poem: a missive from a hard winter and a possible return

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Herb Stone

poem: a missive from
a hard winter and a
possible return

from deep within
the dark lair

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’

poem: child of the universe, hippie, yogi, elder

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Herb Stone

poem: child of the universe,
hippie, yogi, elderneither clinging to a nostalgic past,
nor projecting a future of sentimentality,
now resisting social norms of
emotional idealism and neurotypical
stereotyping

I, being a witness of here and now,
maintaining spiritual consciousness,
invitational presence, and attentive
mutuality, connecting deeply at soul level,
opening to the wholeness of other

we, belonging here together in beloved
community, falling upward in grace and love,
cycling through the bardo, eternally together
with the supreme in cosmic union,
that am I (tat tvam asi)

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry

August 28, 2022

photo by author

“Here is, in truth, the whole secret of
Yoga, the science of the soul. The active
turnings, the strident vibrations, of
selfishness, lust and hate are to be stilled
by meditation, by letting heart and mind
dwell in spiritual life, by lifting up the
heart to the strong, silent life above, which
rests in the stillness of eternal love, and
needs no harsh vibration to convince it of
true being.”- Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras of
Patanjali

“The Perennial Philosophy is expressed
most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula,
tat tvam asi (‘That art thou’); the Atman,
or immanent eternal Self, is one with
Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all
existence; and the last end of every human
being, is to discover the fact for himself, to
find out who he really is.” – Aldous Huxley

“It is only those who are in constant revolt
that discover what is true, not the man who
conforms, who follows some tradition. It is only
when you are constantly inquiring, constantly
observing, constantly learning, that you find
truth, God, or love.”- Jiddu Krishnamurti

poem: a paean for senescence

Posted on November 12, 2021 by Herb Stone

poem: a paean for senescence

our growing older
is not a linearity starting here, ending there,
not a timeline from beginning to end,
not a simple chronological
counting of the years

to be sure there
are circles, loops, and spirals,
bardos, gaps, and liminal spaces,
and ones functional/dysfunctional
life experiences

and of course
in our aging
one is vulnerable
to life’s foibles and frailties
which we must suffer

thus in our senescence
we prepare,
countering bitterness with beauty,
hopelessness with creative imagination,
infirmity with wholeness

embodying a faith that sustains us
for those unseen things yet to come
in our Cosmic journey home
in the truth of the Universal Oneing
of consciousness human and divine

being gentle with those things
unsettled in our heart and soul
knowing our cries, laments, and joys
are heard, and there is place of radical grace
and love that perennially longs for us

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
November 11, 2021

‘Spiral of Life’ art image by Susan Bruck

poem: ‘I missed the party in the field’ (let us stay just a little bit longer)

Posted on August 29, 2021 by Herb Stone

poem: ‘I missed the party in the field’
(let us stay just a little bit longer)

my beloved sleep-wakes
souls visiting her dreams
elders surrounding her
she stirs perplexed

‘I missed the party in the field’
she mumbles to me that

her parents are having a big party
in the big wheat field

these images calling to her:
there is always a place
where you belong
and a home welcoming you

my sweet, the party only begins,
upon your arrival, at the time,
whenever you are ready, but now
let us stay here together just a little bit longer

the two of us practicing
mutual radical grace and radical love
for all beloved beings upon this Earth
all walking each other Home together

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 27, 2021

photo by author
‘Walking each other home’

Author’s note: My wife’s lucid dreams
now occupy a liminal space in our aging
together as she experiences the effects
of Alzheimers and recovers from a recent
mild stroke. We will celebrate our 50th.
year wedding anniversary in November
2021.

poem: crossing paths, intertwining, all aglow, letting go

Posted on August 11, 2021 by Herb Stone

poem: crossing paths, intertwining, all aglow, letting go

moving at the speed of mindfulness, intent, and purpose
my love and I drift through these days in the sea of here and now
with the greatest care in every breath, every step, every touch

here amongst the majesty of Earth Home on this night,
under the spinning Milky Way, hints of Autumn to come,
the smell of salty seas and only sound the Earth’s moan

the slow rise and fall of breath,
soft whispers of comforting reassurance,
the souls of kin, friends, and ancestors all aglow

intertwined like fragile vines through the seasons of life,
since that first crossing what seems like another lifetime,
now holding more tightly than ever before

then the life ship sails on slipping its Earthly bonds,
upon the Cosmic voyage, beloveds depart,
into the Bardo luminosity of the one True nature

passing in the dark night,
crossing paths,
intertwining, all aglow, letting go

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 10, 2021

art image ‘Night Crossing’ by Regina Valluzzi