Sunday, November 28, 2004

THE BEACH

Sounds of the waves splash in my ears
Squealing seagulls swirl overhead
A child throws her bread into the air
So, the gulls, they hover and strike

Strong gusty breezes blow on my skin
While a bright summer sun bakes the sand
Towering clouds move in from the west
And sounds of the waves fill my ears...

Norfolke © ‘98

WARRIOR WOMAN

In this time of shock and grief
This place of loss and sadness
I wonder as to the meaning
And see but a faint spark of light

This time we share with each other
These few precious moments soon end
Things and people move into our lives
And move on before our goodbyes

You've shown I should waste not this moment
Our differences are to be cherished
We are children all, of the same creator
And are here to love one another

In your warmth, your kindness, your giving
You've blessed many lives, even mine
In our thought, our hearts and our souls
You are present

Each will lay down his coil
To enter the spirit more fully
Today is a gift to the Creator
And we are the better in the giving

So, it is with joy I feel your presence
With grace, know that I love you
Thank you for being alive while I am
And showing me the nature of things

Ron Eklof
March 27, 1998

STANDING

Here we stand, in love we be
Not falling in love are we
But, infused with love be we
Standing in love, quietly

While all around in dervish swirl
Passions on and off take whirl
In and out of heat we twirl
Standing in love, boy and girl

At rest amid the merry chase
To have and hold, on going race
Arriving at a better place
Standing in love, face to face

Warm in our arms, safe from the cold
Whispered words in ears we're told
Of cherished love and passion bold
Standing in love we behold

We give to us, one to one
What's returned is gratefully done
Grace is ours from time begun
Standing in love, second to none

Norfolke '98

SEAMLESS

In the seamless presence of all that is and is not
Words merely hint at... it
The big it, the little it
The it of breadth and depth

An image comes... of Japanese print
An image of immense craggy mountains and misty valleys
With one, and only one
Small, very small man journeying on a path
Through this landscape of grandeur

He is slightly right of the center
In the bottom quadrant, headed to the right
Dressed in simple robe with flat broad hat
A staff for support
A begging bowl tied to his waist

He seems to have nothing
Nothing to call a possession
Yet humbly he has it all

Everything that is or is not belongs to him
For he is in the presence of it all
Has dominion of it all
Yet, he walks the path quietly
alone

The vast surroundings; written in stone
Written in trees and moss and mist
As if...
As if...
THIS is the presence
THIS is the whole creation
THIS is it.
... and nothing is missing

Ron Eklof (c) 2000

PILGRIM

As I pilgrim to journey's end
I stop for nature's rest
To let the rustling Aspen leaves
The song of birds in nest
Soothe my heart, feed my soul

While gossamer clouds restless move
Across the azure sky
I drowse beneath a shady tree
With heavy lidded eye
Drift away, dreams unfold

Arms open to embrace the wind
I walk on solid clouds
To kiss the sky, to feel the bliss
To see the angel crowds
I realize I am whole

Now twist and turn, I'm inside out
My skin surrounds it all
The universe, within me now
It's farthest reaches fall
Within my grasp to hold

A butterfly arouses me
It flutters by my face
I leave behind the fancied flight
Back to my road of grace
Steady progress, my goal

Norfolke '98

MOORINGS

it was harder, then, to let you go
but, you wanted to leave
i thought the journey was ours
not yours alone

i on the dock
not willing to untie the mooring
the vast uncharted sea
was not for this heart

no, better a cozy nestling place
warm and secure with you
away from the cold forbidding wind

then i saw we both were free
your journey yours
i had mine

it was easier now to let go
not at a dock was i
but, in my own craft
as had always been
with a course to set
and a sail to hoist

lashed to each other
for just a while
we untied from our moorings
together

(c) Ron Eklof '98

EQUAL TO

The stars are in the heavens,
The sand along the shore.
The waves continue lapping
Until the Earth's no more.

I'm not a star in the heavens,
Nor a grain upon the shore,
But a human among many,
No less, and again, no more.

I've come to know I'm right sized,
I have a balanced view.
Not better than, nor worse than,
But, in fact, equal to.

Norfolke © 1998

SUSPENDED

Suspended
With no ground beneath to set the feet
No mantle to cloak the shoulders
To hide nor warm the body

Naked
Naked with nothing to touch in any direction
For there are no directions
Nor any direction
No where to go as I am already here

Afloat
Afloat in space beyond measure
No where to turn
For all turnings are the same
Rebellion loosens its bonds
The noise inside subsides

Steady
Steady amid the quiet of no thought
Feelings, yes; intuition, yes
Yet, nothing to register them with
No things to scribe them with

A knowing
A knowing of the unknowable
Not, knowing the unknowable
But, in the presence of it
And, content to be here

Free
Not alone
At peace


Ron Eklof (c) 2003

I SET YOU FREE

I set you free
Free to be where you want to be.
And if that place is not with me,
I set you free, I set you free.

For it's only me who lets you be
Who you are or want to be.
'Tis only I who lets me see
That I am free to set you free.

And in that deep dark mystery
Of want and need: insecurity
I move my heart gratefully
To set me free, and let you be.

(c) Ron Eklof '98

REMEMORY

An infant became he.
After years of living,
Once more a babe he was;
If only for a brief moment.

Swaddled in his crib
Familiar faces peered over him.
White fleecy clouds
In the bluest of skies
Gave glowing halos to their heads;
And shafts of light streamed from above.

