Poem in the Time of Cholera

The Lake

You have always tried
to hold the world
afraid to look away
afraid that if you let go
even for a moment
the world would fall into darkness,
drown in chaos,
irretrievable.

Imagine the calm of a hidden lake
as blue as June
no boats
no fishing
not even children skipping stones
no one.

Here is
a body of water
that has never been discovered
the lilting sand at the depths,
the flashing passage of silent fish,
water as clear as
the day God created it.

You don't have to hold the world.
The world holds you.

-Star Saint Claire

The Poetry of Commonplace Objects

Ireland's premier writing magazine, Writing.ie, based in Dublin, has published one of my essays. Here is a link if you'd like to read it. It's a beautiful magazine, with great resources for writers!

https://www.writing.ie/tell-your-own-story/the-poetry-of-commonplace-objects-by-star-saint-claire/

Walk Into A Rainbow

Get the Big Box of Crayons!

For whatever reason I expect things to cost what they did ten years ago. So when I would periodically get an overwhelming urge to buy crayons (specifically Crayola, the only ones that smell right), I wouldn’t buy the big box because I thought it had gotten too expensive.

This year I received a fancy coloring book for Christmas.  (They’re called adult coloring books, but that sounds naughty, doesn’t it? So I call them coloring books for grownups.)  To color in my new book I was thinking it would be nice to have new crayons. As soon as I formulated the thought, the angels said “Get the big box!”

They showed me that spending ten dollars is nothing, it’s a coffee and a sandwich, which is consumed and then gone. It’s small change. Yet how happy I would be with the big box! Like opening a rainbow and wading in.

Always err on the side of generosity. This includes generosity toward ourselves! What wonderful treasures, the best things in life, can be had for ten dollars or less! A chocolate bar, a rose, new colored pens, a package of gum, a fragrant candle, gardenia soap. An entire book could be written on the subject of small delights.

Buy the big box of crayons. To have such great happiness, at such small cost, from so simple a thing, is one of life’s great pleasures.

A Canine Christmas Diary

Here is a link to my new eBook!

http://www.amazon.com/Downward-Facing-Dog-Canine-Diaries-ebook/dp/B018Y69DHC/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Hawk Blessing

Recently a hawk flew over me on the bridge entering Balboa Park. I have never seen a hawk so close. I felt it was a blessing, so I looked up what it meant.

“The hawk is a messenger bird. Usually when we see a hawk it means to pay attention because a message is coming to you. Hawks represent clear sightedness, being observant, our far memory and guardianship. They also bring courage, wisdom, illumination, creativity and truth. Hawks give us the ability to see the larger picture in life. They can help you to overcome problems and make wise use of opportunities. How does this all happen? Each animal carries what we call ‘medicine’. What I have written above is the hawks medicine. When the same animal keeps coming to you in real life or in a dream, it is bringing it’s medicine to you. You will be brought a message soon, a good one, to let you know you are on the right path. And whatever problems you are wrestling with, you will solve because hawks medicine has been given to you. I know this because I am a traditional Shawnee (American Indian) and I’ve learned these things are true.

 I found the above beautiful essay here: https://reedofgod.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/what-does-it-mean-when-a-hawk-comes-to-you/

ALL MY LOVES ARE ANGELS

 

(Jesse Jack, the witty black cat)

 

 Dear ones, just to say, all my long time past blog entries, 

("How Oprah Saved My Life") 
are now archived below, and my current entries are above...

Thanks, all my loves, for your readership over the years!

Please follow my latest adventures

on my youtube channel "Jesse Jack the Witty Black Cat" 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3p2xyXDZ6roWTBXMrA6ERQ

and help me promote animal rescue!

A Meditation on Silence

if one would practice walking silent in the forest...
first, one must find the forest
then, one must learn silence

Star Saint Claire

A Poem on My Long Absense

Thank You For Visiting This Garden

It has been so long

I've gone

The ground astir

With other seeds

The silent birds,

No words

Yet some still linger

Or pass by

And ever over angels fly

There is no silence

Lasting long

That does not hide

A robin's song

And those of us

Who dissapear

From time to time

From blogosphere

Will sometimes flit by again

Wondering and fragmentary

With a new Poem in our hands...

YOUR SOUL IS THE ANGEL INSIDE YOU

Your Soul is the Angel inside you

she sees through your eyes

she comes to experience life in human form

through you, she experiences love

she experiences beauty

When you feed the Soul, you are feeding an Angel

when you feed her, she will serve you well

the angel of the soul thrives on beauty

oceans of water, forests of trees

gardens, parks, and wilderness

Your Soul is the Angel inside you

she sees through your eyes

she loves through your hands

she lives through your heart

feed her well

Star Saint Claire, March 15, 2012, San Diego

An Open Letter To "One Million Moms"

There are not a million of you. And good moms do not teach their children to hate. Hate is un-Christian. Christians follow Christ's teachings. Christ said DO NOT JUDGE, and LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Christ never once addressed the issue of same-sex relationships. Even if you believe it is a sin to be gay, remember, according to your own Book, LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS.

The Gay people you have attacked lately, Ellen, Carson, and Chas, are kinder, gentler, more compassionate, more generous, and doing more good in the world (therefore putting more God in the world)  than any one of you and all of you together.

Stop Hating. Choose Loving. And remember: BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS...

A Letter To The World

September 11
(a song)

In my heart I wrote a letter to the world
it sounds sad to say I wrote it with my tears
but I did

And I know that there are those who die in wars
and I know that children go to bed unfed
it makes me sad
it makes me mad

And there are some who say There Is No God
did we forget he gave the world to us?
if you do bad you will have bad,
if you do good you will have good,
Hey, hey, this is a story we're all writing!

In my heart I wrote a letter to the world
it sound sad to say I wrote it with my tears
but I did
and then it disappeared...


Star Saint Claire, September 11, 2011

Dance, Chaz Bono, Dance With the Stars!

This is sad. In a world that's falling down, where we ordinary peacemakers struggle to keep some semblance of humanity in daily life, even if just common courtesy, a large so called Christian group has nothing better to do than call for a boycott of the American TV show "Dancing With the Stars."

Because of the show's inclusion of Chaz Bono, Cher's daughter turned endearing son, and Carson Kressely, a fabulously sweet gay man, onemillionmomsdotcom is reported as saying, "Christians should not watch the show, no excuses." (if you do, they'll smack you in the crotch with a ruler, i imagine...)

(and anyway, these kinds of persnickety "Christians" should already SO NOT be watching that skimpily costumed, lust inducing show...)

Chaz Bono and Carson Kressely have the same heart, soul, mind, humanity, intelligence, as any of us, and probably MORE compassion, considering the hate they face, and the arduous struggle endured to become who they are.

Our teacher said, Do not judge. Our teacher went about doing good. Our teacher brought life, light and hope. The only ones he judged were the religious types, NEVER the common person. Remember Mary Magdalene?

Stop showing us what you are against, and start showing us your LOVE. Perhaps then, more will believe.

Trouble Comes When...

Trouble comes when the mind runs ahead of the soul. The soul is patient, gentle, orderly, methodical. The mind is a whirlwind. Yes, at times the soul flits and flies, grasping bits of beauty in the air, but mostly the soul is a quietly flowing stream.

To wait for the soul makes the mind impatient. Yet if we can train the mind to accompany the rhythm of the soul there will be harmony, and together we will create greatness.

Dear readers, what say you? How do we slow our minds?

Life is Not a Problem!

Lately, with the state of the world, construction noise on our apartment house (and perhaps Uranus retrograde!?), I have been having a harder time keeping my mind from fear and stress.

In answer to my pain my Wise Self says:

LIFE IS NOT A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED, BUT AN ADVENTURE TO BE LIVED.

What, dear readers, makes you feel more alive, more adventurous?

What Would You Have This Child You Love To Know?

A woman walks down the street carrying a jug of water.
Her mind is troubled by things occurring to her
and by things happening on earth.

An angel says to God,
What would you have this child you love to know?

And God says,
I would wish this child I love to be thankful for the good, clean water in her hands.

I would wish her to feel the cool breeze, and know it is my breath.

That each person she passes has a sun, moon, and star inside,
just as the sun, moon, and star within herself.

I would wish this child I love not to think about problems,
but to fill her mind with beauty, hope, and peace.

To see the flowers and butterflies, the shadows of trees, the flight of birds.

