Mountains and Ice

Tag: fields

  • Poem – Awoke

    I awoke in the spring steeped in memories and lost dreams, standing on the shore of an unnamed lake steeped in golden light. That path I have never left empties into the fields of infinite possibilities and choices and when I am present I see you both hand in hand.

  • Poem – What Remains

    What remains shrouded in smoke behind the veil we created? What is left when the empty field clears and our eyes open? So many questions remain at the end of each day with little reprieve to find the answers. The fires build and we respond or let them burn out with no intervention. I return…

  • My religion is the open empty field

    (1) I passed through the window looking for the outside and landed back here in my mind. When did I find this scene? I have never been here before but with closed eyes I smell the trees and summer afternoon. I can easily recall sepia-toned memories of the rusted red swing set surrounded by a…

  • Dogs of Summer #3

    North to the St. Croix River we headed on a perfect grey and rainy summer morning. With just one puppy for this trip, Vinny and I quickly hiked 6.5 miles through prairie, forest, and along the river. For Vinny, the world is a buffet and she tasted all nature had to offer.

  • The Voice in the Forest

    I pass trees on either side, deeper into the forest and further form the fields, leaving one realm for another. I feel no fear of the unknown land I am nearing, and at this point there are no active thoughts of what I am leaving. I carry only the moment I am living and move…

  • Poem – Apathy

    With an apathetic look in tired eyes he turned away from the edge, hundreds of feet above the turbulent waters, and walked toward the forest, across the empty road absent of any traffic since the morning, into the cultivated fields, curiously empty, and sat next to the stone marker and finally wept.

  • Poem – Joy

    As the last snow flake and ice crystal recede into the mountains thoughts turn to what is left, the next tasks to be completed, the chores we must do to prepare the land for planting and the spring rains bringing joy to the crops and the children.

  • Poem – Last Hold

    Winter’s hold is lessening as the winter sun sinks amid rising cold and wind, a last hold on the snowy fields and forest.

  • Poem – Strings

    Moments I feel disconnected from the activity surrounding and swallowing me. The words heavy, actions sharp, the light too much to see. I want to live peacefully and cast a wide net but the fields are overgrown, the boulders too large, the obstacles too many. Those we do not know beyond what we are fed…

  • Poem – Dogs of Winter

    Afternoon sun sets quickly as the wind scatters snow and ice through the forest. Summer ponds holding ducks assume a new role and face as the moon consumes the surface. The main path follows the base of the hill winding past wetlands. Ravens assume positions in trees surrounding the open field. The dogs of winter…

  • Poem – Boundaries and Borders That We Find That We Cross

    Standing at the shoreline I awake when the sun peaks over the horizon and the waves crawl across frozen rock and cover my feet. I do not know how long I have been here at this border between the land and the sea. I have vague recollections of why I am here. You see, years…

  • Poem – Color and Sound

    The last orange highlights sink into the horizon. Thin grey clouds float across light blue sky. Red-winged blackbirds continue conversations. Across the fields and wetlands lawn-mowers cut through deep green grass. The calendar tells me it is June and with eyes closed I hear summer but this evening has settled for October.

  • Poem – From the Marathon

    The poem “From the Marathon” from the reading on 05/04/14. This piece is part of a larger work titled “Marathon Through Open Fields”. I awoke running through snowy fields, the bison lumbering with frozen noses and hanging breath the autumn wheat dusted with snow, weighed down from ice pellets they do not budge when I…

  • Poem – One Truth

    The poem “One Truth” from the reading on 05/04/14. The rain filled dharma is still dharma. Rain falls in fields of white snow. If the snow is one truth, what happens when the snow melts what happens to the truth? It becomes the earth. No matter the state of being the state of mind the…

  • Book – Not answers, but where to look

    The one single book that has helped me to focus, let go, and where to find the answers is “Cultivating the Empty Field” by Zen Master Hongzhi. This was recommended years ago by Hanakia Zedek, and along with his friendship, has truly been life changing.