Learning to  Love

Love is not the beautiful reclining woman...as I was told...

It is not the superbly muscled man on horseback... I had been sold...

but an invisible, permeating presence,

a shimmering mass of light filled particles,  making up my very essence.....

and I have said, in my own ignorance....

oh no, not me...not them...

Undeserving people, undeserving me..

but love did not listen to the whispers of my mind

instead,

simply,

loved me anyway...

and when I tripped, fell into its currents

somewhat reluctantly, allowing myself to be taken by it...

all that I ever thought I knew

about love...

drowned...

in its generosity

I began to realize that...

I had inadvertently entered its doorways

shyly peeked down its shimmering hallways...

and fallen in love,

with LOVE itself......

More bravely, then....

I have...

undertaken to explore its pathways

more boldly, begun to climb the heights of its stairways...

and in this time....

it has welcomed me,

in its kindness....helped me,

to fly.....

high..--

without so much fear of falling....

balancing still somewhat tentatively,  on the tips of its gossamer wings

it is,

to my surprise....

delighting in my company......

The Choice

The Choice

Long ago, I left the safety of the water,

fell deaf to the wisdom of my father,

discarded the sweet kisses of my lover,

and turned away from the comradeship of my brother

To wade and search upon life's murky shorelines,

called to by hawkers with neon flashing billboard signs,

drawn to their gaudy veiled booths full of choices,

intrigued by the sound of their brash laughter and noisy too loud voices

I have indeed begged there at those merchant stalls,

taken in by the sound of those hollow calls,

for a drop of love,

to fill my empty heart

for a crumb of truth

some intangible sustenance

to satisfy

the hunger of

my starving soul

And I received,

and often believed,

their plastic promises

spoken with sarcastic false omnipotence

I did drink of the bitter "healing" potions,

disguise myself in their perfumed lotions,

and I was ever as empty 

as I was before

Until, I felt the softest lulling,

of a gently river calling

the invitation

whispered invocation

to know

of what lay behind my breath

the power of this beating heart within my breast

I fell into the dampness of its love filled currents

felt them flowing 'round me

moving thru me

coming from me

the might

the height

of their massive breaking waves of joy

and it was...like that,

without a look back

I left the emptiness of that shore

and prayed to see it nevermore

For the river pulled me closer,

pulled me within itself ....deeper

as if to answer my desire with its own need

to hold my heart...my soul....indeed

with its peaceful flowing deliberation,

and infinitely patient concentration

it made its way, carrying me

into the great arms of this loving sea

Saving Secret Diamonds

We could all stay veiled with our sweet secrets..... made of gold

We can stash our precious diamonds in the deepest recesses of our hidden soul....

And think, ah yes....in this I am safe....and sound...

While the rest of humanity cries....

We can remain....alive with possibility....

but without sharing....

without telling....

holding hostage.....

all that we have realized....

While someone else tries......

We could be given, all that can ever be given....

reside in the greatest generosity....

be shown the ultimate compassion....

and keep it all....to ourselves.....inside...

Watch in silence as the brilliance of our flame dies.....

We could live, without knowing....the indestructible power...

of the miracle of our own courage...

the brilliant grace ......of our diamonds showing...

if we dared to take them out of our inner bags....

and held them up for all to see....

We could be taken by the whirlwinds....freed... as our own fire flies...

The Most Important Choice We Will Ever Make

What if each person on the face of this earth was taught a simple thing.....

to spend each day in Gratitude

What if every man, woman and child stopped raising their voices in shouts of injustice....

and instead began to sing.... the song of beauty....

What if every person understood...

that their life is precious and refused to waste it?

What if all the nameless things which live in the darkness of our minds...

were dissolved in the ocean of love, which resides in our hearts?

What if the sadness and confusion of humanity...

were surrendered to the understanding of its joy?

What if we, human beings, stood up and said “Enough !”

to the illusion of separation and chose instead to celebrate compassion?

