Turning for the Essence

There is a turning
that takes place
in the heart;

a turning over of
all that is heard and seen.

The heart looks at both sides -
all sides - of a thing
and feels if it is
right;

if it is true.

Pay closer attention to
this turning than all
you only hear and see;

for it is fuller
and is made up
of more than meets
the eye and ear.

It is more about
that which does
not present itself
at first,

and in those whispers

the essence of a thing
is revealed.

Ciao!

tjm+

Quasar-Heart

In the darkness
over the surface of the lake
comes the stillness
of the warm breath
of all eternity -

the deafening silence
and the reverberating
motionlessness of

the quasar
and

imploding star.

It is in me,
in my core,

and I am
unable to
move beyond
a simple
oneness with

His handiwork.
Turning in its
presence

from a complex
separation
into a simple
awareness
of what is.

Oneness.

Ciao!

TJM+

link to photo

The Heart Turns

The heart can turn
within itself;
finding there
a place to rest -
asking itself
how to stay warm
with all it has;
seeking to gather
all it needs.

A quiet cave
with a warming
fire and
simple, babbling
brook.

The mind,
finds great
delight in flitting
here and there;
asking itself
why others
are not tending to
its needs - why
others do not
notice its
presence.

A turbulent desert
with immense
winds and
distressing, constant
change.

Where is our
help in time
of trouble?

Where can we
find the God
of Jacob?

The mind
is the ego's
tool for surviving;
the heart a gate
out of this
singular misery
and obsession.

Nityananda
struck it rich:
"The heart
is the hub
of all things,
go there
and wander".

Ciao!

TJM+

The Heart of the Mountain

There is a stream
that flows from the
heart of the mountain
to my heart.

There is a wind
that blows across
her hills into me.

I can stand here
a thousand, thousand
times

and never
feel the
less for it.

She fortifies me
as a sister does,

knowing we share
the same blood,
the same toils,
the same heart.

Knowing we hold
the pain of all
existence

in our hearts;
softening us to
the core.

She takes the
dead and dying
and gives them
a place to give
up their hold

on all they
have known
to be living.

She tenderly turns
their bones into
tendrils and roots
pushing life back
out above her
skin.

There is a stream

that flows from the

heart of the mountain

to my heart.

Ciao!  

TJM+

The Pearl of the Heart

Having come
to the water's
edge -

the farside
banks of the
great ocean
of days -

I have
shed all
that would
hold me back.

And climbing
down from the
heights of thought,

I have plunged into
the abyss of life
and searched

for the light
that would
rid me of
all darkness.

Hidden
deep
within the
depths of the sea

I found a shell
that was hard to
open -

my heart has
been made known -

its beauty
revealed with
the flash
of a blade.

O blessed
love,
O divine glory

the silent peace
that glows from
this jewel

has taken me across
the expanse of
days

and has enlivened
my being.

Stillness
covers me as
with a blanket.

Silence cries
out and deafens me.

O holy gem;
O priceless jewel

deliver me from
my poverty

and clothe me with
your righteousness.

_____

Peace,

Tom+

Check out the Pearl of Great Price at Art by Alex

Pruning the Heart

I am pruning
the limbs of my heart
today.

I am finding the branches
that have no life,
have no ability
to support new growth,

and taking them away.

There is a fire
in my heart that will
burn their dryness.

I take these
clippings to
that place.

Throwing them
on the embers
stokes the fire
and fans the warmth.

That which is dead
will burn and glow

turning waste into
food, turning emptiness
into fullness.

When I was younger
I could carry all
of this dead wood

around with me
and feel no pain.

Today, I have
need to lighten the
load

and fuel the desires of love
and compassion.

In their removal
I am not diminished

I am enlivened.

Burn, fire burn.
Fill me with
Light and Warmth,

baptised anew with
the Spirit's flame.

_____

Peace,

Tom +

The Eye of the Needle

The conditions
of our heart
arise and fall,
arise and fall.

One moment at play with
the subtleties of gentleness
another the harshnesses
of anger.

It takes
just the right
moment -

an opening -

for us to be hungry
for grace,

to be hungry
for repentance,

and for us to
receive the mercies
of God

that are ever-pouring
through the needle's
eye

into our lives.

Eternity is
there,
streaming through the
needle's eye

will we enter in,
will we bask in its rays?

Open.

_____

Ciao!

+Tom

A Loon Cries

There is a deep sadness -
a cello in the heart -
that plays, and plays, and
plays itself out -
a river of tears
and woes
without end.

There is a note of sadness
even in the most
joyous moment.
It is all that distance. It
is the sadness of moving
away - of separation.
It is the recognition of
contraction, of making
the invisible
visible.

A loon cries and wails
its call of love across
the surface of the waters and
we, somehow, cock our heads
to the side and feel the
space open in the top
of our heart and we feel
a sad joy. The water there
is dark and the moon, the
moon is bright and full.