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.”
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’
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.
poem: “maybe not being on the way
is also the way”at one with life’s Cosmic Flow,
in the True Self and Authentic Nature
of all things here and now,
the way is eternally unending
our story becomes broken
when things become hard,
we pick and choose: ego erupts,
shadows creep in, suffering ensues
one feels they have lost the thread of life,
are off the path, are in exile,
lost in the dark night of the soul,
no longer walking towards home
maybe once on the way, there is no way
but the way; the conscious/unconscious,
engaged/disengaged, yin/yang,
wholeness of it all
“nothing goes away until it teaches us
what we need to learn”: isolation,
grief, loss, illness, doubt, heartbreak;
all are the way on the way
within the complementary tension of Cosmic
Flow, here is the Truth, Authenticity,
and Wholeness that guides us step by step
unending in the eternal way of all things
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
November 19, 2022
author’s note: the title of the poem is a quote from the writing of Toka-Pa Turner.
The quote in the fifth stanza is a quote from the writing of Pema Chodron. I am
grateful to these two contemporary seers for their deep wisdom, writing, and
teachings which inspires me to reflect and write as I seek to know for my Self.
image: Cosmic Dust Flow, NASA Hubble Space Telescope
haiku: flickering memories
Totties’ white crochet
in Fall’s dancing light adorns
the royal blue chair
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 31, 2022
photo by author
author’s note: remembering my maternal grandmother, Aline Feustel Martin (1889-1979), who we grandchildren called Tottie all her life.
framed by the golden light
of the Fall day
in the rocking chair by the window
in the sun’s warmth
body still, mind quiet
eyes soft, breath even
soul ascending
on wings of spirit
ageless dreams
of Home
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 23, 2022
photo by author
letting go any
pretense of
hubris, sentimentality,
power, control,
and domination
pure being,
not desiring,
doing,
grasping,
or withholding
emptying,
opening,
uniting,
in the eternal, omnipresent
One Peace/One Love
sharing mutually
authentic presence
of belonging: witnesses,
prophets, seers, souls,
and saints
focusing, preparing, practicing,
participating, reflecting,
celebrating, liberating,
transitioning, whole-making,
arriving full-circle
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 20, 2022
photo by author
poem: a caregiver’s satori
with the beauty of
a new autumn day
this tapestry
of colors
blue, pink, white
sky above
orange, red, yellow
leaves below
a caregiver’s day
begins early
it holding
much to do
caring for
my beloved
ordinary chores
and errands
here and now
this satori moment
and then the laundry,
meals, and dishes
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 13, 2022
photos by author
haiku: autumn’s home
high on eastern ridge
abundance of peace and love
harvesting blessings
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 4, 2022
photos by author