A Thanksgiving Reflection from Herb and Cathey
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Category Archives: mutuality
tanka: exaltation
tanka: exaltation
these years together
your head on my shoulder rest
and your soulful smile
through fair and stormy weather
exalts us for all to come
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
November 23, 2021
photos by author
“Our 50 Years Together”
poem: the start of our day at home
poem: the start of our day at home
hearing her soft
murmuring
upstairs in bed
I leave my writing to check on her
she awakens
from her deep overnight sleep
with her first words to me,
‘I am here’
brushing her hair
putting on her robe
and house shoes
descending the stairs
she lies on the couch
facing the front window
with blankets piled high
while I finish my writing
after some time
I ask her,
“Are you ready for
breakfast”
she responding,
blissfully,
“No, I love the silence,
I love this place”
then, after breakfast,
she strolls through the house,
as if in some distant grand villa,
saying, “I love coming here”
morning, at home,
together, starting
another magical day
of demands and surprises
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
November 13, 2021
Author’s note: Some
reflections on caring for
a loved one with Alzheimers.
photos by author
poem: a morning in the autumn of our golden years approaching our 50th. anniversary
poem: a morning in the autumn of
our golden years approaching our
50th. anniversary mornings start slow at our house;
after sleeping through the night
there are all the usual questions
reorienting her for another day
fixing her hair, makeup, and dressing,
I get ready straightening behind us
beaming up at me, this lovely visage of
my wife in our golden years together
the beauty life has to offer;
accepting, healing, loving always united together
together, grateful for what we know
and the mystery that remains
November 3, 2021 photos by author Author’s note: Cathey and I celebrate
our 50 years of marriage this month
on November 14, 2021. Our golden
anniversary.
our golden years approaching our
50th. anniversary mornings start slow at our house;
after sleeping through the night
there are all the usual questions
reorienting her for another day
then preparing our breakfast and eating,
fixing her hair, makeup, and dressing,
I get ready straightening behind us
and now sitting in the blue velvet chair
beaming up at me, this lovely visage of
my wife in our golden years together
together meeting every challenge,
the beauty life has to offer;
accepting, healing, loving always united together
now in the autumn of life, approaching
together, grateful for what we know
and the mystery that remains
Herb Stone
November 3, 2021 photos by author Author’s note: Cathey and I celebrate
our 50 years of marriage this month
on November 14, 2021. Our golden
anniversary.
poem: the spiritual renaissance will not be social media-lized
poem: the spiritual renaissance
will not be social media-lized
will not be social media-lized
the spiritual renaissance
will not be social-media-lized,
televised, publicized,
or evangelized
the renaissance will occur
in the consciousness of humans,
in their mutual relationships,
together in authentic communities
preparing, the mind in revolt
questions everything
we have been taught
by the oppressive, dominant culture
practicing, turning within and opening
to the Dharma, the Universal Truth,
as expressed through one’s True Self,
one is transformed and transforming
participating, our hearts open to Love,
no fear, no fences, no fooling,
eschewing power over control of others,
uniting together as One
personal and collective consciousness
evolving to the Omega Point,
coalescing into neighborly communities,
walking one another home in True Belonging
spiritual and human,
as above, so below,
biosphere, noosphere,
Cosmic consciousness, mystical union
Alpha and OmegaTat Tvam Asi, Thou Art That
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 30, 2021
image unattributed
Author’s note: The poem’s title is a play upon Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken word poem: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Scott-Heron was a soul and jazz poet, musician, and
author (1949-2011). The Omega Point is the name given by Pierre Tielhard de Chardin,
a Catholic priest and anthropologist (1881-1951), to the evolution of life in which
consciousness reaches a singularity event and we shift from a planet of biological life forms
to a planet of higher consciousness.)
quote: “….only true ‘kinship’….can help us now.”
quote: authentic inner transformation must be outwardly manifested in communities of fellowship
poem: healing heaven and earth
poem: healing heaven and earth
living our lives
waiting for a magic pass
to a magic kingdom
is wasting our breath
there is no magic pass
to the self truth
of True Self
and it’s Healing
there is no magic pass
to the relational mutuality
of Authentic Community
and Coming Home
there is no magic pass
to the Higher Consciousness
of Universal Truth
and it’s Cosmic Being
there is no magic pass
to the Radical Grace and Love
of the New Way
and New Life
only through grace, contemplation,
awareness, intent, will, and action
are we personally transformed
and collectively actualized
only rigorous preparation
and tenacious practice
will render us ready to participate
in Heaven and Earth Here and Now
when all things are considered
with Radical Grace and Love
Heaven and Earth
are one
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 14, 2021
art images:
Native American Women,
unattributed
On the Mountain Top,
Kevin A. Williams,
Healing the Earth,
Micki Mueller
Author’s note: The last stanza is
a paraphrase of Hui Shih who
wrote: “When all things be
considered with love, heaven
and earth are one body for me.”
poem: sweet dreams of her youth
poem: sweet dreams of her youth
in her dreams, she is the young woman,
living at home with her parents
and ten siblings,
on the farm, at the beginning
of her youthful life’s passions
and her long successful career
now well into retirement
one of three surviving siblings
in her second half of life
living in a time of pandemic,
in her neurodiversity, she awakens,
with one question for me:
‘where is everybody?’
Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
September 26, 2021
photo by author
‘Cathey’s sweet dreams’
quote: “….together we shall meet the difficult challenges confronting us”
