Inspiration
-
Flicker
Who holds this light? Nobody knows, only that it stronger grows. Dim or bright, the smallest flame can light the darkness just the same. Continue reading
-
Just Know
Just know that you are the master of the singing bowl, the viscous ripples in the air, the temple in the clouds and mist. Know you are the heart that leads the way, the swan who dives, the moon in May. Just know you are the artist, the canvas, the muse. Know you are the… Continue reading
-
I Want
I want to ponder the radius of the earth as if it was yet to be discovered. I want to burst through doorways with a clear voice singing, intoxicated with life. I want fistfuls of cloud spilling out of my pockets. A poet is hungry, a poet is very thirsty. A poet dies every day,… Continue reading
-
Towards The Fire
When things unravel with such fury, we conclude that something should be held responsible. We look for a place to lay our blame, though the source of our pain often has the power to be a catalyst for growth, a facilitator of movement in stagnant waters. If we can un-stick ourselves from the quicksand of… Continue reading
-
Reception
Friends, I toss myself aside for you. I become available for you. I eat, drink, mumble, run hands through hair for you, scramble down the gulch for you, carry wood, fold socks, scrub pots, ever-fearless, requiring nothing. These are not the days of time’s inhalation pulling way up under the world’s collarbones, stitching together the… Continue reading
-
Light My Way
May my heart light my way. May it come into a place not unlike the narrow line that exists between water and fire, a pocket of stillness where both forces are within reach. Then I could learn their ways, how to call on them, how to let them enter me, how to recognize which one… Continue reading
-
We Cannot Wait
We cannot wait for things to be different, for things to be perfect, for things to meet our requirements. We cannot wait for everyone’s approval. We cannot wait for the certainty that everyone will like what we have to say. We cannot wait for ourselves to feel less afraid. We cannot wait for the coast to… Continue reading
-
On Working With The Creative Powers
This is a wonderful excerpt from the book Blue Pastures by Mary Oliver. It is not about an artist’s discipline, that is an entirely different subject. Rather, it’s about making oneself available at all times to one’s ideas and creative powers. “I am absent-minded, reckless, heedless of social obligations. It is as it must be. … Continue reading
-
Let Me Become
Let me become a master of listening, a student of surrender. May a strong and blossoming tree grow from the root of all my fears, a tree with the innate knowledge of how to bend with the wind. I have much to learn from the ferryman who spends his life taking people across the river,… Continue reading
-
Constance
Here’s a little something I wrote in honor of my high school English teacher, Constance Person. It was a big class in a big high school in the big city, and I was terrified of being called upon. I was a shy country mouse who was used to small classes in a small school in… Continue reading
C.M. Rivers 