In this moment we, the two of us,
are here in this precise place
and there are an infinite number
of places we might be.
But we want to be here,
just here, nowhere else.
We are aging, but in this moment
we are exactly the right age
and to be younger or older
would do nothing for us.
When I curl against you
as the morning light struggles
to pierce the pulled blinds
and stroke your arm
my fingers are in the only
place my fingers want to be.
Here, now, together.
infinite
STAGED
At the moment of your birth
my son, I grew suddenly older,
mortality became a reality
that I could no longer avoid.
You could not imagine this,
and I doubt others could see
but I knew and the infinite
collapsed inside the event horizon.
Your brother came later, but
that death was incremental,
a single cut among thousands,
a step on a path you chose for me.
You have your own children now,
your shochet impatiently
waiting in the shadows, and
they cannot imagine their
roles until the play rolls out
and they are thrust onto the stage
with no possible exits, and an audience
that knows how this play ends.
FOUR ZEN HAIKU
myself is no self
no self is universal
infinite being
emptiness surrounds
all forms are illusory
this is samadhi
compassion abounds
always out of your sight
until you live it
dharmas teach nothing
contain infinite knowledge
just stop looking
DREAMING OF GOLDILOCKS
The universe is more vast
than we could begin to contemplate
forty billion galaxies of
forty billions stars, thrust out
a child, an aged one bent by time
mothers with children in tow,
giants standing above with
names belying their stature.
Sitting here, pen in hand
it is comforting to know
there is another, and another
stretching infinitely, secure
in their uniqueness, in the shadow
of their suns, casting
words into the void.
NIGHT ARRIVES
When we finally allow night
to settle in around us,
and we curl together in anticipation
of sleep, we fit comfortably,
but with no less passion than
when we first did this, but
a passion tempered by less need
for flame, more for warmth
and a gentle caress.
We could not have anticipated this,
and still it seems quite natural,
the fulfillment of the promises
we exchanged, these vows
held sacrosanct and beyond value.
In the morning, when we repeat this,
we know that from that moment
the day still holds infinite promise.
INFINITY
A three year old
can easily understand
that a full cup
can hold nothingĀ
but an empty cup
has an infinite capacity.