Self is the

Transcendent ever-effulgent

burning light within,

Soft as moonlight

brilliant and accepting

of everything.

Powerful, expansive and

Love in a pure form

that embraces all

and the world

and the worlds beyond.

I bow to this seed of the Divine

in mine own heart.

So sweetly present

and all encompassing.

A loving gentle glance

containing the world.

So peaceful, and profound.

All images in this blog by Terry Dorvinen 
(TerryDorvinenPhotography.com) except the 
Western Tanager and Lightning.

Doesn’t it seem

if I could sail

and be gone from this world

to only the ocean’s embrace

That soon,

my thoughts

would flow freely out

into the open sea

and my mind

would empty

and be so clear

that only the sun sparkling diamonds

would touch my sight . . .

only the cries of gulls

would reach for my memories

only the brined salt air

would burnish my lungs

until I could only breathe

and speak of the ocean.

Tides would move me

as the moon willed

and the sea creatures

would accept me as their own.

The galleons move steadily, majestically

across the sky

unburdened by the past,

carrying only the weight

of a cloud’s creation.

They’re riding low

in the water,

obscuring the mountains

and bearing to the north.

There is no stopping

this forward movement.

Time itself would have to pause

and let the wind

catch its breath.

This winter has been a time

of quietude.

The heavy snows

have kept me in

away from the ice;

an enforced solitude

that has brought me to the comfort

of peace.

Without my curious mind

craving learning,

I’ve had weeks

of no contact

and a strange

lessening of desire

for anything in the outer world.

I often sit here

by the window

in such contentment,

resting in the sweet

pleasure

of not wanting

to be anywhere else

than here.

If loving God is the only pleasure,

how have I gone

so far afield

to seek you in every avenue

but Home.

How can I be so misguided?

How can I live

each day

strangling my fragile joys

in exchange for headaches

and deadlines,

guilt, pressures,

forgetting the unbounded

glory of love

with these paltry wanderings.

Where goest my heart now?

Gazing to another illusory delight.

Only nature is true

to me these days.

The wind and fierce cold,

the sky carrying

flagships of clouds.

The buttes singing

in their steadfast manifestness.

All that is truth.

My gaze need stray no more.

Myriads of seasons and joys

bring me to this sweet afternoon

where lilacs embrace me with the extravagance

of their perfume.

Such luxury.  A hundred thousand corollas

shine with their singular expression.

The softness of one,

joined in a chorus of scent

so profoundly moving.

I hear their chant

in my bones

and taste their nectar.

Thank you for this kiss of immortality

ever sweet,

every Spring,

your gift of love.

I hear the whistle

before I see it.

All bright yellow with flashy black wings

and scarlet head covering.

I bow to your glorious

beauty that honors the divine.

Your colors sing to my heart.

I feel the rising up of joy

until my spirit flies with you.

I am above the trees too

and coursing straight and true

to the vast embrace of the sky

with every sky-born atom

pulsing with your breath.

I can barely

bring myself to breathe in

this exquisite blessing.

I am so alive with joy

I can’t think

I can only praise

and give thanks.

I have known the secret

of my great beauty

all my life.

The mountain’s smooth

rhythmic undulation

told me she understood.

The water

of all pure ever-renewing

life,

spoke to me of my own

life giving love ~

that poured forth

from me

as easily

as the ocean’s tides.

Bees whispered

about flower nectar

and knew

the honey buzzing

hive

of my Queen within.

Storms cracked lightning

to acknowledge

the enormous power

of my seeing

and touching you and the world.

If you touch me

here, there,

from my neck ~

to the palm of my hand ~

to my earlobe ~

and every blessed mile

of the sacred land ~

then you know

how alive I am.

The summer storm

electrifying the sky

with cracks of power

and fierce thunderings

is so near

to my own skin

your life is spared

in the moments of touch.