Awaken My Heart

O, You who are ever

giving life to all life,

moving all creatures,

root of all things,

washing them clean,

wiping out their mistakes,

healing their wounds,

You are our true life -

luminous, wonderful,

awakening the heart

from its ancient sleep.

-Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

the fire rises in me (a poem by symeon the new theologian)

the fire rises in me,

and lights up my heart.

like the sun!

like the golden disk!

opening, expanding, radiant--

yes!

--a flame!

i say again:

i don't know

what to say!

i'd fall silent

--if only i could--

but this marvel

makes my heart leap,

it leaves me open-mouthed

like a fool,

urging me

to summon words

from my silence.

-symeon the new theologian (949-1032)

the light of your soul

may the light of your soul guide you.

may the light of your soul bless the work you do

with the secret love and warmth of your heart.

may you see in what you do

the beauty of your own soul.

may the sacredness of your work

bring healing, light and renewal...

-john o'donohue (1956-2008)

sweet child o' mine

sweet child o'mine,

tuck your head

beneath my chin

and hear the song

of my heart within,

an echo of god's own -

a beating declaration

of love...love...love!

-stacy wills (11/30/2011)

rent

for love of you

my heart is a rent veil

may it never mend

-stacy wills (9/14/2011)

from the one heart

hear from the heart

wordless mysteries!

understand what cannot be

understood...

in our stone-dark hearts

there burns a fire

that burns all veils to their

root and foundation.

when the veils are burned

away, the heart will

understand completely...

ancient love will unfold

ever-fresh forms

in the heart of the spirit,

in the core of the heart.

-rumi (1207-1273)

the waterfall

cut a new channel

through this heart

of mine, let me be

a young river and

you, the waterfall

-stacy wills (7/12/2011)

has my heart gone to sleep (a poem by antonio machado)

has my heart gone to sleep?

have the beehives of my dreams

stopped working, the waterwheel

of the mind run dry,

scoops turning empty,

only shadow inside?

no, my heart is not asleep.

it is awake, wide awake.

not asleep, not dreaming-

its eyes are opened wide

watching distant signals, listening

on the rim of vast silence.

-antonio machado (1875-1939)

making melody

the morning air

swirls alive

with song

a bird outside

my window is

pouring out

her praise

making melody

in both

our hearts

-stacy wills (10/4/10)

into the silence

...god is laboring in me

i need to be silent for a while,

worlds are forming

in my heart.

-meister eckhart (1260-1327)

sacred space

in this crowded life

remember to

allow for the margins ~

that sacred space

where your heart has room

to spread its wings

source image: cracks in the sidewalk

signs of spring

with the rising of

the full egg moon

shad run upstream

to spawn

wild ground phlox

begins to bloom

and in my heart

a sign of spring -

seeds of hope

are taking root

embedded

i have continued to sit with the troubling images of the cedar tree that i wrote about in my last post. as i did, suddenly the barbed wire embedded in her flesh became transformed into a speculum holding the eye of my heart wide open...unblinking, and i saw my own complicity in the cruelty and suffering that exists in the world - twin beams of ignorance and indifference.