AVANT SOUL

There are so many loving people in the world

	(if we could get them all in one room)

The people 	who support you,
	          	who lift you up,
			who remind you why

			This venture of life is grand adventure
				to mine the simple coal of your Spirit
				to divine diamonds, before you die

My dear children. 	Beloved sons and daughters,
			Blazing heroes, incarnate brothers and sisters,			
			One and all —

We've had our crashes and falls, our tumbles and losses of stock
This isn't what matters. There is beauty and loveliness here & there
			You needn't settle for compromised ugliness,
			The shortsightedness of city supervisors,
	
There is beauty everywhere, if only you will open your eyes

The people	who are not so immediate to reply,
The people	who grant inquiry to passion, vast wings to possibility,
		who are willing still to feel 
					& risk the storms from asking
					& brave some sadness, taking it all to task.

It's raining in my heart. I can no longer lie. It's past time for unmasking.

It's snowing and the ice of scorn is cold
It's a blizzard, yet you must never cease from starting the fire,
	When you pick yourself up from an icy fear
	That keeps you from capturing, then sets free your gladness.

The beauty is still here, and all your inner knowing,
The loveliness waiting for you to name it,
To claim it, to reclaim it once again. 
And what of fame — have you forgotten so quickly?

Capture the moment as it spins ever from your grasp
On the wings of migrating birds pollinating native flowers
In the lands of your ancient fathers.

Life is a mother to us all, it is snowballing,
No one can catch it, not even I.

Some have said this world is spinning out of control
					Spinning out its love & dream songs,
					Spinning out its time & sing-songs,
					Running out of rhyme & reasons —

I called this world into being as a glorious arena. Call it an ice rink,
Or whatever you will.  Life can be brutal, yet you must continue skating
Even if you stumble,  even when you spill.

Many of you have said that I'm over the top

— My children, I made Creation and it cannot stop. Can you
Stop breathing?  Can you stop feeling?
Can you stop taking to the ice								
And transforming into an angel, or whatever you wish?		                                               

			This is your life to skate 
			And either merely skim the surface of meaning
			Or cut through its cold and icy fear —

To a deeper level of being.

The judges are here, yet you are your own reward.

You are spinning,  spinning,  spinning and leaping across the ice
My children, I made you and you cannot stop. . . . . . . Can you

Cease looking for the hidden beauty? Would you, could you stop searching
For a better belonging, a fuller understanding, a more complete loving

When all your puzzles are incomplete, and wait only for 
The most simple pieces to fall into place, are the hardest of all!
Dance, dance, dance across the icy rink and claim the trophy of your consciousness.

My children, never have I forgotten you,

	Not for an instant
	Not for all your leaps
	Not for all your glides
	Not for all your back-peddling,  lifts,  and

Choreography 
		of the meaning of your life — 

			who you are
			and why you are becoming
			more awake with each & every breath —

In your death you will see this time
Frozen in your movements

Where you have never settled

For anything less
Than what you are,

A child capturing the shiny shimmer & light,
A glimmering and glimpsing

Of Me.

I love you. . . . . . . And though these words have become cliché,
Never have they lost their resilient resonance.



	Now, go clean up the mess. . . . . . . 



Your friend and Creator of All Things,


			GOD