What if all of us, every one, stopped listening to the deadened voices of so much agenda....

and began to hear the sweet melody, composed in every moment of being?

What if we refused our close association with greed and destruction,

and chose as our companions.....clarity and wisdom?

What if we refused to judge and hate each other,

became a society of peace and of tolerance ?

What if we stopping closing our eyes to beauty,

and relearned our birthright of appreciation?

What if we broke the chains of all that we have so far, been taught, and took back our freedom?

To choose those thoughts and actions that are mandated not by governments but by the humanity of our hearts ?

What if we took back our power?

And aligned ourselves with TRUTH?

What if we knew....

that these are choices, that we are capable of making?

What if we understood....

that this is indeed.....the most important choice that we will ever make?

Poem by Carolyn Jackson

Artwork by Gary Bandzmer - Boddi Design

Miracles of Living

Miracles of Living

Within my own soul,

I have heard a calling....

of the soundless voices of music, beckoning

within my own heart,

I have felt an awakening....

of such a  force of love, breaking

within my own mind,

I have known  powerful teaching.....

from wisdom's wordless silent being

from my own hands,

I have felt the touch of healing....

of transformation reshaping

in my own visions,

I have seen the lights of heaven beaming...

of the presence of infinity, weaving

And in my life,

I do know the miracle of being.....

in the gratitude that lives in this state of being

 

 

Precious Coins of Living

Oh, yes....I too have know the the loneliness of deserted islands

lain in incomprehension,

soaked in unseen brilliant sunshine,

stood numb to the stroke and knead of loving ocean tides of motion

But, the freedom of wild birds flying, has made me laugh

the stillness of their high hovering in cloudless skies,

the daring expertise in their winged rides,

the suicidal speed of their vertical dives

And the power of the wind, has moved in my soul

like a freight train toppling matchstick trees.

Whimsical stirring of a thousand fallen leaves.

Gentle scattering of the soft down of a million seeds

Oh, the laughter and squeals of children do reach me

the joyful silliness of their playing,

the exquisite simplicity in their sense of being,

the implicit trust placed in night time praying

Oh, I have danced and sung a million songs of love, of longing

felt the power of them drawing,

cried to the sweetness of their melodic calling,

abandoned myself to passionate rhythmic drumming

And I too have known the loss and the win of spectacularly ridiculous battles,

used sarcastic words for wounding,

explored senseless ways of hurting,

felt the pain of trust, turning

And, I have felt the deepest love,

a child's soft nursing at my breast,

a lover's urgent need at its crest,

the heart of silence, in which I take my rest

Yes, I have spent many of my coins of living,

a few on wasteful bouts of mourning,

but more on the appreciation of simply living.

Gifted, the treasure of an inner knowing

Written by Carolyn Jackson Innate Foundation
Watercolor Painting by Carolyn Jackson

Can you see the beauty in me....as I wish to see the beauty in you?

Can you see....

the beauty in me,

as I wish to see the beauty

in you ?

Can you can touch ...

the reality of me,

As I wish to touch the realness of you,

Beyond the bones, sinews, blood, and skin,

where the crystal clarity of a pool of essence lies?

Can you hear...

the sweetness of the melodies which play in me?

As I wish to hear the harmonies which flow from you ..

Beneath the sounds of laughter,

beyond all depth of conversation,

the notes of sound which lie beneath the sighing tones of breath?

Can you open the book of you...

as I wish to open the volume of me...

Removing the antiquated cover from the shining light of pages,

read and be read to,

the wordless story that is our beginnings and our middles and our endings....merged?

Can you dance...

as I wish, with all of my heart, to dance...

to the sway and whorl of unorchestrated movement,

created brevity of every precious different moment?

Can you hold....high...

the mirror for me,

with no ambivalence, but with all of the still strength of serenity,

as it is my deepest wish to see the truth of myself.

As I know the truth of you to be.

Can you see...

the beauty in me,

as I wish to see,

the beauty in you?

 written by Carolyn Jackson Innate Foundation

Watercolor  painting by Carolyn Jackson