When a player of such high caliber
joins your team every strategy shifts
as the competition shuffles its feet
and even the old timers come out to watch
thinking back to their classic contests
and saying,
now we’ve got a ball game!
O . . . they know . . .
its a whole new contest
when amid the roar of a standing ovation,
love takes the mound

Gary

I knew, somehow,
someday,

it would all boil down to this:

unclothed, falling apart, waiting...

What made me think I could
bathe frequently in self control,
dress in fashionable lies
and walk around in polished shoes of involvement

when what I seek
is so raw and stripped,
naked and nameless

That is the God I sense now –

A death that reveals

why tears rain in
the echo of a laugh

Gary

You've met someone special,
now consider this proposal:

Take them to a sufi restaurant
where playfulness is served 
on whirling plates
and busboys do the kissing
And winking waiters in white
dispense wine teasingly as they pass
open mouths

And the entertainment?
Why your untamed gyrations of course!

And later with your dreamy desert
and warm nightcap in hand
climb up on the roof of this
establishment and listen to the gossip
Between flirting stars and bashful planets
Ah . . . such a perfect night. . . 
out-of-this-world
food . . . so relaxed . . .belts loosened
. . . bellies
bloated . . . something about this
luminous ingredient,
love, that makes you long for the evening
to never end

Long to hear those three little silly,
words
one more time.

And there you are!

Sensing your date slide in dangerously
close
and start to articulate in an unusual
tongue
with great conviction . . .
as God turns to meet your melting heart,
and slowly  begins shouting your shameless
desire
to the whole establishment:

Time . . . . to . . . . Dance !!!!!

Gary

God asked me to tell you
that He is sorry but
there will be no more Miracles in your lifetime

He has taken all the wonder and joy
and life and mystery He has
and packed it into
His last Masterpiece

Hidden it in something
extremely ordinary
and made it vanish
with a baffling hand movement

Do you notice that
every once in awhile
when you look in the mirror
something quite unusual catches your eye?

a glint, a dazzle, a motion of unique light
that flashes by

Admit it,
it is mystifying to even imagine
what might be
inside
you

Gary

I come to you in my dreaming
You act so ordinary
Last night you wore a clownish mask
I thought it odd
You were on your way to a party, you said
You were going back home, and you invited me
It is so compassionate of you to welcome me
In my dreaming.

White river stillness lures me to sleep now,
sings me its silent lullabye.
Nowhere to flow to
waves frozen inside time.
Outside time, stillness so loud
hearing the moment before its birth
that never was.

Vastness is overcoming me now,
the me that never was dives deep
below the surface
beyond the undertoe and frozenness beyond
the fishes and universes beyond
the beyondness into the nothingnesss
that isn't even that.

Day or night, it doesn't even matter now,
sun glistening on river's ice tastes like
blackness glistening in star's night.
Each moment's endless diversity stuns
and overwhelms with all its holiness.

The bed so warm, the fire so hot now,
meeting the cool window pane
I've turned into steam.
A twinkling ship cuts through the pristine solidness
the whole house is vibrating me back
to where I never left.
This heart is beating Still in the moonlight glow.

Much Love,
jaime (spiritdancer)
2/25/2003

You are the oddest glows
in the whole galaxy,
not the Milky Way,
but the lost and founds
of so many ways

As old crusty-faced sea turtles
you traveled from everywhere
to group here, in the shore foam,
and bask in this gorgeous sunset
Isn’t it beautiful here?

Do you remember
the quickening dash of your hatchling spirit?
When we discovered how seductible
the universe was,
and then how great hearted and pitiful
our efforts to unmask it were?

Now, we are grapefruit vendors
with a measly dry crop to sell
Avoided and left alone,
we juice it all

In between the bitter sweet sips,
we pitch stories and spin laughter
and wipe the spills from each others’ lives
Our crooked smiles and melting hugs,
who would understand them?

We got so close so very fast
in this waiting room journey
that will take us exactly
where we can’t go

It is all so incredibly hopeless,
all about accepting what is . . .
don’t worry
it’s tribal code

my friends understand

Gary

I was flying through a storm
The plane lurching and swerving
Lesser pilots would have bit the dust
Like John F. Kennedy Jr.

