"The spirit moves, but not always upward." ~Roethke<BR>

Poet,
Life is a process.
It is best
not
to stand
in its way.

What happens … happens
What is … is

Dance
with existence
like you would dance
with a lover.

Find an image
that will keep you safe, and away from the madness.

I find
the image of you
standing before me
your ocean blue
eyes locked
in a gaze
with mine,

The room-
service dishes
are scattered
around the hotel room,
and we're
making ready
to touch
each others body.

(do you remember
these times, poet?
are they as special
to you? I think of them
often)

these images
save me from this
mad, mad world, poet.

Reach within yourself
and discover
your own set of truths,
your own set of values
and ideals …

your own set of beliefs
on the movements
and the philosophies
of existence

Today teaches
how to live
tomorrow

Awaken the dance
that decides
your fate.

Awaken the wisdom
within you

Find the peace
in the silence
around you

Don't be
like those
who try to fight
their way through
that silence …

Don't be like those
who fear
that silence … and run.

There is wisdom
in that silence.

There is dance
in that silence.

There are philosophies,
and poems,
and ideas
in that silence.

And there is a strange romance
that swirls so close …

Can you feel it,
between you and the poems …
between you and the philosophies …
between you and the ideas that exist in your mind …

Dance with existence.

Hold it
like you would hold
something s*xual
in the night …
something erotic …
something forbidden …
something taboo

We have
no friends
We have
no enemies.
We have
only
teachers

Find wisdom
in whatever form it appears.

Pay attention
and understand
from the start
that there'll be
no understanding …

Understand
from the start
that spirituality
is not something separate
from your life.

It walks
hand in hand
down the path
with you.

Every moment
has two separate realities … one physical / one spiritual

Many choose to ignore the spiritual …
but ignoring the spiritual
doesn't make
the spiritual
unreal,
or distant,
or mystical

Ignoring
the spiritual
makes one shallow
and one-dimensional …

(Blows
against
existence …
blows
against
the night …
blows
against the philosophies
of night … and the dances we do
together.)

find the center
of every moment

find
the perfect circle
within
each moment

find
the perfect thought,
the perfect image,
the perfect beginning …

and then
begin.

I should close.

I'm sorry for these strange, twisting words.

The coffee shop
at the edge of the universe
is very philosophical this morning.

I'm lost
within its fog …
within its cloudy, rainy atmosphere …
within the grayness
of the painting
we all
become a part of
when we enter the coffee shop
at the edge of the universe …

I will write again soon.
SAS