1. There was a man on the way.
They saw him and asked if
he would like to join them on
their journey. They would like
the company if for nothing
more than a distraction from
their grief at the death of their
loved one. And as they sat
breaking bread and hearing
familiar words and recalling
what their loved one said
about being with them again,
they looked at each other and
then at the fellow traveler
through their Jesus’ eyes of
enlightenment and their eyes
were opened to the presence
of their loved one among
them.

2. There was a man standing on
the shore. The fishers weren’t
having any luck. The man said
to put the net on the other side.
Maybe that was a hint. Jesus
had kept asking them to look
at things from a different per-
spective. A net full of fish follow-
ed. The man stood by the fire and
invited the fishers to join him for
breakfast. They broke the fast
of life without Jesus as with
grief-stricken eyes transformed
to the enlightened eyes of Jesus,
they saw Jesus in the man before
them.

3. The man sat in the silence,
breathing in slowly, breathing
out slowly — over and over
and over and when he looked up
he began to see life differently.
He saw the fearful, the angry,
those who were one step away
from violence and in the silence
he heard the words, “Lo, I am
with you always till the close
of the age,” and he thought
perhaps he was seeing Jesus in
all those he saw in his mind’s
eye, everyone. And then he
squinted and rubbed his eyes
and he just shook his head, “Not
quite there, yet,” and then he
heard, “Well, life’s a journey
and we are breaking the fast
of grief.”

One day it arose as if its construction
had been imperceptible. He only no-
ticed it at night when the light from

the sign invaded his home, more
specifically, the kitchen and the bed-
room. The shades couldn’t keep out

the penetrating yellow light. The man
determined to stop the invasion so he
went to the yellow light the next day

and asked for the manager. The man
told the manager about the invasive
light on the serenity of the man’s life

and how that sign blocks the man’s
view of the night sky to which the
manager replied that the sign is

necessary so hungry travelers on
the Interstate could see it and that
the man should take it up with corp-

orate. With that, the manager said to
the man, “Welcome to Waffle House.”
The man bought thicker shades for

the windows and when his wife asks
if he would like a waffle for breakfast,
he always responds, “No thank you.”

an achy elbow,
a catch in the back.
what seeds do I sow?
why am I concerned about facts?
let it all go;
too soon, it will all be back.
so sow seeds of breaths in a row —
the repetition of volitional acts.
deeply in and out so slow,
over and over, there and back,
to be here now and know
that this is the right track.
the seeds will grow
the lotus blossoms unfurl and unpack
germination’s flow, germination’s glow —
now here, now here, now here, now —
there is nowhere else
but to be here now —
erehwon.

*in a previous poem I used the word
erehwon which was the name of an
outdoor adventure store. It is the
reverse of nowhere, thus meaning “everywhere.”
To be everywhere is to be present in the “now.”

1. In through the nostrils —
deep, deep, deep, deep.
Exhale through the mouth.
Repeat forty times.
Hold #40 for a twenty-count
by thousandths.
Breathe out by the mouth —out,
out, out, out. Hold it for a twenty count.
Catch your breath.

2. Head down, breathe in through nostrils
as you rotate your head to the left
stopping at the shoulder — one.
Rotate to your back —two.
Rotate to your right shoulder — three.
Rotate to your chest, exhale by mouth — four.
Reverse to the right shoulder.
Inhale through nostrils — 5.
To back — 6.
To left shoulder — 7.
To chest — exhale through mouth —8.
Repeat to a count of 100.

3. In through the nostrils
for a four-count by thousandths.
Hold for a normal four count.
Breathe out through the mouth –
one thousand one, one thousand two,
one thousand three, one thousand four.
Repeat ten times.

4. In through the nostrils, Jesus Christ Son of God.
Out through the mouth, Savior.
Repeat ten times.

5. Repeat # 1.

6. In through the nostrils for a four-count.
Exhale through the mouth — Om.
Repeat ten times.

7. Repeat # 1 for twenty breaths.

8. Breathing Toward Peace

There was a Dutch gal from Holland, Michigan
who wanted to swim the Big Lake and back again.
She headed across to Wisconsin’s Racine
but with nose in the air changed course and was seen,
having a brat and a beer in old Sheboygan.

Apophatically,
he denied nothing
thus everything,
as he entered the darkness
so totally beyond even dim
and, therein, didn’t discover any light.
But in
that apophatic state,
It discovered him
much to his de-light,
the place without light
wherein
he was
enlightened.

*idea from a meditation by Matthew Fox

Looking out the window, 
     he sees cyclists go by.
          It will be a couple more 
weeks before he can 
     climb on his bike. He 
          wistfully would like 
to be those two riding 
     by, but then he sees 
          how one isn’t in the 
right posture or the 
     correct gear and he 
          loses interest. Then 
he sees a blur in 
     lycra fly by, cut-
          ting smoothly through 
the wind and he sits 
     in admiration and 
          winces with jealousy.

He has projected all his fears
on others through the years.

He’s the little boy who cried wolf
and turned out to be a bad imitation of Adolf.

All is done with smoke and mirrors
and his projections have caused tears,

death and destruction from this sick man
whose only foundation is flimflam.

But the world is catching on
to the Incredible Shrinking Don.

Unlike his claim that the virus would vanish,
he the American people will soon banish

and let the Southern District of New York
finally in his mouth put a permanent cork

and all his vulture tweets so obscene
will never more be read or seen.

*paraphrase of The Incredible Shrinking President used in USA Today opinion piece

Let this time go down, down, down.
Let the next time go up, up, up.
Let us save the Republic now.
Let us be saved from all that is corrupt.

It is so horribly bad out there
that even eye contact is a threat.
In those unmasked, he sees rage and fear
and for the future he does fret.

But we need to watch each other’s back
And say over and over, but not to offend,
Yes! We need an Asian/Black
to help us move forward, not go back again.

The Kleptocrat/maniac in the House —
will lie and lie and lie over and over again
but will run and cower like a mouse —
the message of cowardly insanity to send

to those who watch the news
and seek a balanced approach —
those who have been touched by the muse,
meditate and find justice to broach,

they are the one’s who
somehow wisdom knew.
Let us be those, too.

The text notifier vibrated
and I was notified that
my phone may be leaking
secrets. Oh, my. I don’t
remember telling any
secrets over the phone
but if I had, I believe that
it would be a concern
only in the very least.
Better for secrets to leak
than to have other leaks
of which I can think leak —
especially now that I am
beyond my physical peak.