Archive
A Winter Solstice Poem: My Life as a Poem (revised)
Revision: As I reviewed this post sorting through my word docs and rereading the poem (reviewing my life!) I realized I had left off the last verse (a cut and paste error)! So I have added that verse back in. How could I forget “love”? The poem (my life) is now complete.
In October I wrote “My Prayer” in the form of a poem. These words have stuck with me; they pop into my mind frequently during the day as I practice life. So I’m not surprised at this reprisal, an echo of that prayer as I wrote this poem on the Solstice and Conjunction.
My Life as a Poem
Waking to my day, a new page,
The threads of a dream drift away
On the winds of another life,
A poem gone now, glimpsed, forgotten.
Today a new dream begins, a new
Story of my own creating,
Speaking to the future, trusting in
The worthiness of these words.
Practice, it all begins and ends there.
Story is practice, a moving toward
Perfection, evolving with a rhythm;
Sometimes involving a rhyme.
With repetition the story evolves
Into a poem: my life as a poem.
For slips and slights I practice
Forgiveness – changing my perception.
Sometimes the words don’t come,
Resisting the page refusing to flow.
For the hesitance, the lurches I practice
Patience – waiting on the muse.
Regretting all that I have lost, resenting
What has been taken or misplaced;
For the destruction and death I practice
Praise – remembering life is ecstatic!
The suffering millions weigh heavily on my heart;
Stafford got it right when he said:
“The darkness around us is deep.” I practice
Compassion – wanting to save with my words.
These words may not be worthy as those of
The Bard of Stratford-upon-Avon. Yet, I read
And weep and rejoice and sing. And I practice
Wisdom – moving toward the light.
For all the grace, the wisdom, the compassion
I reach for words to reflect the deep.
I look up at the moon and practice
Gratitude – knowing they’ll appear complete.
At the end of the day, practice done
I realize I have one more line to
Write, one from my heart; and I practice
Love – the Love Poem of My Life.
©2020 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
A Friday Poem: My Prayer
A few weeks ago I enjoyed several offerings by the Shift Network during their Global Summit. One of the most profound talks was by Andrew Harvey, a “modern mystic” for our times. His talk was an impassioned call to address the five crises humanity faces, and the five responses that are required to bring about a new paradigm for our survival on the planet.
I’ve been working on my responses. One of them is a prayer to bring about the new paradigm, the new way for humans to evolve and thrive on Mother Earth, a New Vision for Humanity. Here is my prayer:
My Prayer
Sitting in the midst of chaos,
Anger bubbling beneath the waves,
I practice: Forgiveness!
Wondering at the edge of time,
Anxiety rising to the surface,
I practice: Patience!
Feeling the loss of all that’s dear,
Grief hanging heavy all around,
I practice: Praise!
Witnessing the suffering everywhere,
Greed holding power in the world,
I practice: Compassion!
Knowing humanity is evolving now, with
Ignorance still shading the light,
I practice: Wisdom!
Realizing there is a greater good at work,
Trust breaking through to ignite souls,
I practice: Gratitude!
Awakening to a New World together,
Love shattering these old patterns,
I practice: Love!
©2020 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
Wednesday’s Poem, second in the trilogy – “Enough”
As I wrote and posted on Monday, I have three poems for this week, kind of a trilogy (at least I think they go together). This one is for my word for 2020: Enough. I have been working with this word, probably my whole life, but wanted to really focus on it this year. It is a very versatile word, applies in many contexts; I’ll let you use your imagination to extend it to your contexts!
Interestingly I’ve chosen to publish this today, July 22, Rosemary’s and my 37th annual celebration of our wedding. But my word does not apply in this context; I can never get enough Rosemary in my life!
I’ll post the third poem, “Next”, on Friday. I’ll let you decide how they fit!
Enough
Breath—so easy, in, out, unconscious,
Sleeping, moving, natural enough.
And when not, gasping, panic
A little death as flow ceases, seizes.
Means—water, food, comfort, semi-conscious
In the flow. Stuff accumulates, enough.
And when not, grasping, panic
A buying frenzy, empty shelves.
Freedom—to breathe, to buy, to be,
To choose what and when is enough.
And when not, gaining higher consciousness,
A steeper climb to see beyond ourselves.
Wisdom—perception is reality, perspective mastery;
The present moment holds it all—enough.
