Prison

By: Rumi

Why do you stay in prison
when the door is so wide open?

Your way begins on the other side.
Become the sky.
Take an axe to the prison wall.
Escape.
Walk out like somebody suddenly born into color.
Do it now.

Window

By: Kyle Elden

There is a window to the self
that is the window to the Beloved

This sadness, this sad story
all grime, all residue
dust fallen and heavy
on the window sill
on the ledges
a darkness thin as sheer curtains
that separates you from yourself
that is in between you and the Beloved

It is this simple:
Push the curtain aside
wipe away the grime
and there is a whole world
out there, moving and alive
reflected in your eyes with joy
extravagant and shining
through the window to the self
which is the window to the Beloved

Words to be avoided: "Someday", "may be", "I will try", and "if"”
~ Paulo Coelho

Fire

By: Kyle Elden

The sun leaves this day behind
No regrets, don’t look back
Slips down the edge of the lake
Sky catching fire
Pink flames, pink tendrils of smoke fading
Into the dark, dark blue of night closing in
Tossing up sparks of stars
She knows how to move through this cycle
Knows there’s no other choice but to orbit
Onward through light and dark
Through life and death
Knows there is nothing tangible we can hold forever
Not inhale, not exhale
Not this moment, or that one
Not the body
Not anybody or anything
So let go
Move through the setting
Burn through the fire
Ash and dust of what was
To rise
To resurrect
To shine

The Gift

By: Kyle Elden

When people leave us
they are never really gone.

You are the dark oiled mark of a fingerprint,
love forever in my blood
in my thoughts when all else is quiet
no one is around, the distance could not
be greater
you are near
you never fully left
your spirit touched mine
rearranged, reconstructed, chipped away
helped form who I am today.

In your leaving
I am not a ghost town
vacant, broken down, void of life
I am a museum of flesh touched
and touching one another
floor boards worn differently because
of the way you walked across to greet me,
to hold me, to love me
our time together, the good
the imperfect,
a gift I carry forward
golden and glowing
around the edges of my life
in the way your beautiful light
will always stay.