Cactus Flower, Open Palm

With hand steady

And breath calm,

I hold the world

In my open palm.

It has been quite a while since I last posted. It's not that nothing has been happening, but that my poetic voice has been quiet of late. Some who read this may say "A good thing, too!" But, ah well! The above four lines I found neatly written in a little notebook at my desk that I seldom use. Although written sometime in the last few months, I can't clearly recall actually writing it or the events surrounding its' origin. So, let it stand as a somewhat mysterious message from the recent past.

Clearly, I was feeling very good in that moment. This is the open palm of the hand that holds the world, in the world that holds the hand that opens its palm. The hand is steady and the breath is calm, this is no manic moment, but a serene realization of the complete connection that underlies all existence. I hold it in my palm just as you hold it too, and it holds you and all of us. It supports all things and gives them life, demanding nothing, in the perfect freedom of that open palm.

The photo was taken two steps from my office door, where the most beautiful cacti grow in terra cotta pots. When they bloom, they fill the air with the most ethereal scent, sweet honey and a high, piercing mineral tang that knocks me out whenever I smell it. The bees are crazy about it too, and swarm about in the morning air. One sniff of this is should be enough to convince any of us that being present in this moment is the place to be.