Open your mind, James Agee!

Open your mind, James Agee!
Ease your brokenness from the inside.
Burn the fragrant wood for a moment of peace.
Beat your message on the drum.
Paddle up the river, and swim with a moose.
Your inner self is waiting through the arched doorway.
The fields of nature, the circles and wheels,
The paths to self.
Slow down the chirping of the wood thrush
'Til they sound like dolphins,
Soothing, the "ruah" breath.
Leave your door open, James.

Collage and poem by Margaret

experience coming to the New World

Far

We've been travelling far




Without a home
But not without a star

Free

Only want to be free

We huddle close

Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes

They're coming to america

Never looking back again

They're coming to america

Home, don't it seem so far away

Oh, we're travelling light today

In the eye of the storm

In the eye of the storm

Home, to a new and a shiny place

Make our bed, and we'll say grace

Freedom's light burning warm

Freedom's light burning warm

Everywhere around the world

They're coming to america

Every time that flag's unfurled

They're coming to america

Got a dream to take them there

They're coming to america

Got a dream they've come to share

They're coming to america

They're coming to america

They're coming to america

They're coming to america

They're coming to america

Today, today, today, today, today

"America" by Neil Diamond

the signs of summer's end

An abundance of seeds are dispersed.

The tomatoes begin to thin out.

Full grown pumpkins? Must be the garden jokester!

Brilliantly-colored leaves drop to become food and shelter.

The days are getting shorter.

The Art of Catnapping

Revitalize yourself by taking a catnap during the day.

Step One
Relax with the scent of a sedative essential oil, such as lavender, rose, mandarin, jasmine, sandlewood, or marjoram.

Step Two
Play some calming background music, such as Celtic, Invocation, Reiki Whale Song, Seven Metals, Floating on Evening, Bliss, or Moon on the Water.

Step Three
Touch a soothing piece of fabric, such as cashmere or silk.

Step Four
To become even drowsier, put on a quiet video, such as The Quiet Man or Cash McCall, or read a few pages from a short story by Katherine Mansfield, Doris Lessing, or Mavis Gallant.

Step Five
Awaken after 20-30 minutes feeling refreshed--your mind clearer and more alert--and energized to greet the rest of the day.

Chinese Medicine, one-act play by Margaret

"I got seven pictures of Buddha

The prophet's on my tongue

Eleven angels of mercy

Sighin' over that black hole in the sun

My heart's dark but it's risin'

I'm pulling all the faith I can see

From that black hole on the horizon

I hear your voice calling me

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain"

~from Mary's Place by Bruce Springsteen

Twig: "Come on, Flame, light my fire."

Flame: "Sorry, but I'm pretty burned out, Twig, and I have to conserve."

Twig: "Please! I just need a spark!"

Flame: "Can't do it, Twig." (exasperated)

Twig: "River, quench my thirst!"

River: "Sorry, but my well has pretty much run dry, Twig, and I have to conserve."

Twig: "Please! Just a drop to wet my lips!"

River: "Give it a rest, Twig." (exasperated)

The two men nod conspiratorially at each other.

Flame and River: "OK, Twig, we'll give it up. Stand in the earthen basket."

The two men come closer, brandishing fire, metal, and water.

Twig, intimidated: "Look never mind! I don't want your fire and water! Please, stop!"

Flame ignites the parchment.

Twig screams over and over in protest. She becomes fainter as the flames consume the parchment.

River pours a vial of water over the remaining embers; all that remains is a pile of ashes.

Twig lifts up the crystals that had generated from the ashes and holds them in the palms of her hands. Joyfully she says, "Thank you, Flame and River, for purifying me, for releasing me into this radiant new entity!"

The Circle of Life

"It's the circle of life

And it moves us all

Through despair and hope

Through faith and love

Till we find our place

On the path unwinding

In the circle

The circle of life"

~by Elton John and Jim Rice

feelings

Fear

Caterwauls his need to feel safe.

His paws on the windowsill

Knock on the glass to escape the smoke and explosions.

The worry of danger, the unknown.

Desire

Pushes it paws at a confining window,

Switches its tail in impatience;

Intent on being outside in the grasses,

He resignedly awaits his chance.

Content

To carry the Water to a lavender garden,

To glide across the water's surface,

To careen down water's freefall:

Pleasure.

"I am . . ." poem, inspired by poemcrazy, freeing your life with words

I am the glad color of yellow, being carried rapturously away.

I am the shape of a spiral, spinning in an ever-widening labyrinth on life's river.


I am the movement of flying down snow slopes and rushing rivers.
I am the sound of shrieking, a car without brakes.


I am a maple tree, inspired to paint my own leaves.




My maple tree reaches out to encourage everyone to paint.

Now, most days, I am a gentle, cuddly, napping cat.

beliefs about nature

Could that be a bird-headed snake goddess in Brooklyn?

A sea urchin's panorama?

Take a heady whiff of nature;

Touch a green leaf.

pastel by Georgia O'Keeffe

So peaceful

The sleeping lady of Malta,

The sea undulating around her.

painting by David Finn

The illusions of the mandrake root:

A shoal of gold fish.

A bowl to hold a bell, a conch shell, or holy water.

watercolor by Barbara Bash

The inner child and its dragon lanterns.

Add a drumming circle.

The Moroccan cloth carder spins fiber into thread.

Wasn't that the task of Venus de Milo?

photo by Corbis/Kevin R. Morris

The sacred trinity,

The fawn, the doe, and the old doe,

New moon, full moon, waning crescent moon,

Rooted, supported, nurturing.

watercolor by Barbara Bash