Recognition

 Recognition
  
 So easily we are sucked in
 To rhythm, to culture, to doing
 Again and again we try to escape
 Those dreaded thoughts I should
 It peers, leers from around the hall corner
 Of our calm, beige alcoves
 And lures us in as dreams, discovery
 Snaking around our ankles
 Until it catches hold
 Dragging us unknowingly to the depths
 Of holes we never quite escape
 Just when our chins reach the rim
 And purity begins its rise
 We let go of our reclaiming
 The depth of who we really are
 In exchange for ambition, adoration
 Short-lived achievements and the next
 The next, what’s next, yes it’s always next
 For what are we if not our doings
 Are we anything but a wisp, a breeze
 An unfilled chalice
  
 I become as smooth as water
 As I gaze into the waving reflection
 The continuity of rolling liquid
 Explains the repetitive nothingness existing
 So frighteningly inside us
 A vast vase holding who knows what for what reason
 Except for those who can break away from the serpent of season
 Conquer the self and end the circle of want and challenge
 And enter the peace of it’s done, everlasting satisfaction
 The soul need not be searched
 It’s already fully present
 Waiting for the moment of complete solace
 Recognizing that being known is not making renowned a name 
 Or being drawn to destiny
 It’s about the unborn waiting for its first breath
 And the death of desire to be anything but breath itself 

By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021
Jan. 22, 2021

[Photo above: "Riding Reflection," By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021]

Rainbows in Misty Times

Rainbows In Misty Times

I drive in misty times
Returning home anew
A rainbow parades my presence
Stretching from north to south
Of our lakeside view
Sun from behind perfectly sets the stage
A reassuring gesture
Wilderness’ way of welcome
To this stranger
From a place of fresh experience
Unknowns abounding
Is this really my reality?
And yet the ribbon rest assures
These are the colors you’ve chosen
This You may truly be different
Even though the unruly untimely side plot chapter
Seems not your probable parent
This is still your place of power
This vulnerable spot, ever-changing
As you watch the weather projecting
The lack of control and protection
In life, yet it is a type of comfort
You within the stillness nature brings
So enjoy, playful otter
The Thunderbird directs from above
And the rainbow spans the distance
Between this self and the former,
Heaven and the horizon
Shining light, perhaps ultimate truth, on clearer water

By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2020

Oct. 23, 2020

“Crescent Rainbow” & Above Photo (“Rainbow in Mist”) By Laura E. Garrard, Copyright 2021