Once in a while, I get stuck looking for a phrase or for a line to start and find myself dismissing possibilities in search of something captivating. This is a recipe for writer's block!  This poem came out of one such blocked moment when I finally landed on the line, "I went looking for words..." The key to writer's block is "moving away" from, dismissing lines and phrases. Hence the poem took an interesting turn with the idea of driving away from something, which led to the image of a ghost town. What kinds of ghosts live in your ghost town?  

I am often surprised by what appears on the page while writing a poem. I do not usually write anything political and I had no intention to do so with this poem. I started with the opening line and was surprised when the third and fourth stanzas raised the issue of kneeling during the National Anthem.  I would rather see players take a kneel as a peaceful way of protest than to see riots in the street. What is your take on it? 

I love early morning walks on the seashore and sometimes catch shorebirds chasing waves or seeking food in the wet sand and chill air. I watch them dash around, back and forth, seemingly at random. We may claim superiority over the animals, pointing to our big brains and human erections as proof of our claim. Yet, from another view, we see the futility of our effort and it becomes clear that we are like them. 

When we embrace the heart cracked open, we are often moved to tears for no reason, as if the dam breaks and our joy and our sorrow flows out of our eyes with almost no provocation. When we are willing to be touched by life, we come to love this one life we are given no mater how damaged or distorted it may be. This blog celebrates a weekend with Mark Nepo at the end of July, 2017.

A strange thing happens when we "drop the effort to patch up our torn and tattered lives" and settle into the life we actually live; we then have a chance to perform an amazing magic act as we begin finding beauty in our everyday life.

We often start out with goal in mind and then find our desires change, or we lose our way, or life simply redirects us. It is easy to judge ourselves negatively when we "fail" to achieve a goal or land somewhere other than intended. What if the place where we land, even though it may not be where we wished to be, was actually waiting for our arrival and bows to receive us? 

Spirit moves through us in magical ways and we never know when it will grant us an audience with the divine. Iconic images of enlightened ones offer an opportunity, but no guarantee. I have sat before spiritual images and never experienced the flash of enlightenment. Now, I look to writing and inner work to lift something up from the depths that might water the seeds of new life.