once a time of trepidation
Now offers relief from poor vision.
THH
7/25/25
The wolf hunts
Not alone
But as brother and sister,
Father and son,
Neighbor with neighbor travel
forests and field seeking a meal.
The wolf feeds its young with prey killed.
All of the pack shares some food to eat
Celebrates the feast howling with relief
The hunter tracks
Follows a trail
Waits for a chance aims, fires and kills
The prowling beast.
His hunt makes a trophy of dead meat.
In the stealth of pursuit or hunt
no difference,
But one we call sport
With a trophy to admire;
One food for life to transpire.
THH
7/24/24
Thoughts Have Hands 