Time Lapse 4D

I sat sinking into my theater seat, watching 

Andy pull away, heading towards his unknown future. 

He was leaving behind his toys. 

Tears ran down my cheeks. 

My son, who will become a “teen” in a few weeks was leaning forward in his seat, and sniffling. 

He had tears, too. 

I doubt that his tears were generated from the same depths of the cask that mine might have been, but they were of the same vintage. 

I went to Toy Story 3D on Father’s Day. 

Time spent with my son – priceless. 

How was I supposed to know that the story was for me? 

Yes, I am a believer that we are prompted to move through life by some universal mysterious force that pulls us towards our highest good, but that doesn’t mean that I have any idea what is going to happen when it happens. 

Whammo! What was that? 

The apparent end of the movie wasn’t the first time that tears streamed down my cheeks. 

Without spoiling your own adventure (as if that were possible – see above paragraph), seeing the joining of gratitude for each other's contributions to each other's life while facing imminent destruction had to be a “call back” to days of yore when friendships were deeper than Facebook, Twitter, and e-mails.

I’m not saying that we aren’t connecting this way – just that once again, perhaps the wine that is deeper in the vat is the best. 

My son turned to me as the credits rolled, his cheeks still marked by the path of his tears, and said, 

“They did it together”. 

Maybe we were crying over the same thing. 

Maybe it just has to do with “togetherness”, unity, open caring. 

What am I “fathering” in my world?

The Fisherman

The Fisherman 

 The man was not unlike himself 

Standing, talking, gesturing, 

Speaking of things already known, 

Awakening them, though, 

As if he had thrown a line around them, 

Dragging them to the surface to be looked at – 

Save the treasures, discard the rest. 

"What more? What next?" 

There was an answer in the net he cast – 

It flopped like a fish, begging selection. 

"Choice!" 

In the myriad of choice, 

Strewn across his mind 

Like the stars in the night sky, 

He had only to reach out and pluck one, 

Any one, 

And swallow it whole. 

Is that what the man said? 

Or was that what he had heard? 

And is there any difference? 

"Just listen" – 

The voice called to him, 

And hearing, he was moved - 

Light across the dark. 

"I believe in all that has never yet been spoken. 

I want to free what waits within me so that what no one has dared to wish for may for once spring clear without my contriving. 

If this is arrogant, God, forgive me, but this is what I need to say.

May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back, the way it is with children. 

Then in these swelling and ebbing currents, these deepening tides moving out, returning, 

I will sing you as no one ever has, streaming through widening channels into the open sea. 

~ Ranier Maria Rilke ~

Moment's Notice

A cool breeze swept the sidewalk 

And rushed by them. 

Intuitively, he reached an arm around her 

Drawing her body close. 

There was instant warmth and ease – 

A completeness that radiated from within 

And spread out over everything in sight. 

The smile was an expression of this, 

Shared in a moment 

And let loose 

Upon the unsuspecting people they passed, 

Changing the entire world in a glance. 

‘This is it,’ he mused, ‘This is all I desire – 

Just this moment and nothing else. 

There is nothing that has to be done; 

There is no past and no need for future – 

No further expectation; 

No explanation.' 

The breeze continued its journey 

Wrapping people’s jackets tighter around them, 

But he felt his open 

As though there was no need for protection, 

Inner warmth overpowering 

Any idea of cold or winter 

Or of any other time than this. 

"Yes, this is My love letter to you. 

The ink on the envelope melts. 

We can no longer distinguish 

The name of the Sender or the name of 

the Responder because there is no two, only 

The One and the Same. 

There is only One of Us to call out, 

And the same One of Us to answer!" 

~Gloria Wendroff, Heavenletters

Dreamscape

Dreamscape 

There were people in my dream this morning, 

Familiar and new. 

As I slowly woke to the day 

My awareness struggled 

To sustain the images of the dream 

Against the sunlight. 

A new dream moved into place. 

There were people in this dream of morning, 

Familiar and new. 

Slowly I moved through the routine, 

My awareness struggling 

To remain in the image of the moment 

To not project Past and future, time and place. 

