Happy Birthday/Anniversary to me!

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to me!.

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to me!

Today is my 58th birthday and 10th wedding anniversary with Mark – yes, I decided he only needed to remember one date.

Today I want to share a beautiful quote by a respected elder whom Mark met in 1971.

“The galaxy’s great spiritual thinkers, from every sentient species, have taught the wisdom of seeing beyond any appearance of lack or limitation.  Because they recognized the natural perfection at the heart of all of life, they saw the greatest possibilities. They knew that wholeness, beauty, peace, and harmony were always present and would express if recognized and embodied.  These spiritual masters saw their world with eyes of wonder and awe – even if they had no eyes.

“They teach that each of us lack for nothing.  Each of us is part of a universe so abundant that it is impossible to count or comprehend the reach and richness of it.  Infinite means never-ending, never ceasing, always replenished, always greater and more, beyond imagining.

“You have access to the Infinite.  Your nature is part of the divine, and the divine is ever giving, ever pouring forth with anything and everything that is needed.  The universe would not exist if it were not a self-sustaining and continuously expanding system.  Each sentient life is part of this system, and you partake of its nature and composition.  Like the water that makes up most of the human body, the infinite abundance of the universe is inherent in and as you.  There can be no separation, or a cancelling-out, a defeating of both, would happen, and nothing would exist…”

Learning

Learning.

Learning

After a while you learn the difference,

Between holding a hand, or chaining a soul.

And you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning.

And that company doesn’t mean security.

And you begin to learn:

That kisses aren’t contracts,

and passions aren’t promises.

You begin to accept your defeats,

With your head up, and your eyes open.

With the grace of an adult,

Not with the grief of a child.

And you learn to build your roads on today,

Because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans,

And futures have a way of falling apart in mid-flight.

After a while you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much.

So yu plant your own garden

And decorate your own soul,

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you the flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure…

That you really are strong,

And you really do have worth,

And you learn and learn…

With every good-bye…you learn!

 

— Mark Richards, 1984

Memory

Memory.

Dark Self

Dark Self.

Dark Self

In my dark self are glittering stars born from my emotions,

And in my heart shines a moon lighting the procession of my dreams.

In my sleepless soul, silence reveals.

The lover’s secrets and echoes the worshipper’s prayers.

My face wears a mask of magic, torn by the agony of death.

Mended by the songs of childhood,

As you, Night, are rent by the sudden fury of a thunderhead,

Calmed by the passing of a storm.

Shall I be considered boastful if I liken myself to you —

Both accused of being what we’re not?

I am like you tho’ twilight does not crown me with its golden clouds,

Nor morning clothe me in its rosy rays.

I am night, boundless and calm.

There is no beginning to my obscurity, and no end to my reach.

—- Mark Richards, 1984

Memory

He looked away towards the east, into a nervous sky.

But she was a part of that sky.

The wind gathered slightly and bend the heads of the redwoods.

But she was part of the wind and the mist and the clouds beyond.

For the eyes see only what the mind and heart are prepared to comprehend.

And her memory was a sin and a lie.

— by Mark Richards, 1984