Our sense of purpose
Defines much of life’s journey
Its treasures as well




Sun seasoned with warmth
Urges the ground to divide
Spilling spring flowers





Running down the beach
Chester charts a broken path
Scattering the birds





Family photograph
So many smiling faces
Sometimes are they sad?





Rising at greeting
Waves pass straight through at meeting
Their own reflection





Log bleaching in sun
Your body broken branchless
Lost from your forest





Diamonds dance lightly
Brightly reflecting the sun
Stream takes no notice





The flowers and leaves
Buds that will burst on their trees
Move toward their moment





Awakening heart
In a world that surrounds me
Now touching my soul





Brown skin and bright eyes
With a warm smile that’s so wide
You are beautiful





I love my children
They fold meaning into life
Beyond good teachers





Wind stole the bird song
Rain silenced the summer grass
Winter shadows stretch





Sand is everywhere
That is how a rock wanders
In tiny pieces





Life is just as real
Inside a salty tide pool
As the open sea





The moss and the tree
Growing together as one
Balanced in their need





Sea anemone
Unfolded in its tide pool
Unafraid of fish





Starfish under rock
Fashoning your travel plans
For the tide’s return





Senses awaken
To the the fragrant Ocean breeze
Rustling dry grass





Gentle disturbance
Disconnects parts from the whole
That slowly float back





Mirror images
Hard mountain /\ soft mountain
Both touching the pond





Doing as she must
Patience is a morning dove
Tending to her nest





Patient drum of life
Your ever-present heart beat
I play back to you





Real life adventure
Lies under every foot-fall
Inside every breath





I must keep it bright
As I walk along this path
Fragile little flame





The oak tree stands strong
Steady in its grassy field
Washed in spring flowers





Old memories wake
As I walk through this place
Where I slept a child





Bright yet so serene
The tide of colored flowers
Under gentle cows




We leave our children
What we give to them right now
When we touch their soul





Then I realized
If I free a butterfly
So must I a soul





Grinding up the beans
Putting water in the pot
Smell the coffee brew





Love is not wasted
Wherever it springs to life
It changes our world





Wise medicine man
Help our hearts open to feel
The life around us





Let me feel and see
The truth that belongs to me
Hidden in this mist





There are many paths
That can lead to the same place
Where we are set free





An eagle’s feather
Circles down toward the ground
Captured by a wave





Rock in the water
Did you choose this place to rest
Silent for so long





Where did it come from
Does boulder ever wonder
Where is it going





So very ancient
You were here before the ice
Can you remember





Combing through the mist
You stood here before the ice
So far before time





The life force in you
Is the same as is in me
We just look different





A steady heart beat
Deep in an ancient forest
Is it yours or mine





I am so happy
Just to be here with you now
Walking together





Rock earth water tree
Voices from the landscape Call
Through the morning mist





My clumsy presence
Unnoticed out of water
To fish as they spawn





Hold your hands right here
Can you feel the tree straining
Dancing with the wind





Yes they all have names
But they won’t come when they’re called
These trees are stubborn