There were people in my dream of evening, 

Familiar and new. 

We watched each other, speaking, 

Aware of the struggle 

To maintain conversation 

In the illusion 

Of the dream that we shared. 

There were people in my dream of sleeping, 

Familiar and new, 

Ghosts moving slowly across the screen - 

Streams of struggling 

To live against the black of night 

Images in a dream 

Of dark and light, sound and sight.

Smiling Fool 

James Dean? 

The Conversation Never Ends.

"The conversation never ends." 

The words, themselves, spoke 

Of their own infinity, 

Reaching out past hopes and dreams 

And somehow touching 

A world yet unmade. 

"The conversation never ends." 

The words bounced off the boundaries 

Of their friendship 

Where many things were left unsaid- 

Out of season 

In a world of reason. 

"The conversation never ends." 

Words flowed easily back and forth, 

Sketching the imaginary, 

Telling a story or two, 

Laughter skating on the surface 

Of the unspoken. 

"The conversation never ends." 

What then is destiny? 

When do words no longer suffice 

To fill the gap "between," 

What then does this Conversation mean? 

"The conversation never ends." 

"In all the seeming time and place 

In every face I choose to see, to hear, to speak, 

Every moment of every life 

Is this – a kiss. 

There is only one journey: 

Going inside yourself."

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Rolling Wonder

It was odd, he thought 

That as often as not, 

In conversation, he fiddled and fought, 

He pushed and pulled, he’d twist and cajole, 

Suggest and test, infer and refer, 

He’d name and game and deny the same, 

For what? 

Insane! He deigned, 

For what will remain 

When all is dust, including his brain, 

No good nor bad, no heaven and earth 

No body to poke, no blowing smoke, 

No talk to walk, no walk to talk, 

Nothing to gain? 

Is it there? 

He looked, 

In many a book, 

In relationship, he’d give; he took; 

He lived and learned, he crashed and burned, 

He lost and found, he met the ground, 

He’d sing and sigh and wonder why his god 

Forsook? 

And then, he saw, 

In the midst of it all, 

Submerged within, 

In wonder and awe, 

A piece of the puzzle, a hint, a clue, 

An ‘other’ perspective, a different view, 

A glimmer, a shimmer of love so true – 

God’s call? 

This love, he knew, 

Went through and through, 

In all situations, it’d lead him, too. 

It meant forgiveness; it sent a dove; 

It kneeled and healed in an incredible field 

Of energy and light, of softness and might, 

Imbued. 

And so, he loved, 

And everything changed! 

Synchronization was all that remained! 

No judge and no jury, no wind, no fury, 

In peace and light, there was no need to fight, 

No needs, no deeds, no ‘net proceeds’ – 

Surrender! 

Just love, he said, 

It’s all in your head! 

In eternity, you’ll never be dead! 

No day, no night, no end in sight, 

Count it all joy! 

Be girls and boys! 

Take nothing serious; just get delirious! 

It’s inbred! 

This world, he’d preach, 

Is just here to teach, 

It’s all an illusion, no conclusion to reach, 

There’s nothing to do, and nothing so true, 

As what is carried within each of you! 

So love, and love, and once again, love! 

He beseeched. 

 And then, he remembered, 

This, too, was numbered, 

‘Synchro-destination’ pulled all rugs from under. 

Relinquish, relent, no need to repent – 

Forgive and forget, wherever he went, 

No expectation, no desire, no outcome, 

Just “I Am.” 

In Spirit, he found, 

Love all around, 

Absolutely, in sky and in ground, 

In people, in places, in everyone’s faces, 

The truth of love beyond even good graces, 

It shone, full-blown, allowed death no more traces, 

It abounds! 

And then, no thought, 

Not even ‘Why not?’ 

One destination is all of our lot, 

Eternal bliss is impossible to miss! 

So hug and laugh, and dance, and kiss! 

The journey’s over, the time is this 

We’ve got! 

"Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, 

there is one elementary truth-

That the moment one definitely commits oneself, 

Then Providence moves, too." 

~Goethe