Ripples

<p>Ripples invites an awakening-the sun lifting itself over the fence and the tree. As we read a ripple wave appears ... a pine nut falls into the dark still pond ... Dying monarchs oily waters of the Mississippi emaciated polar bears-the mindless rush of life is transformed through a meditation of the moment. Mindful observations allow us to see through our fears. Ask the delicate holy basil leaves why we live; watch it grow; steep tulsi; and hear There's not just you there's us.</p><p><br></p><p>Shock waves of the pandemic threaten to kill our abilities to feel and see: shameful social injustices alongside connections. Look at those two rivers ... Kneel on your knees in the boat. Lean over the edge at the very touching of the two-where the seagulls shimmer off the water-where sun glimmers. ... What do you see now cupped in your palms? Not the dense brown like first you saw not the green-blue but another color another color.</p><p><br></p><p>Poems that help us acknowledge the disease of fear and hatred. How do we think about race gender and sexual orientation? Is our mind our environment / and our environment our mind? Who are we as a culture of individuals? Self and Other start to bleed into each other. We paint on our face to try to function in a society that suffocates diversity individuality creativity. While one thing you can't control / is your heart.</p>