How cleverly I maneuvered
Thru lightening and 50 MPH gusts

I landed safely with great relief
My chest swollen with pride (well deserved I might add)
Until I realized I had been on automatic pilot

Dave
friends

I ONCE WAS A BREATH
BUT NOW I'M THE AIR
AND I FLOW THRU LIFE
WITH NARY A CARE

BUT NOW I'M THE BEACH
I WAS A GRAIN OF SAND
WITH ETERNITY'S SHORE
WITHIN MY REACH

I ONCE WAS A LEAF
BUT NOW I'M A TREE
I'VE GIVEN UP DOING
SO NOW I JUST BE

I WAS A BLADE OF GRASS
BUT NOW I'M THE LAWN
I WAS FRIGHTEND OF DEATH
NOW I'VE NEVER BEEN BORN

I WAS A MUSICIAN
BUT NOW I'M THE BAND
I SURRENDERED "THE FINGER"
AND BECAME THE HAND

Dave

The gods of gratitude
scramble to their hilltop seats
They’ve sensed my mood,
my melting space
anticipating heaven-pointed soliloquies
borne on rare human sweetness

But today, I am giving
neither
giddy speeches nor grand oration,
virginal tears nor sweet fountains of heart rain

They are gone now, these blissful star men,
to feed on the thankings of others

I am too humbled by something unutterable

Let the fat bellied swan
tell my story
or the crumb-coated mouse
or the apple-loaded tree

Anything I say will hurt my ears
My body will break if I move much

A fragile message is to be sent;
maybe some white strawberries and chocolates
and things never said before

But I fear the messenger may never find you,
even by the light of your eyes or
the wisp of your smile
A fat bellied swan is looking for you

Gary
10/15/02 Los Angeles

They accidentally signed the great contract
agreeing to embrace the opposites
and received the unflinching gift of facing life in death

and so traded happiness for joy without cause
control for absolute acceptance
hope for perfect peace

They do everything we do, scriptlessly however
They are fearless, bold, and strong yet their servitude is amplified
They almost speak as we speak, but less so, so we listen

They skill as conceptual surgeons in no particular hurry
uniquely displaying the art of mental blood letting and bone cutting
one tool, kind of the shape of a harmless smile,
no set hours, and covering everything from thorn removal to amputation
Some patients are amazingly unrecognizable
transformed because they inquisitively smiled back

They also hobby as excellent tea makers
so we stay for lunch and chat
unseen herbs steep in our drink
we often feel funny by dinnertime
usually better . . . . and usually worse

Something in some of us
desperately needs something from them
but they promote nothing
they hawk a useless product
with exuberant grace and detail
we can only guess
they didn’t come to teach
they came to dance

It is an incomprehensible movement
the lives
and effects
of these lovers of everything
extraordinarily common, hopelessly watchable
dangerously loveable
but I have this strong feeling

they didn’t come to stay
they came to pass

If you are attending a meeting with some guru
and there are a thousand people in attendance
step out of line and keep walking

If only two hundred show up
try to slip out unnoticed before the break
and keep your head down

With even fifty,
sit in the back row, on the edge of your seat
and keep your footwear nearby

Why?

Most teachers offer souls, starving for God,
mood, methods and spiritual snacks
designed to fatten
weakened minds and thin longing hearts

whereas

the teacher who embodies Truth
gives out such meager nourishment
that even the best seats in the house open up!

he knows

there is no way to help you, already grossly obese,
and staggeringly swollen in that Presence
but being spiritually sensitive
or compassionate
or full of pity

he knows

every once in awhile
it probably doesn’t hurt to hand out a few seeds of nothing
to give you something to chew on

and
what will inspire your leaving
or staying is a small oft-overlooked detail:

Your shoes are filled with God’s whimsical feet

Gary

In one small swallow
all I know passes out into the night
as I pass through the door

after that
my mind lacks the oil
for much more than simple conversation

These gatherings appear to be
an elegant wisdom feast
of mind boggling bites
and super mouthfuls of insight
that leave me bloated
but not with knowledge

I try to follow
See that messy chalkboard?
that’s my heart scribbling
mad unutterables

and
the perfect answer to every question
causes
an irregular heartbeat
but mostly awe

Leaving these meetings,
I’m learning very little

but
there is
a fat goo of happiness
clogging up every sad pore
inside me

Gary

Welcome to the last house on the block.
Here, let me take your burden
And lay it against the wall.
No sir,
Please let go of the handle.
It'll be quite safe
I assure you,
No one here is lacking luggage of their own.

Tess

You know

you say the most profound things with your eyelashes

tell the funniest jokes with your ears

your feet perform these wonderfully illuminating plays

your beard gets a little miffed sometimes, then your nose flares

your hands dissect technical questions

in great surgical detail

your cheeks give away your entire secret

I’ve discovered
that you only use your mouth
for those who are
a little

hard

of

hearing

Gary

Dark inside isn't it?
And not all that comfortable
With my majestic jaw
Clamped around your neck.

You're not going anywhere,
So stop struggling.

When people rest their heads
In my mouth,
It's my nature to eat them.
But don't worry!
Your nature is to be devoured,
So we're on the same team.

I feel every twitch
As you try to escape.
Your first trick is to imagine
You're not really here.

It's actually quite endearing,
And adds to your flavour!

You insist that your 'higher' self
Is already away and free.
Think you can silence your mind
And slip from my grasp?
Do you not see,
The only way out is In!

You have to face Reality,
There's no escape for
You.
Claiming to be someone else
Only brings more food to my plate.

Every imaginable part of you is here -
Even your saintly side.

