The human who lives solely within their desires
seeking comfort and privilege as their treasure
never questioning the lies of ‘authorities’
so much like their own desires
unmoved by the suffering of others
will never know selflessly living in the  knowledge of true being
and authentic belonging

Living in the knowledge of true being and authentic belonging
one’s motivation for life is different
intentionally and purposefully living with the understanding
that all aspects of life live within, including the fate of all beings,
thus willing to take on worldly suffering
postponing their own personal peace and happiness
regardless of the consequences and hardships to themselves

Such beings; bodhisattvas, saints, prophets, mystics, empaths
are ordinary beings, like you and me, consciously opening to life beyond
the small, personal, self of the ego and its’ longings
to the life of higher, interpersonal, being together
in authentic community of diverse belonging that leads one
to pray,  may I know enough suffering
to awaken my courage for compassion and healing of all beings

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
June 2019

They say
you can tell the soul of a society
in how its’  youth and elderly
are treated

This then is my testimony
from a heart that grieves

Youth are killed
in their classrooms
sacrificed on the altar of gun rights 

Youth suffer on our borders
parentless and neglected
as political pawns of tyrants

Youth are emotionally
traumatized in a culture
unconducive to the fragility
of developing life and
leading to self destruction

And the false expectations
of our elderly completely
ignore their most authentic true selves

The false expectations of elderly
as having nothing more to offer resulting
in being ignored and warehoused

The false expectations
that aging is extended youth
and continued engaging in its’
ambitions and frenetic busyness

Youth are treated as
personal and political pawns of adults
ignored in their fragility and developing

Elderly are socially divided into groups:
those having nothing to offer ‘in their dotage’
or those ‘staying young and active’

Youths’ promise is unfullfilled:
learning the lessons
of the first half of life,
developing resilience
and potential in a safe,
healthy, and generative environment

Elderly authenticity is not valued:
honored as belonging in community
grounded in second half of life
competencies, lived experience of our story,
and staying put and eldering 

As a society, we are too easily distracted
from the eternal faith and hope
of our diverse ancestors
expressed in various spiritual traditions
over time and place
the perennial, alternative narrative
of authenticity and truth,
and it all promising
a homecoming and a home
from exile and oppression

This is my testimony, oh Divine Universal Creator,
save us from the false narrative
of false expectations and false promises;
deliver us from exile, coming home again,
all belonging in unity

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
June 2019

Breaking, things become
inoperable
exhausted
interrupted
scattered

Foundations shift
brains tangle
relationships disengage
things come apart

Over many years passing
the consistency of change
and the disharmony
of things no longer  working

Failing
falling
wounding
breaking

mending
accepting
abiding
new meaning

Simplicity
authenticity
spiritual imperfection
radical acceptance
radical love in action
wounded healing
belonging
home

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
June 2019

“The days that are to come are the wisest witnesses.” – Pindar

still
quiet mind
selfless
neither attaching or avoiding
unknowing
religionless
neither above or below

undoing
just being
present

reflecting Universal Presence

just so

-Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
June 2019

Creating (w)holi-ness out of cosmic chaos
the Cosmic Christ
imbues it all with love

Commanding distributive justice
over human hubris and raw power
and liberty for the oppressed

Creator, commanding God
comes down enfleshed
and models it all for us

The eternal Universal Christ
commands us to a Life together
in radical grace and love in kin-dom

It is a Mad World that disobeys
the commands of the  creator
archetype Cosmic Christ

Does God command to scare us,
to punish us for being bad,
or as Master of all Creation

God’s word is this:  turning away from Eternal Life
incurs deathliness via hubris,
raw power, control, and violence

Accept God’s invitation to Eternal Life
of (w)holi-ness and distributive justice
in radical grace and love together

The Universal Christ of all eternity
is the primal pattern of Creation and Justice
and we are always invited to return home

Look for God in the order of the Cosmos
look for God in the theophany of
relationships and authentic community

One is as close to God as one’s breath
one can only be separate in one’ own’s mind
God, That I Am, is everywhere and in everything

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry

June 2019

Honoring my Dad, Herbert Stone Sr., on Father’s Day 2019

Remembering those indelible moments in time
where all coalesces into a wholeness
of truth, beauty, and goodness

That although brief and scattered
can never be lost or taken from us
and are essential for True Self and authentic being

Like a sleepy child on daddy’s shoulder
on a dark summer’s night under flickering lights
with fireflies flitting and glowing in the grass

Murmuring voices and laughter surrounds you
all the extended family gathered
like a cocoon of radical love and acceptance

Smells of cooking on the firepit fill the night
sweet honeysuckle drifts in the air
daddy’s familiar and comforting smell of home

All is camaraderie among these brothers, sisters,
parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins,
adults and children of every age joyfully together

In this kin-dom of family relations
where all is good, true, and beautiful this night
a child can rest peacefully on daddy’s shoulder

And many years later remember this moment
of their story feeling loved, at home, belonging
in wholeness, truth, and authenticity; shared with you

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
June 2019,  Father’s Day

Photo Dad and I circa 1952

We know it when we see it
that beauty that makes all else fade

That beauty that is a balm
to all maladies of body and soul

That beauty that makes one say
ah, if only you could stay, it would be alright

That ghostly moon in the early evening
cerulean blue summer sky

That reddish light in the catalpa tree
its’ bold relief, presence strong

Ah, beauty, you are a wonder to behold
if only for your fleeting moments, amidst the refuse

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
June 2019

Well this is Good News! Amen.
the faith, hope, and love of a Creator
who so loves us, is with us, and comes to us,
in so many ways