NEW: Catching my Breath

Should you fly east
as I have done from Sacramento
and are lucky enough to have a window seat,
look out
you might just find a big blue lake in the midst of the Sierra Mountains.

It always takes my breath away
to see this world I wander in from above.

Today, as I lay upon the forest floor
gazing up an immense cedar snag
A plane flies by.
It’s drone breaking up the steady sound
of the snow melt filling the creek
and the songs of a few birds going about with their lives.

One long slow breath of mine
and the plane has come and gone from sight.

Was someone watching from above?
Did they catch my breath?

NEW: Bear Trail

I never really thought about why
until today.
Why I always seem to procrastinate
until the heat of the day
to venture deep into the forest,
to follow my senses,
to seek my nourishment.

Today while wandering, I found
a deep strong bear trail.
Heavy footprints crossing the clearing
heading for the creek.
The pattern in the duff marked
clear enough for the eyes,
but not for the camera.

It’s fun to practice my Bear Walking QiGong
along their trails in the forest.
Slowing
my already slow pace
down.
Lumbering along,
shifting my gaze
from side to side,
attentive, curious.
My, my how the forest opens differently
turning and twisting,
scanning the earth for grubs.
humility enters the gaze,
presence comes with the territory.
Look! A pine seedling lifting its seed cap to the sun.
Look! A fawn darting from stillness into the shadows.

Ho! She bear! Ho! He bear! Ho! Spring cubs!
As you sense my smell trampling your well worn path to the creek,
May you sense my respect,
my gratitude for the deep pause,
and the timing of my walk
when you are napping.

Lake Tahoe Distribution begun!

What fun to travel around the lake and share the book and recieve such enthusiastic response. On the West Shore you can pick up a copy at Sunnyside Market, Tahoe Bread Co.
In Truckee you can find copies at the Bookshelf at Hooligan Rocks, For Goodness Sake and Truckee Book and Bean. Incline Village its at The Potlatch. Tahoe City in the Bookshelf at the Bootworks Mall. Lots of other locations are waiting for the season to start, so I'll have a longer list shortly!

No Turning Back

There’s no turning back a creek.
Hanging on to the known
is too much struggle.
Sitting on the bank
is mere sightseeing.
Get out into the current and flow.

What is Enough?

Tell me how it happens,
magnificent one,
who stretches
into the golden light above the creek.

Tell me how you can stand
so full
when under you flows
a rush of water and foam,
rock and debris.

The very water that feeds you
washes away
the earth from your roots.
You grab onto the big boulders
while the soil
full of your food travels on.

Every other tree I can see
greets the earth with a full embrace.
Your tether is tenuous,
yet it must be enough.

What is enough
in this swiftly flowing world?

How much security beneath our feet
do we really need
while we reach for our place
in the sun?

Pollination

I move,
like the butterfly along the creek,

Flitting from spot to spot,
kissing "this" with my attention
and then "that."

Hovering, I feel the messages
on the hot summer breeze,
Drawing me
through some instinctual force
from bloom to bloom,
from rock to tree,
from shade to sun,
from fern to flower.

'Tis I who am being pollinated this time.

Spiral Legacy

The spiral log that sang straight
into my heart
is ashes now,
released into the fresh clean air
of the mountains,
released into poems,
released into memory.

The last time I visited
I lay inside thinking,
what a coffin this would make.
And now
I hold only ash
and one charred segment of spiral
that carries me up the creek
to find others of her vintage.

Together, we visit
within the temporary,
spiraling our way into infinity.