Moon of Gathering Courage

To Travel Dark Roads With Trust

In Wild Grace & Rhythmic Dignity

shadows release light over time

invisible forces tussle prayer flags

walls of the old come tumbling

down & longer goes the sun’s arc

the spring dark moon of May

echoes the wandering haiku:

even in this vibrant moment,

missing this vibrant moment

confessional, vulnerable, artless

counting sun faces in a field

of perfection dandelions

reading clouds as earth painting

the people in your life hanker

after your lonesome heart

hearing in her beat a rare song

companion to their own rhythms

fear of mortal night, clutch

uncertainty of next steps, clutch

comparing low to high, clutch

ocean flowers come & go

mountain flowers bloom & die

river flowers eddy & oxbow

grass flowers knit & sow

starbox flowers hold open a door

wild grace waits on the other side

we can do it, we can awaken

the story of return is ancient—

seeing what is is the journey

is the goal

listen to mushrooms

give yourself to sensual texture

ask how pollen-breath of the currant

knew the fleet scent of your heartache

there is a family of wholeness

that we are beckoned toward:

where clutch releases into gift,

where we are vibrantly welcome

it is dark, dark, dark here

cosmically vast & cool

seeds & perfume, shuttle & loom,

knitting our journey’s brocade

whatever you are

is enough & always more

lost, vanished—reunited

found anew, fresh

frogs calling out a new beginning

to you

for you

with you on the dark roads