poem: a season of loss

Posted on January 27, 2023 by Herb Stone

poem: a season of loss

feeling the deep sting of loss

in this dark, wet, cold,

season of mid-winter

and yet, what personal hubris of one’s self

would tell someone to worry about the comfort

and safety of their own ego

only in the dark night of the soul

are we liberated from old attachments

and compulsions so that we love more freely

only with suffering can we

awaken to the deepest

compassion and wisdom of life eternal

and only in healing can one

know the complimentary, both/and,

unitive, full process of suffering

yes, here and now in the second half of life,

it is time to put away our childish ways,

and spiritually discern our falling upward

Herb Stone

here&now working poetry

January 27, 2023

photo by author “Home”

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 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: life, dream, prophetic, and spiritual signs of aging

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Herb Stone

poem: life, dream, prophetic,
and spiritual signs of aging

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: “maybe not being on the way is also the way”

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Herb Stone

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

poem: conscious aging, spiritual foresight, perennial wisdom

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Herb Stone

poem: conscious aging,
spiritual foresight,
perennial wisdommindfully present
flowing in the
universal rhythms
of the Cosmos
here and now

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

“Full Circle”

poem: initiation

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Herb Stone

poem: initiation

witnessing life’s tension
with both/and mind,
opening to the complementary
experiencing the interconnectedness
of all things (oneing),
the initiated adult
in the the second half of life emerges
from their ego’s protective shell
of small self becoming
an invitational presence
of mutuality and belonging
here and now in the
beloved community