Alright, I'll say it plainly:
Creation does not need your help.
Anything you touch,
Turns into yourself,
And we all know where you're going -
I am a Tiger after all.

So relax,
Even though you can't see it,
The world outside your ego
Is exactly as it needs to be.

Tess

I only want to know one thing
before I am fully whittled

before every hope has been skinned from my body

before you’ve carved me down to something unrecognizable

before I’ve reached the shape of nothing

I beg you
to show me
the place
where
happiness
is
buried

These days,
the hardest effort of all
is to preserve the outline

of who I think I am

Gary

Wonder and magic
are here.
Mere presence
but there's no one to wonder.
Then comes the one
who remembers that.
But does he exist,
the one who remembers?

Konstantin

The Old Darling is forever writing the most exquisite,
sensual love letters.

He sends telegrams brimming with bouquets of honey-scented blossoms.
Garlands, to His beloveds, from entire gardens He tends for
the purpose of pleasuring His special someones.

Why I haven't heard a bird yet who He hasn't taught His enchanting
love songs and wooing calls.
They practice at all hours for Him in preparation for His lovemaking -
which, if He doesn't mind me saying
appears to be going on
round

the

clock.

I sometimes think He's hypnotized the
whole whirling universe and then some
to be in cahoots with Him.

Even the sun and moon are out seducing for Him
Have you caught those two radiant Ones winking
and casting their spells?

All of that juicy courting! What a lover!
But did you notice? He keeps sending His lovenotes
from and to His own Home address!

Who said He lives alone?!

Someone He lives with is
very loved indeed.

Ellen

Long ago an old puppeteer taught you the little tricks of his craft.
How to move and lift the strings with finesse.
So that all of the marionettes would dance and sing and not become
tangled up.
Or appear too stiff.

With practice, he said, you might even become quite good at
controlling their movements.

So, you've kept trying.

In his ancient trunk, he kept hand puppets
And a box of talcum powder to make it easier
to pull the puppets over his hands.

He explained that the puppets were in this way not stretched by his animation.

Someone asked him once if, with his toys, he'd ever felt like
he was playing God.
Or if maybe he simply forgot and thought he actually was the Old Lover.

He said that he did a few times. But that he knew for certain from his own experience
that God
doesn't use talcum powder.

Ellen

your love wraps its arms around me
pulling me so close there is no 'me'

and ah...as I look into these eyes...
I see God...

carolyn wind

Spring is here
Seen everywhere.
There is no escape,
How beautifully
She
has colored
the Mind

Charles

There once was a sage with a beard
Who disciples sometimes feared
His words were untrue
When spoken to you
But I heard them so I disappeared

Dave

God/Goddess lovemaking...

Pure lovemaking in the Present

Carried throughout the Universe,

Carressing, savoring, sparkling All

As it touches the Beloved...

Carolyn

Someone will get a great body
someone else a luscious heart
another will shine with brilliance
wealth will drown a few
power will swallow up one
and slip away from some other

I will pay for something I never receive
thrilling a stranger who gets it for nothing
A single life is spared while a thousand
others are laid to waste

The contract is a bit convoluted
but you recognize it
in one form or another,
from one end or the other

Life swings through a marketplace
jumps onto a trading block
and hawks a willing barter, a crooked deal
an exquisite bargain, a perfect swindle

All of existence is a commodity of God’s
and He the only Broker
No returns, refunds, or exchanges
and satisfaction is never guaranteed

and business has never ever been better
or worse for that matter. . . so He says

just steady,
always
always
steady

Gary

I listened in rapt attention
To thrilling tales of those
Who had completed their search
And reached the other side

Enlightenment, Realization, Truth...
Were just empty words
Strung across the distant sky
To me, struggling with my hopes and desires

And so I set out to the promised land
Gave away my Mercedes and jewelry
Taking leave of family and friends
I left, naked as the day I was born

But then my Guru said to me
He said, "You're merely wasting your time
Better you turn back right now
And return to your possessions and friends

"Truth is not an empty word
Truth is Emptiness itself
It is not how much you give away that matters
It is how much you still carry with you

"When you are already home to begin with
The more you go in search of it
The further away you go
And the more likely you are to lose your way

Sunder

A mid-morning pursuit, airborne off a branch
Chatter and tails slapping, some anger in the breeze
Coldly snubbed on the main trunk
Hurt and alone on the outermost reaches

Arms crossed, legs tucked in the pouring rain
Forgiveness buried in our winter coats
A summer’s bounty – the trip never forgotten

Crossing the street to pick up dinner,
a miserable wait if it takes too long
Never housekeeping on a sunny day

Warming each other on a freezing night
in the leafless season
Sometimes surprising ourselves
with some supplemental heat

How are we any different
than two crazy squirrels
rushing their youth up a sapling
that became some high wire journey
called “a life shared”,
perilously balanced against the winds of change,
dashing blindly across the limbs of time?

Their . . . Our adventure began with a careless idea:

Let’s plant this old tree while knee deep in love

Gary