a river of emptiness carries me into the night…
the water touches my skin but does not wash away the fear…
the unknown beckons my innocence and my dreams…
challenging me to bear the weight of them in this narrow place…

i call out, but the sound of my voice is lost in the hollow sky…
unseen and unheard, i drift into the abyss of my existence…
certain that others have traveled here before…
i grab onto that communion and breathe in the temporary solace it brings…

a momentary pause in the darkness reveals something hidden…
a shadow, a glimpse into something beyond my primal sight…
a gift of the mysterious wrapped in the calm of what is and has always been…
so steady and solid and yet unable to be named or grabbed onto…

my heartbeat anchors me in the incessant movement of change…
my body responding and reacting to it knows not what…
aching, purging, expelling, cleansing, letting go of all that was…
to make room in this moment, this time, this place for what is yet to be…

each choice touches every other choice and when they meet, life explodes…
in a new unknown direction born on the wings of a thought or decision…
so simple, yet so caught in the web of the infinite myriad of choices…
emanated both consciously and unconsciously on the breath of human life…

in this place of aloneness, the wheels of time stop…
allowing me to see and observe the space between choices…
the abyss of nothingness between breaths…
here is where we all reside all the time…
but so caught up in the illusion of movement…
we miss it…

we miss it and falsely perceive ourselves as going somewhere and as doing something…
when all that exists is the burst of energy that erupts out of the void of being…
to keep us interested and occupied and invested in the game of life…
a mind dance set upon us by the one who created us and invited us to play…

Let go, no agenda

no script

no attachment.

Get out of the way

life is coming through

to give you what you seek

no limit

except that which

you restrict.

Resistance

the enemy of freedom.

An open heart

the only weapon

that can pierce its shield.

An empty vessel

a vacuum to receive

the bounty that

falls from the sky

into your welcome arms.

Don’t be blind and deaf

and dumb to your good.

Don’t expect a thing

but be open to it ALL…

Climb out of your shell

unprotected

undaunted.

Give it up

the safety

the security

that has become your friend

and your prison.

Stop hiding out

holding back

behind your mother’s skirts

your father’s name

your borrowed identity.

Throw it down.

Walk away.

Surrender it to the fires

that burn the past

and choke the future

with hazy smoke.

Stop crushing the world with

your doing

your rushing from drama to drama

your rusty tools and shaky hands.

What is not broken cannot be fixed

it can only be seen

with new eyes

healing the illusion

inside the dream of your clinging fingers.

Shout, scream, have a child’s tantrum

if you must

but please kick those walls down.

Stop blaming them for your pain.

Step away from the shadows.

Resurrect your passion

for the sacred.

Have you forgotten how to breathe?

How to simply walk alone in the quiet?

No soundtrack.

No special effects.

No villain or hero.

Just the frame of the moment

a still shot of the now

un-retouched with your longing

and demands.

An unadorned unpolished gem

sparkling with Light

radiating out from the center

of everything

rippling out through infinity

through all you touch

with your being.

Never doubt this.

It doesn’t need your permission

so heavily invested in your freedom

it will carry you when you cannot walk,

heal you when you cannot breathe,

shelter you when you cannot fight,

feed you when you cannot eat.

It is patient

for time is

your creation.

No hurry because

there is nowhere to go.

Steal away a little longer

it does not matter.

The door never closes

it waits for you.

A love never-ending

ceaseless

washes through your Soul

brandishing a clean knife

to cut away the heavy roots

that tie you to your misery

a gentle surgery while you sleep.

Nothing before you ask

nothing too soon

all in its own time

meeting you on the road

greeting you when you seek solace

reminding you of the reason

for your journey.

The sum of your desires

opening the heaviest of doors

all without any effort

only your wishing it so

a tender turning toward IT

all that is necessary.

Free falling into the IS-Ness

comes when all else fails

all detours returning you here

to this cliff of emptiness

this Void

the place where you most wanted to by-pass.

But now, there is only this

no going back, only forward

into your greatest fear

of destruction

and death.

Nothing to lose now

everything to gain

all the baggage must be put down

all these beloved ideas put to sleep

all that you covet and cherish

handed over to pay the toll.

A beginning and an end

so precious, so sublime

so terrifying in its inevitable climb.

Just this.

Just that.

Just let go.

Fall into IT.

What looks like nothing

suddenly becomes something

and everything all at once.

There never was anything to fear.

The emptiness was solid after all

surrounding you, within you

no beginning or end.

All YOU…