Alive in this place
One drum among so many
That play the same song





Steelhead returning
Already paired with a mate
Preparing to spawn





My heart is beating
Yet I find nothing to say
Struck down like these trees





Eagle must take it
But salmon needs to be free
Fragmenting to eggs





Web spun by spider
Its sagging catch of diamonds
Sun on autumn dew





Hiding in the world
On the trunk of a huge fir
A small moth is still





Past history takes flight
Like a raven from its branch
Leaving no shadow





Watching silently
Smoke rising from the embers
Dancing with my thoughts





Rising cloud of mist
Magic song of silver breath
Whale returns below





Your breath and my breath
Merging over the water
A silent embrace





Your scent lingers here
Tangled in moonlit branches
Of flowering plum





Two dancing flames touch
Combining then withdrawing
Each changed forever





Breathe old flames to life
The passionate reunion
Of separate souls





Crooked legged crow
Broken gait so hard to watch
Beautiful in flight





I wait and wonder
Is this friendship meant to be
Hoping and wishing





Sleeping mountain air
Curling round my feather bed
Hiding from the frost





Songs so beautiful
What would ever make them fight
Three birds on a branch





When I walk with you
I feel your love for this land
And share that with you





Finding small treasures
Simple unexpected gifts
Enriching our life





Sometimes a problem
Expected as an outcome
Just fails to arrive





Trees don't get confused
If it is an apple tree
Then it grows apples





When I was a child
A yellow climbing rose grew
Up past my window





Autumn Orange Rose
Spring Bloom with Summer Perfume
Better than Ever





Try to smell the rose
Just for what it is and not
For what we wish it were





Daisies and clover
Days after the lawn is cut
Return like a tide





Uncomfortable
Fractured ground between good friends
How deep this fissure





Evaporating
Pure water from a raindrop
Leaves its dust behind





It has burst open
A great gray cloud of sadness
I feel it deeply





The rustle of leaves
Rises and falls with the breeze
That seals my eyes shut





Messenger of rain
Sweet wind outrunning the storm
Spill a stolen drop





Once first needs are met
I can hear and see and feel
New and gentle things





Warm scent of dry pine
Over the splash of rainbow
Under call of hawk





Crystals in a cloud
Looking down from far above
Know their winding stream





This force that draws us
Like a raindrop to its stream
Irresistible





Wider and deeper
Flows the stream that we follow
On our path through life





The paper thin moon
A chalky white reflection
Above morning sky





Frog bounces his call
Across a glassy calm pond
Hidden in the trees





Moment to moment
Feeling love and compassion
Sunshine and raindrops





Sweet warm blackberries
Weighing down their summer canes
Stained with summer's height





Life needs us to choose
With each footstep that we make
The sun or the moon





Teaming with Life
Brewing in a summer pond
Bright new beginnings





Bright star draws my eye
Bringing light to the moment
Round-belly moon laughs





Sweet Cottonwood scent
Heavy in the morning mist
Sleeps on the red marsh





Found by morning's light
Marble statue warms to life
Air like silk on skin





Butterfly in flight
Vulnerable with beauty
Finds an open door





A gentle knowing
It has been there all the time
The warmth and the light





Missing your warm touch
I opened the seaside door
To a summer sun





Ask the garden sun
What adventures might be there
Where the breeze comes from





Knowing you are there
I float thistle-down on breeze
Bringing you this rose





Butterfly emerged
From a tattered chrysalis
Freedom in her heart





Unable to sleep
I let shadows play for me
On my moonlit wall





Your scent still lingers
Even though the shadow’s changed
Where I lay my head





Summer adventure
My magic oar stirs the clouds
Round my wooden boat





Floating on water
Flat shimmering images
scatter at my touch





My ship rules this pond
And all things that live here
In my adventure





Just for a second
I saw through the reflection
To another world





I need to return
And float my boat on that pond
Where I knew the truth





Seeking to retrieve
Something that was left behind
In that other world





Resting on the shore
At a perfectly shaped beach
Sitting beside you





Colors on fall leaves
Even in the autumn rain
Will not wash away





This ancient forest
Lives in a deeper silence
Can you feel its truth





Mountain’s hem of cloud
Is dragging through its forest
Misting every tree





Forest and the fish
Together changing color
Bright in autumn’s rise





Autumn excitement
Spending all its energy
Celebrating life





Golden Autumn Leaf
Did you see me standing here
Watching as you fell





My path leads me here
It seems clear that I must go
Just my weightless soul





Cold and still drowsy
A timeless land slowly stirs
To winter's morning





A young woman's breath
Arrested for one moment
Longing for her life





Fashioning new dreams
To float out onto the lake
Settle where they will





Young tree standing still
At the foot of family
Listening to birds





Late Autumn guardian
Standing with our family
Over fallen leaves







Young forest master
stands in a circle of friends
learning of their ways





Emperor of kings
This tree among the forest
Unaware of time





Forest guardian
Standing on a mossy floor
Makes a careful step





On this wooden bench
I sit among spring daisies
All facing the sun





See the western sky
The sun sizzles in the sea
While clouds burn orange





Peaceful night river
Lightly floats the reflection
Of my silver moon





In yesterday’s sun
I never did imagine
Snow would fall today





Dreamless winter bark
Cracked by buds that blush with spring
Full of new life





Goodnight and sleep well
Peaceful dreams in neverland
Wrapped in violet light





Autumn's bright colors
Richer in the day's last light
Pale before the moon





Wet and winter blue
Ancient island washed by sea
Draped in evening sky





Your garden fountain
Splashes a joyful welcome
Greeting all who come






Old Friends together
Excitedly share new things
In the sun's warm light





Passion reflecting
The colored trees of autumn
Surrounding the pond





Surrender yourself
To the winds of your seasons
Delight the moon's tide





Like a symphony
The world is full of movement
Bathing us in change





On winter’s white breath
The soft whistles of widgeon
Scatter fallen leaves





White sound of water
Rushing over river rocks
Steals the forest’s voice





Cold river water
Smoothing ancient river rock
Glistens in the sun





Waving in winter
The golden dry river grass
Rustles to the sun