Vive la compagnie!  It's Bastille Day, and I'm back online after an 80-day absence. In the meantime, Texas just passed the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation; Zimmerman was acquitted in Florida; the oil shale boom is fueling the energy industry; the housing sector has perked up even as interest rates slowly rise; Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell are at loggerheads again; and the nation is still reeling from the aftermath of the Boston Marathon tragedy, tropical storm Sandy, wild fires, and a hair-trigger stock market.  In other words, not much has changed.

Wind last night blew down
A gardenful of peach blossoms.
A boy with a broom
Is starting to sweep them up.

Fallen flowers are flowers still;
Don’t brush them away.

The Winnowing Season

Winnowing is as ancient as
Sod and plow, the time when
Chaff and grain must separate.

I feel the weight of chaff like
Picasso's dust on the soul,
The debris and decay of routine.

The steel gray sky commands
Me to be still as the year begins,
Before the mad rush is on again.

I will take stock of provisions
And map out the year's journey,
With watchful eye on the compass.

'Tis the season for winnowing,
A time to blow chaff off the grain
And dust from the soul.

~ Stephen Mendonca

Counterpoint

Seen from a distant star-lit galaxy,

What is a new year but a single instant,
A cadence in the music of the spheres?   
 
But to us, two hearts in warm embrace,
The night is vivid with the memory  
Of children and journeys and old songs.

The past year is a noiseless presence,

Like a winter storm that spends itself
And leaves an urgent stillness in the air.

We listen for the eternal note of hope,

Heedless of the riot of fireworks outside
And the neon glitter of the crowded square.

Listen, the ball signals the moment as moonlight

Casts a patina of fantasy over darkened streets.
The countdown chant rises from Perth to Palma.
 
Look, the square is ablaze with crimson and gold.
Our eyes meet as we measure the moment,
This brilliant intersection of past and future.
       
A thousand points of light flicker against the dark;
We are grateful for the ecstasy of life, for grace,
For the chance to dream brave dreams again.
 
Let galaxies observe their predictable orbits.
Our flesh and blood make all the difference.
This love will outlive the year, and outlast the stars.

                      ~ Stephen Mendonca

Winter Solstice

The night air is breathless under its blanket of distant stars.

Here on the avenue nothing stirs: the leafless tree-limbs stand

Like silent silhouettes etched against the pale moonlight. 

It is the winter solstice, the day the world did not end.

Dawn glimmers on the horizon, now a thick expanse of purple

Where streaks of magenta and orange tinge the eastern sky.  

 
Soon a film of light will seep through the gloom, revealing

Crooked rooftops, with chimneys like exclamation marks.

From afar, the drone of morning traffic and a wailing siren.

The day begins and with it the bustle of life, the roar of the city.

Maya, in an ancient tongue, is the illusion that the world is real.

Did something end or begin today?  Were we deluded?

 
Let scholars ponder the great cycles of time while
The world spins tirelessly, unmoved by theory or intent.

I wonder who cares what the Mayans really meant.

                                                                   ~  Stephen Mendonca

Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) has been on my intellectual radar since our daughter, Lesley Mendonca, began her Masters degree in the field.  She recently organized a seminar on Multicultural Issues in MFT. The seminar was sponsored by the Houston Association on MFT at Christ Church Cathedral on July 20 in Houston.

Dr. Bill Kerley was the keynote speaker, followed by a panel discussion featuring practicing therapists from various faith backgrounds (Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Islam, and Hindu). 

Finding Your Reality

Writing is self-therapy, as many have discovered to their great satisfaction.

That is why journal writing is such a good starting point for anybody who wants to explore their inner world and achieve fluency at the same time.

The journal (and to a lesser extent, the blog) opens up the mind and heart to new ways of solving old problems. It allows you to discover hidden layers of your being and maybe your true strengths as a person. If you give it permission, the journal can open up parts of your psyche that have been hiding under a blanket for a while.

Some people are afraid of bringing hidden layers to light because they can be uncomfortable to face and deal with. But that is surely the path to facing one's own reality.

A good book to read is Writing Down Your Soul by Janet Connor.