One Thousand

We are all drawn to the great storm
the immeasurable sea
the endless dream.

We all have a story that makes us clench
with questions, we may or may not understand.

We are all revolving around some hope.
Hope for what?
I can hardly say.

Perhaps we want to stand on a mountaintop
in the cool rain. That's all,
just to feel refreshed.

The soft ground, grass earth beneath our feet.
Maybe there's a drumbeat in the back ground,
and sisters around me dancing.

I dance with them, look down and see
a four leafed clover. I stretch down to reach for it,
like a ballet dancer honoring her muse.

I'm not sure what this means.
I give it to my friend in the hopes that we'll
always have this kindred connection.

Spirits drawn together should stay together,
family in this lifetime or any lifetime is priceless.

Only the wind on this cool day
carrying my fears away is comparable.

I look around and see a wooden cross. A fire
emerges, and I am on the top of the mountain.
This is all I want. This is all I'll ever want.

The rest is superfluous, a dream that comes
and goes so easily, so quickly.
This stays in my heart like a still blade,
a sword that paves my way through the unknown
and keeps me safe through a thousand storms.

Can you imagine one thousand of anything?

One thousand heartbeats,
one thousand rainbows
one thousand dreams.

some crushed, some lived,
some explained in a strange dialogue.

Bite a piece off and chew it one thousand times.
You'll know it then.

One thousand sunrises
one thousand poems said to lovers

one thousand scars,
that you can barely heal from
that you can barely stand.

Time changes things but no amount
of beauty takes them from your memory.

Beauty only wakes you startled
to find the sun shining.

You reluctantly emerge.

You are handsome, still enduring,
saved only for your elegance.

Somehow you've managed to learn.

One thousand drums beating at once.

Finally, you're alive.

The great release of passion like thunderstorms,
bonfires, all that is good about night and day.

This is the dream you will remember.

One thousand stolen kisses,
soft and sweet,
harmony and honey,
warmth and trust

A song from your heart,
A remembrance of you innocence,
A reminder that all things come
to the patient and lighthearted.

doors open to all that you've waited for.

One thousand delays.

The traffic of your blood-stream,
You want to move but can't.

That's agony.

The table is set, the guests arrive only in your mind.
You eat long after the hunger has crashed and fallen
and pulled you under and around again
to leave you stranded alone somewhere
you barely recognize.

No apologies, no way home.

One thousand halos of the moon.

Strong and resilient, like your heart.

Finally you can breath beneath this light,
Years of holding this in and finally a release.

The magic within you emerges and suddenly
you know everything. You always knew everything.
You always knew you did.

The difference now is that your tragic confidence
has no power under this light.
Only your truth is seen.
And the voice, the word
that you speak moves mountains.

You stand deeply rooted, soaking up the light
and changing the world.

One thousand radiant moments,
diamonds whether polished or not sing at all hours

One thousands years have past in hopes for these moments.

One thousand of anything will make you feel
and that's all we ever really need to do.

One thousand waves crashing,
one thousand hearts beating,
one thousand questions answered.

It all belongs to you.
It all awakens your world.
It all uncovers your truth--
bloody, heroic, desperate,
alone, overwhelmed, expanded
as big and as bright as one can imagine.

One thousand lives changed,
One thousand eyes opened,
One thousand feet walking,
to the same destination,
to a better world built by
one thousand hands strong, yours, surrounded
by reflections you have created.

Whatever your understanding,
you have as many chances as you can imagine to create
one thousand times, then one thousands times again
over again then again and again.

Until you awaken to the one unifying moment
that is all there ever was and all there ever is.
It knows no number to count, nor can see
the history of all the things you've believed in.

One thousand cycles,
one thousand revolutions,
one thousand systems.

created, destroyed, invented,
manifested, dreamed, crushed,
desired, felt, believed, loved
again and again and again.

Yet in spite of the many times,
the many lives, the many moments,
there is only one. And we are as close
and as free to experience, know and
understand it as we'll ever be,
right here and right now.

I can't tell you how many times I've cried
just to know who I really am.

One thousand times and one thousand times again.

And the bliss is just the way it is,
And the way it will always be.

Here I am. And here you are.
Here we are, one and all.

One thousand memories, beaten and praised,
diffuse, just for this one, open and wide.

One thousand endings,
one thousand sad endings,
one thousand celebrations,
one thousand good days,
one thousand awakenings and
one, here and now.

Us together, honest and vulnerable.

written, 9/11/11

I remember the loss of this day 10 years ago. I pray for the healing of America, in all regards. I pray for change. I pray for truth.