Running In Circles

        
For a few days the air was clear as if empty
And the vision was sharp, defined and warm.
We were steeping in a common energy and intention was focused.
Now I am home, diffused in clouds and wind troubled.

“Everything tries to be a circle,” you reminded me.
Yes, I describe myself as a circle.  It’s true.
“It is the peculiarity of some people to think about life
In terms of goals and arrows--Start here and end there,” you reminded me.
Yes, I cannot explain myself to those ones.  That is obvious.

What do you want to be? People ask over and over,
With visions of straight lines, goals, and success!
..I cycle, I respond.

I am a circle, and my life spirals in galaxies,
From green and lush to brittle and dead
From little words to deep sighs to astonishment to bliss.

What do you do?  I am asked, by those expecting a neat answer.
Oh well, I say.

How to explain the mandala?  It is complex and vast,
Filled with seasons and symbols and reasons and rounds of chores
I go the rounds every day every week every time, in circles
Sometimes checking the perimeter of my territory,
Sometimes still as a seed at the center
Or diffusing slowly through the middle.
Channels circling the sphere of life.

Balance is the ability to keep the spiral moving
To move within the spiral smoothly
We expand and contract, even as we breathe,
With the breath which cycles through creation,
Through us, the trees, the sea, The One.
Our responsibilities are so huge in this sprawling galaxy

It will come full circle, we remind ourselves.  Who you are will be made manifest.


May 19 2009 East West Herb Course Seminar