Where I've Been...

Unknown Artist

It’s the first day of fall. Yes, it really is! And though I’ve been back from my summer break for a while, now, I haven’t been back to my blogs. Truth be told, I was aching for an extended separation from technology. So, I took one. I’ve been doing the bare minimum, in that respect, i.e., sending and responding to important emails, taking care of educational and professional needs, and other such things.

On the personal end, I’ve just been so beautifully inside my world… so embedded in the realness of it. It’s almost as if I’ve been rediscovering the world I live inside… and the world that lives inside me. That’s not to suggest that these two worlds are separate from one another. They’re not. And so, I’ve been reconnecting with myself… and with my world. What a delicious dance it’s been!

How spiritually massaging it was to distance myself from my everyday existence, and take a break, for a while… only to return to that existence with freshly etched dreams and expectations. But, there’s just so much to do! So, while my break is truly over, I continue to inch my way back into all of the usual and habitual activities I like to engage. My coursework. My clients. My clinical papers. My students. And, a research study. But then, there’s room for pockets of free time, as well. There must be…

And so, on this first day of Fall, 2013:

I stop and watch the dust in the air swirl around… and settle.

I observe the leaves as they morph from green to gold.

I feel the cool nip of the morning air against my arms.

I smell fall... and winter in its trail.

I find pockets of empty space... and here I rest.

I allow the empty space to remain… empty.

I sit inside myself… and stay… for a spell.

I write… and write… and write some more.

I breathe… and breathe… and breathe some more.

I recline… inside the unknown.

I open myself up to the moment that is here… and now.

I lean into the enchantment this moment delivers… and it leans into me.

I am in this moment.

I... am... this moment.

As the ever inspiring and ever stirring poet, Mark Strand, once wrote:

Each moment is a place you’ve never been.

Now, that’s a truth!

Oh, and by the way… it’s lovely to be back!

Now, that’s another truth! :-)

Temple

Overflow, Andrew Wyeth

Hold tight to me now, for

You remain you, My Heart.

And I? I remain unchanged.

The arc of the flesh glows emerald.

The surging breath pumps amber.

For you, My Heart, I sing

A song entwined in healing.

But, then… what song isn’t

A search for a cure?

I grasp for images, dressing them

With my humid fingerprints.

I sweep my gaze across the bare window.

Where am I? What do I want?

This Here is mine.

I fill my mouth with the nurture of it.

In a distant Here,

A woman waits, watching the clock.

Which do you prefer? She says.

The past, or the future?

I want to ask,

Don’t I have another choice?

Ancient prayers still harbor powers.

Carry me across the river.

I open the doors to you,

My Temple.

I breathe my prayers for

Earth. Air. Sky.

Carry me…

What will I do once I've received?

Via Somniorum

Viaggio, Gianni de Conno

This, too, was a dream:

the eyeless grasp of limbs

to the beckoning window frame

the alchemy of finding and

grounding the unexplored

our bellies like fluttering moths

our palms drunken with vision

your breath all over my shoulders

my teeth all over your spine

the crossing of

squares of solitude

the dancing of

lanterns on water

the . . . oh, but

i no longer know what to say

without betraying myself

whose poetries are these that

hover above this canyon of light?

i’ll leave my sighs

at the doorstep, my love

i’ll fall in love with you

just one gasp more

i am filled with arrows

not suffering, my love

but refuge

not blood

nor wound

nor scar, my love

but delivery

not . . . must i say more?

whose poetries are these?

let my voice rest inside

the coils of this insolent silence

but know this . . .

i cannot turn away from you

so many anchors leap from your eyes

i seek you inside the as yet unwitnessed

the ink glistens at the tip of the pen

the dream swims at the lip of desire

whose poetries…?

my mouth will never desert this page

"The Dancer" is Published!

It feels like eons since I last announced the publication of a short story or poem. It’s no surprise, really. Lately, my writing has centered around proposals for research studies, literature reviews, and clinical papers. That’s not to say I haven’t been creative writing (hey… clinical papers are creative, too!). I have been… really… I have. Trying to get through doctoral studies without having a creative outlet would be insane… and I don’t want to go that route, for sure! On the other hand, writing a poem, short story, or piece of creative non-fiction is one thing. Having it published is quite another.

Long story short…

I am honored to announce the publication of my short story, “The Dancer,” in the ever-beautiful and ever-intriguing Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art, and Thought. This illustrious journal features narratives of subjective cultural experiences, and “The Dancer” is just that! It is a story of somatic experience, existential meaning, spirituality, and holism. It is a story of beauty beyond the physical… and faith beyond reason. It is a story of transcendence. It is a story of immortality. It is a story of Egypt. It is a story of love.

I am proud to say that this is not my first publication in Yellow Medicine Review. My short story, “Zar,” was published in the Fall 2011 edition. I would also like to say that, time allowing, I plan to write more material for future publication in this delightful journal.

The ravishingly stunning Spring 2013 paperback edition of Yellow Medicine Review, guest edited by Natalia Andrievskikh, is available for purchase from Amazon, and yes… I highly recommend it! Please do spread the word!!!