Civeo's Magnum Opus

I am not sure what it will take to serve,
except for that we will need integrity, courage, and compassion.
Look at us!
We’re soldiers already, each fighting some sort of battle every day.
Pity we so often take up arms against one another, mistaking our despair. You see?
Where is cause for such madness when here and now, not beyond a good will to better understand our own humanity, are lush golden fields?
If we go today, we each put on our poetic breastplate, souls ablaze, rouse our moral fibers and use our greatest weapon, our words, to defend our dignity.
May we stand tall together, as tall and purpose-filled as a spring poppy!

O the hour

In this second is everything. A simple moment, yet illimitably deep and dynamic. In this minute life everywhere is budding with purpose and in it I, alive with intention, bubbling with joy, flowing over brim. And you, a gem. Unique. Pure wonderment! Nothing alike and it not unlike you. Sometimes I can hardly believe my eyes. Better I trust. It's here and now. Happening in a snap. Already gone. So seize. Flashes of inspiration. Jazz hands. We're riding the storm or the wave and I wander closer to and farther from. And what marvels beyond the Tree of Knowledge but the sacred Tree of Life? Imagination.

As I step onto the sidewalk, I'm amazed at the gentleman walking toward me with his air and that smile. Not long after, I cross a river bridge, and over there I see a child. She’s running to the poppy garden, and crouches to touch a bushy bulb. I wonder, and I think she wonders too, if she's gunna snap one of those flimsy intoxicating flowers off at stem. She hesitates. It has its place, its peace. Who’s to yank it from roots and leave thirsty and dry? Water, water, O holy water! Moving like there ain't no boundaries. Like we’re all one and this is all the same old story but unraveling in another way? Hopefully this time better than last. We might learn from ourselves or those hanging golden stars. Blanket of warm light in darkness. Hark! It may be love which holds the firmament. Maya Angelou. We hope, and it's faith in dawn that keeps us going. Go, go, and stop. Ready, set... soar again! Glide like a butterfly, sting like a bee -Muhammad Ali. Suddenly, there's that ol’ boxer buzz. Pollinated vibrations electrically charged. I put my finger on it; can make your hair stand straight up! Absolutely enthralled and I know I am freedom! Fertility I tell you. Dance because today is given to us. And the greatest art gallery we'll see is the one we're already in. It's better than any factory production. Enchanted.

All this excitement has me tired now. I rest, breathing, still in a turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless, neither coming nor going. Zen. Natured and nurtured. How intricate yet punchy this second. Weird and wonderful this minute. This is luscious stuff and O the hour.  

Au delà

Past the Tree of Knowledge, stands the Tree of Life.
You'll find me there.
And so it goes -
By an endless turn of imagination,
A fruit tree, rooted and still, embraces all seasons.
Alive with intention!
Zen child, natured and nutured.
Come rain, come shine.
Grateful for the shade.
Faith in Dawn.

Crystals in a Glass Jar

Crystals growing in a glass jar.
Amid all this reflection,
I ask,
where is the light coming from?

Refraction,
Deflected truths and dancing illusions
play with mirrors of a brilliant diamond.
No clarity.

Wake-up.
Don't believe everything you think.
And, yet, know it when you see it.
Soul's afire.

Ever Short

I. Truths - however short. Questions - whyever short?
II. How ever short of truth, why ever short of wonder?

III. Whyever short of wonder, however short of truth?

IV. However tall a truth, whyever short a wonder?

Ode to MLK Jr

Portrait

Of a man who lives –to see to it–; whose fisted hand firmly holds humanity’s dignity, who raises it high in common brotherhood and lowers it with courageous conviction, whose arms are links in an unyielding demand for freedom and respect, whose mind dreams on and on, whose feet march on and on, whose soul hopes on and on, whose heart loves on and on, whose spirit struggles relentlessly to bring: Power to the People!

Strength of Vulnerability

Unguarded, uncertain, uncomfortable, nerve-wracking. Questions making way for potential, for tolerance, for understanding. Open to groundbreaks, to heartbreaks. Belief in self-worth, turning pain to power. Ready to chance, dare, serve, love. Vulnerability, a warm hug, the courage to feel. Are you alive?