Honey
Yummy honey
Local bees
In my tummy
Yes please
What’s in my tummy?
The honey or the bees?
Or the whole of the cosmos?
What a squeeze!
(C) Zoë Xanadu 2021
And now
Presenting:
This moment
Welcome to your appointment with life
Thank yourself for making time
in your busy schedule
to be available to notice
your breath
coming into your body
and leaving your body
Your belly rising
Your belly falling
Your mind slowing
Your tension releasing
Your heart opening
Your shoulders falling
Your smile relaxing
Your eyes softening
Your hair growing
Your forehead clearing
Your organs rejoicing
Your freedom expanding
Breath coming in
Breath flowing out
Yes
How lovely
Looking deeply into things
Opening your perception up to the beauty and miraculous perfection all around you
Remembering your innate intelligence
Savouring the elegance of life
And your self as part of the miracle
Here you are
Right here
Right now
Breathing
Breathing
Calm
Smiling
Present
Wonderful
Worthy
Welcome
You are as perfect as that leaf
That shell
That star
That sunrise
That breeze
You are all of these things
With gratitude and love
You belong
Ancient
gnarly
filled with seasons
my stories and experiences
infuse me
travel with me
make me who I am...
All things I see, touch, do and feel
come through me and are transmuted
gnarly old me
and all the things I've witnessed
I know that I'm
old as rain
and
fresh as morning dew
just part of something
going along
letting go with easeful acceptance
inhaling what changes the seasons bring
connected,
yet self-contained
aware of the value of the precious glimmers
brought about by togetherness
ok in my solitude
seeing the same stardust in you
as I know is in me
see
breathe
sleep
my business is to simply be
allowing my experiences to wash over me like the light of dawn
gently, transiently
holding on with intentional love
to the aspects that nourish me
releasing with gratitude
the aspects that teach me
celebrating my ancestry,
descendant that I am
of the women they didn't burn
solid,
yet flexible
and permeable
open to the return to myself
of the love that I have released to the universe
Copyright 2021
“Old as rain and fresh as morning dew” is from fierce Australian feminist poet, playwright, and novelist Dorothy Hewett and is part of one of the poems in her play The Chapel Perilous
I honour her.
Opti-mist
This magic mist
of Daybreak
Can I store some in my lungs
and breathe it out
much later on
when I need to remember
this perfect purity?
When I am still in bed
The way I feel
the weight of the world
and all its things
is different
Later,
When I’m up,
The support of recent sleep
and lovely sheets
and so many velvet cushions
will have receded
The replenishment I feel at dawn
will have depleted
And the hope I rely on
to carry on believing
that I can put all the clean washing away
or smash the patriarchy
will need a recharge
And so then,
in that moment of need,
if I can breathe
into my depth
and exhale
some of this early morning magic
I might be able to remember
to go gently.
Copyright 2021
Tea and sunrise
Magpies stomping on the roof
Rustling sounds in the garden
different
to the nocturnal rustlings
bolder
shadows of the morning walkers
diligent silhouettes
passing by my window
the dusty film makes it all seem
so romantic
lace hanging haphazardly
like a renaissance era opera dancer
backstage
in a state of delicious dishevelment
limbs everywhere
Dogs pull their humans
eager to know what news this day brings
so easily sated
by the daily miracle
of the sun remembering to rise
What further delight
would any sane person
seek to seek?
