this side of the veil

This random holiday we call life

can feel tricky, a mystery to be

unveiled through daring travels

that map our trails.

   *

Blessings of memories, to feel

again and still

winters’ brutal chill,

blanketed, in warmth –  cocoa, love

of family discovered,

within healing web of friends.

*

This Side of the Veil

*

As I grow older, so many beloved people disappear,

beyond the veil, they say, into a better place

of endless peace.

We find ourselves here in life, each with our mission,

skills realized as we advance along our separate paths

that lead to the same destination, that shimmering veil

we can’t perceive beyond, screen upon which we paint

silhouettes of mystery.

Traveling winding paths, we meet, become, with time,

beloved, joined in gifts, fears, celebrations.

Who we are expands through inclusion, evolves

greater awareness, entwines bonds to humanity.

*

It’s this side of the veil where we choose who

those we leave behind will remember us to be.

It’s this side of the veil where we may

worship Earthly blessings, days to dance with

the Sun, come together to face mysteries,

dark nights to raise above;

where we devise solace of humor, simple fun,

the rush of touch.

It’s this side of the veil where we wonder,

play out mosaic stories, sing ritual reflections,

dance madly stretching, find inside our rendition

of humanity, express each our special light

along the line.

And this side where ultimate grief resides.

This side where we choose to pretend or truly

make amends for careless ignorance, mad cruelty,

take active stand against spreading pain and

dangerous lies.

It’s this side, here in our hands, crackling through

our imaginations, vast possibilities as yet unseen,

ours to grasp while hands we have.

*

Do you know those moments closer to the veil,

revealing shadow dance through sacred space,

liminal embrace of ecstatic empathy when

vibrations echo, reverberate, send ripples dancing

through the veil?

*