And when not, go deeper, beyond—
Breathe, rest mind, let go, BE.
©2020 Richard W. Bredeson. All rights reserved.
A Friday poem during this time of pausing in the mystery: The Good Things
As I was writing my “morning pages” this morning I reflected on our situation with this COVID 19 pandemic affecting the entire human population. I’m looking at it as a “pause” – a time we need to stop and reflect on our choices, our values, our behavior. And we now have the time to do this! From this musing I thought about all the good things that are happening and can happen in the middle of this pause.
What do you think “the good things” are?
The Good Things
A message from Omen Crow:
You are in the dark; this is a shadow-time;
The mystery is yet to be revealed. But
There is no need for fear; fear is a choice!
Human activity is reduced and already
Pollution is clearing. Is there any doubt about
The connection? Humans will live differently
On and with the Planet.
And this is a good thing!
Humans will question more: about your lives,
What life is, why you are here. You will question
Your values; you will do more inner work.
And this is a good thing!
Humans will get more rest, eat better, breathe
Cleaner air, drink more water; you will feel better.
And this is a good thing!
Families will bond. Communities will form on
Technology platforms. Shared values will bond
And blend you in new villages where you will
Support one another through love.
And this is a good thing!
Ultimately you will form a Global Herd. Herd
Immunity will develop to create your protection.
And this is a good thing!
Humans are “all in this together.” Many of you
Are echoing this refrain. It will bring you to the
Place of Oneness.
And this is a good thing!
©2020, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
A Friday Poem for the US, with Love: “Get Out the Vote”
Happy Valentine’s Day! Love is in the air. And you may wonder where the love is when you read my poem today.
One of my heroes is Robert Bly. I’ve had the privilege of studying “at his feet” – yes, literally. And I read and reread his poems often. One of my favorite refrains he has written is “It’s already too late!” This is from his second collection of ghazals: “My Sentence was a Thousand Years of Joy” and the poem titled “Listening to Shahram Nazeri.” So, the other day as I was listening to the news, a commentator said something like: “how far is too far?” And my immediate thought was “it’s already too far!” So, with apologies to Robert I am echoing his refrain in the following:
Get Out the Vote
Russia, if you are listening; Lock her up:
Call and response, chant the chant,
Lies and deceit, cover up: it’s already too far.
Get out the vote, trolls take note, purge the rolls,
Establish the doubt, break the booth;
Lies and deceit: it’s already too far!
Electoral College completes the lie; three million votes,
worthless; Michigan’s few thousand swing the tide.
We begin the slide; it’s already too far!
State is in shambles, FBI firings, DOJ meddlings, DOD
next? Fourth Estate attacked day and night;
Can’t hide the slide: it’s already too far!
Babies in cages, walls blowing down, Native lands sullied,
Rivers muddied, bridges collapsed, brown water sickens:
American carnage, yes: it’s already too far.
Laws don’t matter, impeachment’s ignored,
Power unbounded in the name of us all!
Where is the check? Or, is it already too far?
©2020, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
A Sunday Poem: Don’t Let Their Throes Throw You
It seems needed now…
Don’t Let Their Throes Throw You
Violence feels on the rise; state
Sponsored terror, murder is
At the door, our door!
Will it never end? Will the killing
Stop? The promised “new age”
Seems a distant dream.
Yet there are signs and wonders
We watch for, as planets turn
And Pluto returns with renewal.
Perhaps the step-up in violence is
One of these signs: the final throes
Of a dying age, expiring time—
For the ones losing power, losing
Their grip on the old ways. They
Hold tighter for a moment. But
Their days are numbered; their time
Is running. They have no vision.
Don’t let their throes throw you.
Throw off the burden of violence, hold
The vision of that New Age, and take on
The lighter load of love.
©2020, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
A poem for our special day, December 15: Reflect, Project, Be
Rosemary and I celebrate December 15 every year as a remembrance of an awakening we both had many years ago. It was a turning point for both of us. And inevitably, inexorably it was the beginning of now. Here is my poem to commemorate our “awakening” this year:
Reflect, Project, Be
A time to reflect on the past:
This is good.
Viewing where we have been
Informs.
A time to project on the future:
To cast a vision, set a path.
It may wander and veer, yet
The way ahead will clear with each step.
And a time to be:
To be here as two and one,
In shade and sun, moving in step
To the beat of one drum.
