poem: a season of loss
author’s note: the second line of the last verse is from 1 Corinthians 13:11.
Richard Rohr has an excellent book titled, “Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the
Two Halves of Life.”

poem: a season of loss
author’s note: the second line of the last verse is from 1 Corinthians 13:11.
Richard Rohr has an excellent book titled, “Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the
Two Halves of Life.”
haiku: sky horses
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
January 22, 2023
photo by author
wounds are salved
and broken things mended
a buffeting wet, cold
winter wind chills the bone
quality of life
frail and weak
free floating soul
battered in the storm
consciousness clouded
the way uncertain
circling in this thin place
in liminal time
letting go of survival instinct
for more understanding
perhaps a bit more repose
into the bardos of uncertainty
faith in one’s good nature,
clarity, and hope of return
opening to what lies beyond,
transformation, re-engagement
the intuitive wisdom of knowing
beyond the mind
emergence of True Self joined
mutually in beloved community
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
January 13, 2023
photo by author
‘Old Coyote in Winter’
life signs: impermanence
everybody and everything changes,
nothing last forever
dream signs: humility and loss
all things arising that must
expand our consciousness
prophetic signs: wisdom and wit
the owl and the coyote
visit our abode
spirit signs: the Eternal Divine
directly knowing the Cosmic
spiritual journey of Oneing
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
January 8, 2023
photo by author
‘Spirit Guides and Prophetic
Companions’
author’s note: in my aging, as
caregiver to a beloved, aging wife,
and with aging family and friends,
I have recently been experiencing
an acute awareness of this later
stage of life all will experience who
live long enough. The poem references
signs I have personally experienced
in a relatively short period of time,
i.e., the last six to eight weeks.
Gratefully, the spiritual traditions
I have practiced over my lifetime
have been a beacon of grace, faith,
and hope in preparation for journeys
to come. Also deeply grateful for dear
friends offering the authenticity of
true belonging. Namaste!
poem: ole coyote warming its bones
wiley, wary, weary coyote
dozing in the full sun
of a freezing winter’s morn
a sub-zero night,
scrounging for its food,
its heart is light
witty and wise, clever and savvy,
in nature wholly adaptable,
the old coyote perseveres
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
January 5, 2023
haiku: Christmas Eve
tree lights all aglow
overnight, first winter snow,
all wrapped with a bow
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
December 24, 2022
photos by author
haiku: Christmas past dreams
remembering past
family Christmases on
the farm of her youth
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
December 20, 2022
photo by author
author’s note: Cathey grew up
(out of darkness, light)
cold Advent mornings
dawn’s light shines in the darkness
winter solstice near
the star in the east heralds
earth and heaven intertwine
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
December 17, 2022
photos by author
Author’s note:
author’s note: I recently woke
in deepest, darkest night to a great
horned owl’s hooting and sensed
a moment of spirit connecting
the present and eternity and the
nearness of the divine. Putting this
experience into a poem has led to
much reflection and too many starts
and stops. And now I send it on its
way in hopes it speaks to you.
silent, reflective, open,
to the Divine Truth within
and the new beginnings before us
witnessing the Universal Cosmic Christ
who came down to us, comes again,
and is always with us in eternal life
mindful of the season’s
sentimentality, nostalgia, and hubris
which comforts and distracts us
here and now in the bliss
of participating and being
in the way of Creator God of All
mutually committed in body/mind/spirit
to preparing the way and living together
in diversity, healing, and peace
we humans transformed and co-creating
the alternative neighborly community
of True Self and Authentic Belonging
a lone voice in the wilderness
crying out, make ready the way
for the in-flowing of the Great I Am
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
December 6, 2022
author’s note: The last stanza is a paraphrase of the prophet Isaiah from the old testament found in Isaiah 40:3. The Great I Am reverences the I Am statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John, and Yahweh, God’s name in the Old Testament. It also connotes the Sanskrit mantra Tat Tvam Asi from the Chandogya Upanishad which refers to the unity of the individual Soul with the Divine Universal Consciousness. My experience is that all Divine Truth is universal, perennial, and cosmic flowing from the one supreme source which underlies all religion, spirituality, and mysticism, and which can be directly experienced by human beings who follow the way of True Self. An excellent book on this idea is “The Perennial Philosophy” by Aldous Huxley.