Stay here in this
the gold of highest value
hear the praises
sung by those with wings
whose freedom of flight
allows the broadest view from above
who still choose
to come home to roost
They will always remind me
that to be near a tree
is all I need
To breathe the freshness
of the new day
in through my newest leaves
down to my deepest roots
And to feel my expansion
My belonging
My arrival home
In every direction
as I exhale
Dwelling in the ultimate dimension
Grateful for this breath
Copyright 2021
Citizens of the Earth
I would like to offer more from Love Letter to the Earth (2018, Parallax Press) this week.“ Citizens of the Earth
We tend to think of human beings as falling into two groups: those who are similar to us, and those who are different. We allow political boundaries to obscure our interconnectedness. What we often refer to as patriotism is actually a barrier that prevents us from seeing that we’re all children of the same mother. Every calls its nation a motherland or a fatherland. Every country tries to show how it loves its mother. But in doing so, each country is contributing to the destruction of our larger mother, our collective mother, the Earth. In focusing on our human-made boundaries, we forget that we are co-responsible for the whole planet.When we see that we are all children of the same mother, we will naturally want to cultivate and strengthen our sense of being part of one large family. When we speak of protecting our planet, we often speak of finding new technologies. But without real community, technology may be even more destructive than constructive. Real community, built with our practice of mindfulness, enables us to act together. When we can communicate with ourselves and the Earth, we can communicate with ourselves more easily.”A pause for breath here, and contemplation on how we strengthen our own practice of communicating with ourselves and the Earth, and how valuable it is to water the seeds of this practice as often as we can.A moment too, to make acknowledgement in the season of NAIDOC celebrations here in Australia, of the wisdom in Aboriginal culture of deep respect for the Earth that was practised throughout this land for many thousands of years.Thay continues: “Every one of us, regardless of nationality or religious faith, can experience a feeling of admiration and love when we see the beauty of the Earth and the beauty of the cosmos. This feeling of love and admiration has the power to unite the citizens of the Earth and remove all separation and discrimination. Caring about the environment is not an obligation, but a matter of personal and collective happiness and survival. We will survive and thrive together with our Mother Earth, or we will not survive at all.” (pp 81-83).I find it so helpful, in diluting the despair that is surrounding our collective thinking about the climate crisis, to touch deeply the word of Thay here, about how our courage and strength in staying with the practice of feeling love and admiration for the beauty of the Earth and cosmos can contribute to our survival and thriving.Staying in gratitude, when we notice the wonders of our precious planet, and making our daily choices based on what is best for our Mother Earth are powerful things that we can all do in our daily lives that make important contributions towards our happiness and wellbeing as one big human family.A bow in gratitude to you for all that you do to preserve peace and love,
Joyful Mindfulness of the HeartA Ghandi-Mandela Peace Prize – Inaugural recipient, guess who?
Mindful Walking
“I know the Earth is my mother; a great living being. I vow to protect the Earth, and the Earth protects me.”
This invitation by Thay to infuse our walking with loving mindfulness is perfect as the weeks of rain clear and we may be walking more than we have recently. As we walk and remember our interbeing with all that we see, and notice the changes since our last walk, we can feel deep gratitude for the protection our great Mother Earth offers us, and strengthen our resolve to do what we can to preserve this precious planet.
Thay also invites us to walk with full awareness of our love for the Earth:
“Each step can express your love for the Earth. As you walk, you can say
‘I love the Earth. I am in love with the Earth.’”
“With both body and mind present as we take each step, when we are fully present, every step, placed gently, and mindfully on Mother Earth can bring us a lot of healing and happiness…
…We’re not stepping on something inanimate… in every speck of dust or grain of sand there are countless bodhisattvas… …we can be in contact through our feet with the Great Bodhisattva Mother Earth.
‘With each step, I come home to the Earth.
With each step, I return to my source.
With each step, I take refuge in Mother Earth.’ “
This morning, I held 2 gazaneas, 3 buttercups, my child’s hat, her umbrella that she has become accustomed to bringing, the dog lead, and a small Koala. I was so grateful that she had decided against also bringing her A2 sized laminated alphabet chart in the walk as she’d contemplated, as I did what I could to incorporate the essence of this beautiful practice into my daily life.
How do you enjoy the kissing our Mother Earth with imprints of reverence and gratitude as you walk?
These quotations are from “Love Letter to The Earth” but I can’t check the date of publication as darling Miss Two is ‘reading’ it right now in this wonderful moment.
