Category Archives: Spirit

poem: a season of loss

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

			
						

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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!



















					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
an Advent poem: making ready (what comes before)

			
						

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an Advent poem:


making ready

(what comes before)


sitting in the pre-dawn

darkness of this spiritually

transformative season








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.








art image ‘O Root’ by Sister Ansgar Holmberg





					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

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

			
						

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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


























No photo description available.



















































					

		
		
	


				
					
	

				
					
	

		

						
haiku: autumn’s winds and lover’s whispers

			
						

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haiku: autumn’s winds


and lover’s whispers








wind in the red oak leaves

on the bridge crossing the creek

whispers sweet nothingsHerb Stone

here&now working poetry

November 10, 2022


video by author

“Love Is In The Air”


turn on sound











					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
poem: her morning reverie

			
						

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poem: her morning reverie


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



					

		
		
	


				
					
	

		

						
poem: conscious aging, spiritual foresight, perennial wisdom

			
						

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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: an elder’s perspective on time and space

			
						

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poem: an elder’s perspective

on time and space


thinking of the past is useless

unless it informs the present




always going for the gust

is a fool’s dream


worrying for tomorrow

a thief in the night


thus taking more time

mindfully present here and now










with loved ones, dear friends,

soul mates, and witnesses


wherever you go, there you are

you will find me there


covering less ground somewhere

between disengaged and belonging


close to home

Homeward bound








Herb Stone






here&now working poetry

October 27, 2022




author’s note: My reflection on aging








was sparked after reading Thomas Merton’s


quote, “Take more time, cover less ground.”


John Kabat- Zinn is reflected in a book title


of his, “Wherever You Go, There You Are.”


And Ram Dass’ iconic words, “Be Here Now”


from his book by the same title is


represented in the poem. Merton, a Catholic


monk; Kabat-Zinn, a biomedical scientist


influenced by Buddhism; and Ram Dass,


a Harvard social psychology research professor who became


a disciple of Hindu guru Neem Karoli Baba.


These and others have been my teachers from


whom I have learned about living, aging, and dying.


I have tried to be a good student and continue to learn.






photo by author ‘On the Front Stoop’