THE LION’S LULLABY

Sit with it.

Be with it.

Look into its 

anguished eyes.

Do not flinch.

This will be 

the hardest thing 

you will ever do.

Eventually, it will get 

drowsy, then drop 

off to sleep.

Be with it also

as it sleeps.

The next hardest thing 

you will do will be to 

know what to do 

knowing that this lion 

of shame is asleep

inside you and will 

wake soon.

When it does, 

remember … the eyes.

Stay with the eyes.

This is the practice.

Presence is 

the lion’s lullaby.

TRUST

Use what 

you cannot

 

control 

or see

to power you 

on your voyage.

Hoist 

your sail high.

See the canvas 

swell and billow.

Trust

the wind.

Before that 

you must

trust 

in trust,

which might be 

even more

invisible than 

air itself.

 

THE INVITATION

You can fasten

feathers to it.

Hear the air 

riffle through

its wings

as it takes flight.

Imagine it

carries you,

buoys you 

up and out of

the grinding

mind of time,

where the

days, the hours, 

and minutes 

aren’t counting

themselves down 

or arcing 

or spiraling

in one direction

or another

toward some

weighty destination.

There is only

the unboundedness 

of being, 

the now

that’s underneath you

and all around you

like a wondrous 

altitude or wind. 

The all of everything

is here. This is 

the invitation

you’ve been invited

into as a breath 

that’s airborne.

What are you 

waiting for?

Drop into 

this moment, 

the moment 

before you.

Don’t let the fear 

of falling 

keep you 

from flying.

Say yes 

to this most

beautiful bird.

     ROPE 

I take the braided strands

           and unwind them 

    from one another 

               so rope is 

      no longer a tie 

           that’s bound up 

      in its own binding 

   cut off from 

           the intricacy 

        and intimacy

             once woven 

            within its

                weave. 

                    Now free          from its 

             own bondage         no one would 

                             dare         call rope 

       twisted, tortured         or entangled.