Listen for the spirit song
Humming along,
Calling, serenading, guiding
Us home, never alone!
©2019, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
Happy Awakening Day, dear. I love you!
A Poem for our Birthdays: The Miracle of Our Togetherness
Rosemary and I have been sharing this August 2 birthday for 47 years! It is a special day and we treat ourselves to play and feasting. Today will be no different!
I began the day thinking about this fun fact of shared birthdays and about our relationship. This poem came to help make her day special:
The Miracle of Our Togetherness
It is a joy for me to share your birthday!
And as we sail swiftly into our Golden Years,
Our Golden Time together,
I just want to reflect on that shared journey.
We were like two lightening bugs flashing
On a warm July evening seeking each other
In the wilds of the wide world,
Not even realizing there was a joining to be made.
We were so different! And joined with others.
You, the conservative, Catholic cosmopolitan girl;
I, the gangly, sometimes goofy, farm boy still out to save the world.
You from Washington, DC; I from the wilds of Wisconsin and Africa.
And we flashed in that July heat all that time ago;
We knew, instantly (or eventually) that our worlds had changed.
We knew some magic, some miracle had brought us together.
And we still know there is magic to make together.
It is a magic of pure gold, a magic all our own.
Others see it, know it; the gods see it, show it to us.
And we see it, know it, struggle with words to show it:
The Gold of Lightening; the flash, the sizzle, the bright light of Love.
Lammas, magic cross-quarter time, a golden time
Of harvest, the reaping time of all that has been sown.
The light shifts now from the silver light of summer
To the golden light of autumn: Our Golden Time.
©2019, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
A Sunday evening poem: Accept and Flow to Grace
I’ve been meditating on this for the past few weeks; how do we get to that state of Grace? Actually I think I’ve been working on this for most of my life! And last year, 2018, my word for the year was “flow.” For 2019 my word is “grace.”
Maybe I’m finally putting things together! In the Chinese Medicine philosophy and approach the Five Elements govern a lot about who we are, how we live and how our health can be influenced. My Element, my constitution is Wood. The virtues of Wood are clarity, vision, creativity. The primary emotion is anger. And the process to transform anger into the virtues of Wood is Forgiveness!
Another factor in “putting things together” is my fingerprints. Without getting into the details of hand and fingerprint analysis I am in the “school of love” for this lifetime. So, these words, acceptance, flow, grace and love are important to me; I wrote this poem with these key words in mind:
Accept and Flow to Grace
Acceptance:
The magic act,
True magic,
No slight of hand,
No deceit,
Only the pure act:
Acceptance.
Forgiveness:
The magic act
Powering acceptance;
Forgive self,
Forgive Self,
Forgive him,
Forgive them,
They know not;
Only the pure act:
Forgiveness.
Flow:
The magic state,
Birthing with acceptance,
Breathing with forgiveness,
Moving through what is
Only the pure state:
Flow.
Grace:
The true magic,
Flowing from the heart,
Flowing from the mind,
Flowing from Cosmos,
Flowing from Divine;
The only pure Magic:
Grace.
Love:
The True Magic,
The germ of acceptance,
The pith of forgiveness,
The shell of flow,
The seed of Grace;
Only the pure Magic
Grows Love.
©2019, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
A Valentine Poem: Human Virtues
Rosemary “downloaded” these five virtues, or qualities, the other day in meditation. She brought this up in “Circle” when speaking of the qualities needed to complete a circle for whatever human purpose the circle is called.
As I meditated myself on these qualities this poem emerged. I gave it to Rosemary to celebrate today, our togetherness, our circle, our humanity. She wants to share it with the world. Happy Day!
Human Virtues
Love:
It all begins with love,
The creating force alive
Through the whole world
From deepest deep to highest above.
Honor:
A state of being derived from love,
Self-love, the source of all;
A principle that upholds, ennobles,
Creating the foundation for Human.
Integrity:
Springing from honor, Human
Knows place in the world; holds
Space firmly on that foundation,
Rises to each occasion to bless.
Community:
Integral Human reaches outward
To serve humanity in blessed community.
Community blesses Human in sacred symmetry
Echoing voices of goddesses and gods.
High Purpose:
The highest purpose is to love,
Honor, grow in integrity, serve
Community in a spiral blessing rising
Through the evolution of Humanity.
©2019, Richard W. Bredeson, all rights reserved.
Please enjoy!
Men and The Goddess 