This Tell-Tale Heart

So soft,
the distinctions
between here and there,
the inspired moment
and its expired shadow.

Breath,
given this dilemma,
is not enough to ground
here, there and now
with lively vigor and vibrance.

||: Thunder me, thunder!
            In thickets of rhythms;
                        thunder me, thunder me,
                                    and move my feet! :||

They find me in a hurry,
            they find me in a flurry,
                        then all bright and early,

                                    to sing my song!

||: The beating drum is in me,
            I gotta know,

                        gotta feel,

L 1. gotta see :|| L 2. gotta be ! ||
                                   

||: They find me in a hurry,
            they find me bright and early,
                        they thunder me, thunder me,
                                    L 1. and move my feet :|| L 2. and sing my beat ! ||

© 2013 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Mardi Gras may be over, but not the dance...

Faith

Existence:

a balancing act
between vulnerability and strength.

Our minds can only fathom
leaping from strength to strength,
from onward to upward,
like children
leaping from boulder to boulder;
We’re never quite prepared
for falls, setbacks,
system failures
or for loss.

We have forgotten about the light.

There is imperceptible light
in every atom and cell.
Every being, and
everything that has form,
breathes this light,
and carries it.

The ground,
which accepts our clumsy footfalls,
glows of this light
day and night,
upholding and keeping
the countless ebbs and flows of life,
welcoming all that rises,
cherishing also all that falls,
and witnessing all the rest.

Brilliant as this light is,
we cannot see it—
we must take on faith
that it is in all of us,
is indeed all in all,
glowing and vibrant.

Knowing — and remembering
— will have to do.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen