Minneapolis Visitation

Living with the front door open,

this room of clattering forks 

and spoons overflows suddenly

with pure sky, great surprising 
silence.

In the cafe an old couple sits 

alone over eggs and toast. Worried 

faces dissolve at once into spacious 

blue forever, a completely new arising.

Facades of fear transform, become

the biggest Love I have ever seen,

a mirror of all horizons
rings in joy,

sings strong and shimmers.

We are welcomed to reflect 

right here astonished 

between earth and heaven

in classroom, cafe, car or office,

gently beckoned clear through 
            beyond 

these unknown open doors.

 

        bedtime

Yes, the bed was soft,

like silk, last night.

Sheets so cool they could

have been water. The pillow safely

under my head, a reminder of all

that’s good in the world.

Tucked in cozy and warm

under a nest of covers,

these welcoming layers

blanketed my mind from steep

drenching rainstorms of thought.

The body thankful as it leaned

into rest, the promise
of sleep’s quenching

replenishment

soothed like a friend curving

quietly beside.

As the day’s scattered,

tattered shouts diminished, I fell

with ease slowly down, completely

into dreamtime’s green earth

of the sweetest unclenching.

(2008--revised July 13, 2017)

Real Faith

Real faith
     is
knowing

in our
deep
bones

through
   empty
       space

we are forever

       free
falling....

Our hearts,

  
  (hidden)

    
  quiver

like a drop

of precious
mercury

as we

     descend,

bidden and unbidden

time and again,

into the supple

arms of this

 spacious

befriended

moment.

Peter J Lautz

April 30, 2017

Prayer Poem

May you rest easy in 

afternoon's hammock

 

woven from the care

and kindness

of friends

 

and always awaken

replenished,

 

a cool breeze 

kissing and 

caressing

your skin.

 

May the generous

hummingbird fly

 

from flower to flower

in your green garden,

 

each sweet second

another surprise

 

for bright eyes

ready

to hear,

alert ears

primed

to see

this singing

this great light

shimmering silver

all through

and out of

the drifting

darkness.

Weather Report

I want to rain/storm
your entire body
with care, subtle

misting, wild torrents.

Drench and glisten
your explorer's mind,
kiss your rainbow hair

through every weather.

Listen to you sing bits,
straight and feathery
into  my good ear

like a new/born lark,

like a dark cloud
spilling scintillas
of Light

into a pail
of pure dawn.

Virginal

Sweet thing, such a sweet thing

in this small courtyard of surprise

where afternoon sun silkens

shoulders that ache.

Your breasts of moist moonlight,

your presence, a nectar shining

like rain onto earth’s first moments.

Your freckled smile a gift

to relinquish, not hold nor keep.

Your cloak of sky, chipped edges

faded from loving through salt

marsh and tide,

reveals oceans of radiance

that mend, nourish, gently

unbind.

Here in grief’s well

I sit in virginal stillness

taken by your gaze,

your being so kind.

Origins of silence

cry from your eyes.

This joyride of innocence

steals my breath, my doubt.

I whisper ‘thanks’, stagger

through puddles of absence,

of memory that swell

our two hearts.

And alone, together

in life’s hour of quiet

we tremble,

we weep.

Summer’s Feast

Joy upon joy

Upon joy

Bursting forth as

Three or four
Seahorses

Sashay across

Skies of brilliant

Blue.

This life-

Briefest puffs of colorful light

And our feast sprawled

Atop a picnic table.

The faces we've loved

Grin and shimmer, hovering

Above a field of green

That stretches before

Pie-stained purple lips

To a stand of birch trees,

Leafy fledglings astonished

And laughing in summer’s

Breeze murmur thanks,

At long last,

Remembering

Everyone.