He gurgled and cooed;
Clear sounds made,
New eyes to see all,
Fresh skin to touch the whole world;
And he nestled in warmth,
Bathed in love.

Too soon broken, this rememory
Too soon harkened back to this present time.

Yet, is he not of all ages?
All stages of life?
As old as Methuselah?
As young as a thought?
Is this not his dying day,
His birthing day,
And every stage of life at once?

In the fullness of this moment,
This eternal now,
Be ye nestled in warmth,
Be ye bathed in love.

(c) Norfolke '98

STONES

A glint in the eye
A rock in the hand
Me against you
Outlander

We've always thrown stones
Be they rocks, words, or bones
Be they arrowheads on wood and feather
Balls from cannons, bullets from guns
Bombs bursting in air
Guided missiles piloted by human hands or not

Yet behind the thrown object
Resides a darkened heart
Separating us from each other
For you are one of them
Whoever "them" may be
And I am one of us
Whoever "us" may be

We have not the same gods
Nor drink at the same well
Our mothers knew not the same father
You are heathen unto me
And know not the meaning of love

As I recoil from the vileness of thee
I hurl these words, aimed at your heart

Change your ways or else!

Oh, for the tranquil peaceable times
Will we not learn to forgive for forgiveness sake?
To do unto as if you were me?

You first.

Norfolke
September 14, 2001

Saturday, November 27, 2004

WHEN THE GET UP AND GO

When the get up and go has got up and went
When the wad to spend has already been spent
And the comely young lass is a thing of the past
What do we do, Mr. Moon? What do we do?

Do we honor our partners and allemande left?
Do-si-do to the south and traipse to the west?
Do we Fiddle-dee-dee and falder-all-dangle?
Give us a clue, Mr. Moon. Give us one clue

'Neath the Moon and stars in the heavens above
Is there heartless abandon, or is there true love?
I'd go where I druther, abandon my brother
If the fork ran away with my spoon

So my serious nature gives way to my silly
Let me act as a child and strum willy-nilly
To blazes with hearts so cold air turns chilly
For here beats the drum of my life

Put away my remonstrance, set aside my chagrin
The judgments I make, make my head spin
Tangled and twisted, this turmoil within
Oh! Mr. Sun! A new day is dawning

Dapple this day with love songs and flowers
For the bell tolls now and tells of the hours
When sunbeams stream 'round yon towers
Where knights are still bold, ladies still maidens

Whither thee cometh and whither thee goest
Hold one another and dance with the moest
Spring in your step, a bright gleam in your eyes
And laugh with the gift of surprise
And laugh with the gift of surprise

(c) Norfolke '00

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

A STAR

A STAR

The heavens are less bright this night
For a star has fallen to Earth
Its brief candle out

As white scar slashed
Across the clear blue sky
A fragile cocoon tumbled
To the breast of its motherland
Oh, the humanity…

Hopes and dreams
Skills and talents
Were dashed this day
Before our eyes
Before our hearts

Yet, we will go onward
Once more, human endeavor
Will rise from our sorrow
Seeking renewed faith in our selves
In our communal efforts
For we will not stay where we are

Our destiny is to steadily press on
Building upon the shoulders and minds
Of those who came before
With eyes open to new discovery
Wherever we may find it
Ron Eklof

Thursday, February 13, 2003

WALKING

There are those who walk in front
And those who walk behind
Yet, those who walk side by side
Oh, they’re the bestest kind

For our journey ‘pon this globe
Is too short, to be alone
One ahead and one behind
Away from the equal zone

Now our hands must unclasp
For one has gone ahead
To help prepare a place
Why you, not me, instead

But, this is what I must accept
That life is rife with pain
And I know not why that is so
Our love knew only gain

Except, you have not gone away
But stay within my heart
I know you in my senses full
For we are not apart

I see you in the twinkling stars
Feel you in a summer breeze
I touch you in my daughter’s kiss
Hear you in the rustling trees

Our paths met, but for a while
Our lives enhanced, became enmeshed
You have left this mortal path
Yet, I still walk with you, enmeshed

Ron Eklof 2004

IN THE LAND OF MANY VISIONS

In the land of many visions I roam
and enter a room with one I have not met before now.
Her home is welcoming, her smile subtle.
We step outside onto a short path to the treed panorama of the canyon.
We linger at a wood sculpture, of a seal perhaps.
Short logs split in half, jointed roughly,
with a small hand rubbed stub on the top,
smoothed as if an upturned nose.
Exquisite play of a master heart,
where a deft touch shows an artful vision.

We return to the room and music is the muse, hear.
Mellow the tone where few surfaces glare and shine.
The mood is subdued, soft and quiet the light,
Zen the expression.

Through shared smoke comes the land of many visions:

Life is hard and good on the ranch,
Muscles ache and sweat comes easy,
Dust and spit, whip, rope, horse and muck,
Yells in the wild wind, smells in the tame barn,
Work to be done that doesn’t end at nightfall
Hunger in the belly for familiar table.

And the Easterner comes with his think about,
rather than his do about.
He comes for change,
with an eye of uncommon sense
in a place of horse sense skill.

I turn to the cabin with soft and warm bed
and smells of lilac and musk.
The candle casts a flickering shadow world onto the logs
and we retreat to the comfort of tender flesh
with dreams of rooms to enter,
paths to follow,
with companions of short duration.

Norfolke 2004