quote: strings of life must be gently followed rather than pulled
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Category Archives: life
poem: the bluebird and wren returning to nest on Bird Heaven Hill are a boon
poem: the bluebird and wren
returning to nest on
Bird Heaven Hill are a boon
neither winter’s harshness
nor war’s evil
keeps the the forces of nature
from its way
the spring season
brings the bluebird and wren
back to their nest
precisely on spring’s first day*
the bluebird inspects
its house
as the wren chirps on high
announcing its arrival
within the natural order
of the universe harmonic
forces flow as all things
work together for the good
and so our weary souls
seek the light
from its pall to
rebirth and resurrection
like the birds nesting
in the ‘lil woods,
putting our house in order
and singing the new day
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
March 20, 2022
videos by the author
*Author’s note: March 1st. is
the beginning of meteorological
Spring.
poem: for the Ukrainian women in the black parka and scarf (I am signaling you through the flames)
poem: for the Ukrainian women
in the black parka and scarf
(I am signaling you through
the flames)
in the black parka and scarf
(I am signaling you through
the flames)
her blue eyes squint
from the sting of the smoke
flaxen hair covered with
a large white bandage
her high cheekbones
smeared with blood
lips searching for words
which do not come
hands extended, palms up,
crying out for justice
her weary visage
hangs in the ether
of eons haunting us
for the hundreds of million
war casualties from stones,
arrows, bullets, bombs,
humans cruelty and incarnate evil
fueled by human desires for
power and control always
resulting in violence
may her suffering
ignite in us
the awareness that
the line of peace and violence
runs through every human heart
asking our self: what is the mirror
of life holding up to us, what are
we creating and how is it creating us,
and what is it we intend to create
here upon this earth home
thus may the compassionate heart
of the enlightened mind overcome
the sovereignty of death culture,
such that in her suffering we lament,
embodying the life force and peace
in every breath, manifesting
peace is every step, our lips
perpetually chanting peace,
shalom, shanti, salaam, and our poetry
defeating the conqueror with word
in our third eye the bloodied woman
with her haunting blue eyes and flaxen
hair and high cheekbones transforms us all
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
February 26, 2022
photo Wolfgang Schwan/Anadolu Images
Author’s note: It is with great respect I
credit quotes from my poem from other
master writers and master teachers.
The subtitle of my poem is a line from
the poem ‘Poetry as An Insurgent Art’
by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Stanza three,
lines six through eight are by the writer
Mark Nepo and line nine and ten are by
the writer Gary Zukov. In stanza four
‘the compassionate heart of the enlightened
mind’ is a Buddhist teaching taught by many
including Sogyal Rinpoche, and ‘peace is
every step’ is a book title and teaching from
Thich Nhat Hanh. All of these writers and teachers
are masters of their art and should be read and
studied for their wisdom especially in the area of
peace and life viz-a-viz violence and death.
poem: the Zen-like simplicity of spiritual practice
poem: the Zen-like simplicity
of spiritual practice
prepare
practice
participate
washing laundry
chopping wood
carrying water
imminent and transcendent
feet on earth, head in heaven
as above so below
within the mundane busyness
facing the forge of transformation
from emptiness to eternal presence
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
February 24, 2022
photos by author:
‘my laundry runneth over’
haiku: old man dreams
haiku: old man dreams
old man dozing off
sun beams in his smiling face
balancing his chi
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
February 19, 2022
photo by author
‘a place in the sun’
poem: remembering why I write (when words are slow to come)
poem: remembering why I write
(when words are slow to come)
(when words are slow to come)
on this journey
through the Cosmos
and beyond into
the Great Mystery
Life is beautiful
and holy whole
filled with stories
worthy of remembering
making sense
knowing meaning
finding purpose
fitting it all together
yes, writing down the bones
of this world, Self,
relationships, and community;
of our one wild and precious life
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
February 14, 2022
art: uncredited cover art to the book
The Crack in the Cosmic Egg by
Joseph Chilton Pearce
Author’s note: Quotes in my poem:
‘Writing Down the Bones’ is a book
by Natalie Goldberg, and ‘one wild and
precious life’ is from Mary Oliver’s
iconic poem ‘The Summer Day.’
Finding myself at an interstice in the
journey, words slow to come,
remembering why I write, and what
Annie Dillard wrote about “The gaps
are the spirit’s one home….Go up into
the gaps.” And so I go, writing it down.
poem: soliloquy on aging
poem: soliloquy on aging
lately finding myself
taking some time off, slowing down,
being quieter, more still,
disengaging from daily routines,
in need of a hae’lan
it has been a long, harsh winter,
worldly challenges of apocalyptic malaise,
the ever present change of
aging, illness, loss, relationships,
community, belonging
not a single thing but a whole thing
needing time to face, and including
my shadow, imperfections, dis-ease,
slowing it down, fitting it all together
forming a new gestalt of Life (and death)
beloveds, yearning for restoration and
re-engagement, from this exilic journey,
to a new complementary perfection,
of authentic wholeness and holiness,
belonging together in radical grace and love
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
February 10, 2022
photo: writing at my desk
quote: undefeated, laughter’s healing and salvation
Reflection: On Being Present and in Conversation with Others
Reflection: On Being Present and in Conversation with Others
My (an old man approaching his 74th. birthday) most
fond wish and deepest passion is the Communion of Souls
brought to bear through our right action of mindfulness, intention,
purpose, discipline, and practice. And grounded in True Self,
Authenticity, Mutuality, and Belonging together in Communities.
Dear Beloveds, may we awaken, personally do the
work, and collectively join together in the unitive experience of
the Divine Ground, Radical Grace, and Radical Love.
– Herb Stone, poet and author @herbstonejr.com
Let us consider this plea in its perennial expression of our sisters and brothers:
“For a lack of attention, a thousand forms of loveliness evade us everyday.”
– Evelyn Underhill, Mystics
“We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible.
To have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple,
obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk.”
– Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul
“The divine Ground of all existence is a spiritual Absolute,
ineffable in terms of discursive thought, but (in certain circumstances)
susceptible of being directly experienced and realized by the human being.
This Absolute is the God-without-form of Hindu and Christian mystical
phraseology. The last end of man, the ultimate reason for human existence, is unitive knowledge of the divine Ground—the knowledge that can come only to those who areprepared to “Die to self” and so make room, as it were, for God.”
― Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy
“We expect a theophany of which we know nothing but the place, and the place is called
community.” -Martin Buber, Between Man and Man
quote: resisting the destruction of ego-self and worldly chaos
quote: resisting the destruction of ego-self and worldly chaos
