Kate Vogt's Blog, page 12

Gophers – honoring interconnectivity

Then there
crept
A little noiseless noise
among the leaves,
Born of the very sigh
that silence heaves.

John Keats

 

As spring matures, the days grow longer, inviting more late afternoon excursions.  Yesterday it was a short drive to a large public beach.  Instead of taking the usual stroll along the tide-line, I took a cue from my loving life partner Jay, who said he was feeling like nap and was in search of a perfect spot on the sand to spread out a blanket.  It seemed wise to be still and abso...

Rain Commons

Being is not what it seems,
nor non-being.
The world’s existence
is not in the world.

Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks

Plop. Plop. Plop.  A sound of renewal reverberated through the bedroom window.  Small rain droplets fell smoothly from the eaves onto tree leaves.  Plop (silence), plop (silence),  each droplet was giving voice to the underlying pulse of life.  Like notes of the song of time, each one was offering sweet praises from whence it came and where it will arise again – from heaven to e...

Remembrance

Dear God, please reveal to us
your sublime
beauty

that is everywhere, everywhere, everywhere

so that we will never again
feel frightened.

St. Francis of Assisi
Trans. by Daniel Ladinsky

 

A loud siren was booming throughout our neighborhood. I was inside the house, putting clothes into the washing machine, but the sound fulfilled its purpose. As with most people who suddenly hear an alarm, my mind immediately shifted into high alert and sifted through the possibilities for its activation. Even t...

Light

Hark to the unstruck bells and drums!
Take your delight in love!
Rains pour down without water, and
the rivers are streams of light.
One Love it is that pervades the whole
world, few there are who know it fully.
They are blind who hope to see it
by the light of reason, that reason
which is the cause of separation —
The House of Reason is very far away!
Kabir
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore

Everything around seemed to glisten in the afternoon light.  The ocean stretched into the sky, shimmer...

Walking

Keep walking, though there ’s no place to get to.
Don’t try to see through the distances.
That’s not for human beings. Move within,
but don’t move the way fear makes you move.

Rumi
Translated by Coleman Barks

Walking has long been an essential part of my daily life.  It was utilitarian early on, when going on foot was my primary mode of transportation.  In college, it was the best way to get from one classroom to another.  After college, for years I was fortunate enough to live in areas that...

Oranges & the gift of roundness

I cannot lose anything in this
place of abundance
I found.

If something my heart cherishes
is taken away,
I just say, “Lord, what
happened?”
And a hundred more
appear.  

St. Catherine of Siena
Translated by Daniel Ladinsky

A few weeks ago, oranges began to mysteriously appear outside our home.  Every morning there would be a couple nestled along the curb, with no obvious clues how they got there.  Their color was bright and shape was still perfectly round.  Yet, they were a bit soft to touch....

Plum Blossoms & Contentment

That one is blessed and at peace
Who doesn’t hope, to whom
Desire makes no more loans.

Nothing coming, nothing owned.

Lalla  
Trans. by Coleman Barks

As I peered out the front door, I noticed that the front steps were covered with delicate blossoms.  It seemed nature had given voice to the wind by leaving these sweet floral traces wherever a breeze had been.

The blossoms appeared as perfect as they had the day before when they were still clustered on the plum tree branches.  Each rested unsc...

Rain and Rejuvenation

I am filled with you.
Skin, blood, bone, brain, and soul.
There’s no room for lack of trust, or trust.
Nothing in this existence but that existence.

Rumi
Translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks

A few days ago the ground crumbled and crunched under footfall.  The leaves and pine needles in the wooded areas swirled in the dry winds.  Now, with the gift of rain, the soil has become spongy and receptive to the pressure of my boots.  Emerald green carpets are everywhere – covering fields, hillside...

New Moon – humble beginnings

I was delighted with myself,
having offered everything that I had;
my heart, my faith, my work. 

“And who are you,” you said,
“to think you have so much to offer? 
It seems you have forgotten
where you’ve come from.”

Rumi
trans. Coleman Barks

“Moon.”  It was simple one-word exclamation.  Yet, to be sure that I understood her latest discovery, my youngest neighbor – a toddler named Natalia – reached her arm toward the sunny afternoon sky and pointed.  She repeated, “moon?,” although this time w...

Starlings – Roosting in Peace

Being is not what it seems,
nor non-being.  The world’s
existence is not
in the world.

Rumi

The late afternoon sky suddenly darkened.  Expecting a rain cloud, I looked up and saw hundreds of birds dancing in the sky.  A friend had told me about the European starlings returning to this area at the onset of winter, but still I was surprised to see such a massive number of birds.  So typical of the mind is that it jumped to its own visualization based on a predication, i.e., of rain.

Fortuna...