Friday, June 5, 2026

Two right hands

Two right hands
 
When I was a kid about eight years old
I had a wreck on my bike. 
 
My head hit the sidewalk
hard enough to knock me out. 
 
I woke up after a few moments
seeing two street signs looming above me.
 
I reached out to determine
by touch which one was real
 
and found that I had two right hands.
Illusion is illusive (and elusive)
 
because it is ubiquitous, blending
imperceptibly into every backdrop
 
because the backdrop is also illusion
and the viewer of illusion is illusion
 
and each knothole view of illusion is also illusion.
We can never climb outside of it
 
to see it for what it is, just as we can never climb
outside of ourselves to know Who we really are.
 
O child of God, Meher said that it is so very hard
to find that which has never been lost.
  

    

(Painting by Thom Fortson)   



     
 

Wednesday, June 3, 2026

This old horse

This old horse
 
Looking out my window.  So strange!
People going about their business,
 
all the while still aslumber in their bunks.
Everybody wants to go to heaven
 
(goes the old joke), but nobody wants to die.
I am a fortunate man.  I’ve learned nothing
 
of the secret knowledge
but I know the secret exists.
 
I may not know what Truth is
but I’m learning what Truth is not,
 
seeing Illusion as Illusion
and counting my blessings accordingly.
 
This old horse has gotten a whiff
of the barn and is on his way home.
 
O child of God, are you the horse or the rider?
Or, are you the scent that is summoning you home?




Of ignorance and faith (The Great Mystery)

Of ignorance and faith   (The Great Mystery)
 
Poetry has found its way back to me
after a long absence
 
and I am grateful to again be so trusted. 
Poetry that validates my faith 
 
and rewards my devotion;
a gift from the Awakener
 
in this lifelong dream, reaching me
intimately now in my need.
 
O child of God, compose yet another poem
of ignorance and faith concerning
 
your Beloved and the Great Mystery
which has so graciously intervened in your life. 


Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Poem about a mystery

Poem about a mystery
 
I’ve been unduly busy lately,
plumbing the ocean with a six foot pole;
 
mystified by my lack of success. 
Dutifully, I cast my bread upon the waters
 
but it hasn’t returned to me yet.
Is there any greater foolishness
 
than writing a poem about a mystery
you know nothing about?
 
I end up with a nonsense verse; not quite
gibberish, but it makes about as much sense.
 
My next one I’ll write in disappearing ink.
It’s less embarrassing that way.
 
Then I’ll drop it through the barred window
of my cell onto the street below.
 
O child, how might you judge what is worthy
if everything is provided to you by God?