I would wish her to hear the song of birds,
 and know it is my voice.
To smell the jasmine in the air,
 and know it's my perfume.
To see the sky
 and know that all is well.

To breathe,
and know that breath is grace.



Star Saint Claire  7/7/11, San Diego, CA

Balancing Act

A bird flies from the ground to a small branch, and lands.
The branch wobbles. Whoa, thinks the bird, maybe I made a mistake.
Then he finds his balance. The bird looks around, content.
He begins to sing.
The twig shakes again. So he stops.
The bird sees something in the grass, and dives down.
The grass is as tall as trees. He can't see past it.
But he can eat.
Everything, the flying, the eating, even the balancing, seems like hard work.
Only in brief moments is he perfectly balanced.

We may not always be balanced.
But we are always who we are - a person, or a bird.







Star Saint Claire, May, 2011, San Diego

The Sky is Blue?

The sky is blue. it seems incontrovertible. yet. one could say with equal authority the sky is gray. white. orange. depending on the weather and the time of day, right? shall we disagree about this and kill one another over it? i think not.

maybe we can agree on this: the sky is the sky. the sky is.

and what of God? so many pretending to know, convinced they know, who he likes and who he hates and what he is and how and where. if we disagree, shall we kill one another over the color of God? the name of God?

maybe we can agree. God is God. God is good. God is.

as a peacemaker i am so weary of the fighting, the wars, the arguments, the opinions, the ideology some are willing to kill for. i feel like giving up. what will happen if all the peacemakers give up?

just now i feel qite zen about this. even if i give up, the sky will still be the sky. and God will still be God.

Please Pray For A Young Girl

The Why Of Where We Are

Our apartment is sweet, but tiny. We have tried (and prayed) to move elsewhere without success. I finally accepted that if God has us here, it must be for a good reason...

Earlier today I suddenly remembered that if I didn't send my mum-in-law's Easter card, it would be late. So I walked to the neighborhood mailbox, smelling yellow flowers along the way, such a delicate scent as to be almost indiscernible. And I thought about delicate things, and how each is powerful in its own way.

The mail had already gone. If I had known that, I thought, I would have taken it to a different box.

On a whim, I took a different route home. A ways down the street a little dog, a young man, and a young woman stood in a doorway. Another young woman sat weeping on the stairs. I passed by. But then I stopped. Should I go back, or not? I went back. The man and dog were gone. But the young woman was crying even harder and louder. She had left the steps, and was now standing with her face pressed up against the door. Her friend was trying to comfort her.

I said I was sorry to impose, but just could not pass by when someone was crying so hard. She couldn't take it, she said. Her boyfriend had left. She had tried, or maybe wanted to try, to kill herself. I said that every single person with any kind of heart has felt that pain at some time. I told her it is okay to feel deep pain, but it is not okay to punish ourselves for what someone else did. I told her she must promise to tell her friends whenever she feels suicidal. She promised.

Her friend assured me they would be all right. Maybe I didn't do enough. I never saw her face, or asked her name. All I know is she is thin, young and has long shiny brown hair. Please pray for her.

Know Thyself - The Cube Game

My dear friend Shell, in Taos, taught me this game in the spring sunlight on the flowered patio at the Adobe Inn (hi, Adobe Inmates!) where we lived and breathed, briefly and beautifully, side by side in tiny heart-shaped spaces...(the best/blessed neighbors, ever.) The Cube Game: In a flat desert space... Imagine a cube. Imagine a storm. Imagine a ladder. Imagine a horse. Imagine flowers. Now that you have a picture, and the placement of the objects, here is the interpretation: The cube is your self. The storm is your future. The ladder represents friends. The horse is your lover. The flowers are children. My cube was a floating, transparent box with an open top and one black side. It was surrounded by a feeling of timelessness. What was yours? P. S. Self awareness inspires love of self, which inspires love of others, and love of Good. We all need awareness desperately just now with the world in such chaos. And that is why I shared the cube game...We are all works of art.

Tsunami on the Blue Planet

The waves even reached us here in San Diego. Under a Tsunami watch all day. The Blue Planet, shining like a tear in God's eye.

Such a powerful earthquake that the earth's axis actually shifted ten centimeters... ironically, the measure of space opening in a woman before a baby is born. What is the Earth birthing?

The ocean, and the oceans of tears, connect us all...